upper thread getting stuck in lower bobbin area!
 

No matter what I do, I cannot seem to have a pleasant and smooth sewing session! While my SE 270 D is off to Tennessee to be repaired or replaced, I am using my LS1520 Brother....
I remember what problems I had with it, now!

The upper thread goes down into the lower bobbin area and gets stuck on something....Then, I have the bobbin thread and the top thread that is going down and getting caught and coming back up, so there are 3 threads coming out of the bottom. I can cut that upper thread and it will just pull right out, sometimes. The machine will sew this way for a bit, then it will get stuck and makes a whole lotta mess! I have changed the lower bobbin thread and am now also using a different one on top. If I am sewing a smaller area and using the reverse, it is WAY WORSE! It's also worse on Zig Zag function. :(

Anyone know what is going on? I have been trying to work on my DD's raggedy quilt since the last of August.
I'm so frustrated!
I don't think I want another Brother....

I've had that happen on my machine. The repair guy said put a drop of oil in the bobbin area before each use, it seems running it 3 hours per day is too much. I use an old child's paintbrush to move it around as I turn the wheel, it's less messy that way. Make certain the bobbin mechanism is properly seated.

Hope this helps.

One of my machines did that and the guy told me he had to time it. It was out of time. Maybe that is. Of course that machine was junk. It was a Necchi.
Judy in Ohio

I don't have a Brother, but occasionally I have had that happen. Is it happening when you 1st start sewing 2 pieces of material together at the edge of the fabric? If so, the it may help to hold the thread back behind the feed dogs & keep a little tension on them until you have locked in the 1st few stitches. I like to have my needle start about 1/16th to 1/8th inch in from the edge. Sometimes I have had that thread problem when going thru an especially thick intersection & I've found that walking it thru the intersection using the hand wheel on the side of my machine will help there. Not sure this info will help. Maybe someone else with a Brother will have another idea.

I've had that happen and when it does that is my cue to clean my machine...remove the throat plate and bobbin case and get the lint out. I have a small compressor that I use to clean it all out, compressed air works great too to get into all the little nooks and crannies. :)

my machine locked up today (in much the same way). i panicked. when the thread was going around the bobbin case, it was getting stuck. i still have in my head the nice korean lady that sold me the machine when she told me, 'when something goes wrong, before you panic, unthread and rethread the entire machine'.

it worked for me! don't know why, but it worked today!

I have cleaned the machine. I also have a paint brush to help brush out the lint and to spread the oil around. The machine was cleaned and ready to go before I started sewing on it a couple days ago. Now, it is cleaned again.
I have threaded and re-threaded and re-threaded again everything.
I've had out the entire lower bobbin parts...all that come out. I've oiled and cleaned that area and put it back...probably 20 times.

The outcome is the same!

And I'm holding the thread from the lower bobbin as I first start sewing...

I think something is bent? Or, as Judy said, it could be out of time? I don't know.

I can get another el cheapo at WM for like $57 (around that area)...I don't know whether to try to get it fixed or get another cheapie. If I get it fixed, it may end up costing as much as a new cheapie would be?
BUT...I should be getting back my other one sometime...probably not until next year, though, is my guess.

I'm just stumped. I really don't know what to do. It's crappy when your back-up machine needs a back-up! :(


We have a snow day today, so I have both kids home, too.
I guess we might put up our tree later. DD has a sore throat and is whiney and the baby is just not acting like he feels good. I think steam is about to pour out my ears.

I have a Shark and when I try to sew fast the whole bobbin mechanism jumps out of place. Very irritating on those long straight stretches. If that wasn't bad enough, I meant to bring the Bernina home at Thanksgiving when we went to the mtns and plumb forgot. If it wasn't 5 hrs one way, I'd go get it! I like the decorative stitches on the Shark but this bobbin thing has me steaming too. So I know how you feel!

One other thought... Does the bobbin go in the same way on both machines? My Bernina and Elna both have the thread go opposite the way it finally comes out, but when I did the ex's machine (a Singer) that way for my daughter one evening, what a mess it made.
On the Elna, the only time I got lots of top thead living below the plate was when I was using crappy thread and it filled up the bobbin area with fuzz, making everything go Kafloooy (highly technical term).

tim in san jose

No. They are VERY different.
THe new machine (that is now in TN) is fairly simple to thread the lower bobbin. All you have to do is take a little plastic piece off in front of the feed dogs. The bobbin lays in there horizontal, you pull out some thread in a little groove until it reaches the cutter. It cuts itself off at the right length...plastic plate goes back on, and that's it!
The upper thread has a cartridge you put the spool in and run your thread around in the proper grooves on it...then, push it into the machine, and it automatically threads the needle...and this upper needle threader is what broke and caused me to have to ship it away for repair.

where in tenn is it going thanks dorothy from tenn

Hello, i know what you are feeling, with mine i cleaned as you have done then changed to a new needle and it worked try it worked. good luck

One last suggestion. When was the last time you changed your needle? Could it be bent just a tad? Dull?
I feel so sorry for you and know how frustrated you must be. Hope that machine shapes up and soon!!

