I was happily fmq with only about 3sq ft to finish when my machine locked up. I've tried everything I know with no luck. I have a brother cs6000i and am getting an E6 error which says the motor is locked up due to thread jam. I've taken the bobbin area apart and can't see anything, and don't really want to mess with taking the case off because of the electronics. Any suggestions? I am so scared that repair will cost more than the machine is worth.

You didn't say anything about the upper thread. I assume it is moving freely? The only other suggestion that I have is to turn the machine off then back on again and see if it corrects itself...good luck..wish I could be more help.

you need some dental floss..waxed ribbon really...and some pipe cleaners..NOT chenille stems..but actual Pipe cleaners, they are thinner..and really run it between the tension discs..that thread could be anywhere...and it could be really tiny....take out/apart the bobbin race area as well and use the pipe cleaner or a small "stencil" paint brush to really sweep it out in there....

thanks jacquie, i never new there was a difference in pipe cleaners. but i never thought of using dental floss either.

Jan said it all...good luck finding the problem. That happened to my machine once and it was a tiny piece of thread. Once it was out no problems.

Maybe some thread is caught on the under part of needle plate. That happened to me last week but I finally got it free. Good Luck. Sue

I hope you find a solution for your machine. If not, you might want to call and ask Brother.
1-877-BROTHER (877-276-8437)
M-F, 9:00am to 5:45pm Eastern Time

I believe the dental floss needs to be unwaxed.

That was also what I was told by my service tech. Also, when the electronics freeze up, it is suppose to be a safety precaution. I simply "reboot" my machine by turning it off, wait a few minutes and turn it back on. I use this time to clean the upper thread tension and bobbin area. Usually works for me!

Good Luck!

I also had an E6 error on my Brother machine that wouldn't go away after cleaning and rethreading. I bought a really good artist's brush and took apart the bobbin area and cleaned it out thoroughly. the brush that comes with Brother machines is useless as to collecting all the lint in the bobbin area. but the artist's brush got out extra lint the machine brush didn't and even found a tiny piece of a needle that had broken at some point (the machine had been sewing for quite some time with this little piece down there). I put the bobbin area back together and rethreaded the machine. lo and behold - it worked!!! the E6 error was no more. so try this before giving up. good luck!