So Frustrated!!
 

I upgraded to a Pfaff Ambition Essential on Saturday and am ready to take it back to the store! I can't sew more than 10 inches and it creates a rat's nest of thread under the material & I have to rip everything out.:mad: I've tried adjusting the tension, threading, rethreading, replacing bobbin, you name it. Any suggestions?

I would check for correct threading and correct bobbin placement - I had problems with my tension off and on for about 4 months after I bought my machine - turns out - I wasn't threading the bobbin correctly - Once I read the manual for the 1000th time - I realized that I was not following the directions exactly - anyway, now I know and it works great. The other things to check are what you have listed. Good luck.

I had a simile problem with my Janome 6600P - I was threading the bobbin incorrectly - thought this never happened on my 60 + year Singer. And remembered there were times we fought - and I would re-thread the bobbin and it was fine.
Good Luck!!!

The same thing happened with my Brother PQ1500S. Every time it happened, the bobbin tension was the problem. I know you said you checked that, but just sharing my experience. I wound another bobbin to test out the theory, and then it worked perfect. I'll never know why the other one didn't work that time. Some unknowable mishap when winding the bobbin the first time. So my recommendation is to win another bobbin even if the first one looks fine, start over from scratch by re-threading the machine, and see if that helps. I know it's really frustrating! You have my sympathy!

my vote is also for an incorrectly loaded bobbin.
i will never admit publicly how often i have made that mistake. :shock:

I agree with both comments... and believe I should have a few secrets too.

I had the same problem with my machine. The bobbin looked just fine, UNTIL I started to unwind the bobbin thread. While winding it, some very small loop had formed somewhere in the middle. These newfangled machines are just so sensitive. Maybe I should have apologized to it lolol

Are you threading with the needle up? Also try grabbing both bobbin and top threads when starting a seam.
Regardless of design - I've had the top thread pop out of the take up lever. In machine embroidery, the problem is often the opposite side. If you have a rat's nest underneath, the problem is usually on the top somewhere.

With the bobbin - check to make sure it's securely in there. The new Ambition is drop-in bobbin isn't it? Those who use drop-in bobbins might have more suggestions.
I've got vertical bobbins and they don't always catch on the spindle and pop out. There used to be a good click on the older Pfaffs, not so now.

The older Pfaffs had lousy thread cutters. A lot of times they will NOT pick up the bobbin thread correctly or at all. However, with a drop-in bobbin the thread cutter should have improved.

When I upgraded my Pfaff I had a few threading problems because I was doing it the way I did with my previous Pfaffs. After blaming the machine it finally dawned on me to take out the manual. I slowly step by step and that made me see where I went wrong.
If that doesn't work for you I'd go back to the dealer with the machine and have them try to solve the problems.