Do you have trouble with the feed dogs on your Brother? Mine won't grip the fabric enough to sew over an intersection well, and is hard to get the fabric started on chain piecing. Is this an adjustment that a repairman could fix, do you think?

I think you will find that you still have some thread stuck near the bobbin... has happened to me several times and ALWAYS there is a small length of thread hiding.... take the bobbin out and move the needle up and down manually and you might just see it sticking out, then take something like pliers and pull the thread out very carefully..... good luck....

It went to Brother's repair shop

North Brother BLVD
Bartlett, TN

This is my back-up machine, and I haven't used it in a year...I can't get it to work long enough to know, but I don't remember having any feed dog trouble out of this one...

Esther and Yvonne: That is my next step. Mom suggested it, too. Thanks!

Have you tried changing your upper tension a little bit, either more or less? I had the same problem today and after trying all the other remedies that you mentioned that was the one that worked for me. Hope it does for you too! Also try changing the needle. I too was working on a rag quilt for my daughter. Maybe it's something about all that flannel I was trying to sew that did it?

I've been a little too frustrated (and also busy outside putting up Christmas lights yesterday. It was 61 degrees!!!) to mess with the machine again, yet!

DD was home sick last week, and we had snow days....then we saw Playhouse Disney LIve Saturday...
Maybe it will work better when I do go back to it... hopefully!

Let me update on this one. I changed the needle. I inspected the old one, and it looked no different than the new one, not that I could see without a microscope or magnifying glass.
I adjusted the upper thread tension.
I sewed for a little while with it today, then BOOMIt started up again! :(
I tried calling brother twice and left voicemails twice was promised I'd be called back twice.
Now, I'm trying to find out something online...it's a joke! It must be!

As I have already said.... it could be a piece of thread that is hiding... you will need to unscrew what you have to and have a look..... it has happened to me several times and it ALWAYS was a piece of thread about 2 inches long.....

Try a new needle and then adjust your tension. Worked for me.

I will try it. I didn't realize you meant to unscrew things. I haven't messed with the machine for a few days, since I got my other one back.

Have you changed the brand of thread that you are using? I have a Janome that does not like Coats and Clarks thread at all. It will bind up so thight that nothing will make it move. Using canned air will sometimes just push the lint further into the machne. it is very time consuming, but take a small brush and a tweesers and start looking inside to see what is jammed into the back of the bobbin case area.
Try a new needle, different brand of thread in both the bobbin and top thread and see what happens. Good luck. :(
nannapat

Hi, Pat. I have tried many different brands/kinds of thread. Thanks!

Miranda...I was reading the manual that came with my new brother I just got for Christmas, and it said that if the bobbin case is scratched it can cause this very problem. It suggest ordering a new bobbin case and replacing it. Not sure if this is the problem with your or not...but maybe (and I know you had problems with them before but...) if you called them they could give you more info if this is the problem or not.

I have a Brother and this happened to me. I took it apart and there was thread pieces and dust from the thread down in the bobbin case. I used the little brush and a vaccum to clean it out. It worked great. Hopefully that is all it is. Maybe it is just in far enough you can't see it with the naked eye. Good luck!

hey Judith thats what I was going to suggest...I have the same brother as she does without the probs but if I have been sewing fast or for long periods if I move it back and forth I dont have the problem :)

It could be. I haven't tried anything else since I got the "new" one back, but the new one messed up a bunch yesterday. I guess family should not look for handmade gifts from me this year. :(

I will try it...I've not had good luck with Brother's service dept. being helpful! Sometimes you can talk to someone that is helpful.

Thanks. It just aggravates me that I cannot get gifts made that I wanted. :( Oh, well. IOU's sounding better all the time! LOL!!!

I have problems like you're describing when I use Guitterman thread. My Viking 1+ throws up every time I use that thread. My other machines use it without problem. Picky picky picky. It's not just mine. My sister's Designer 1 also will not sew with that thread. Hope you figure it out soon.
Linda

Hi Miranda,
Your timing is out of whack. But rather than picking up another cheap-o, I would go to my local thrift shop or check craigs list and pick up a working older singer / brother / white sewing machine. I mean the old 19 - 00 pound work horses. I keep one threaded with black, all the time. Whip it out when I have a quick job using dark thread. Before going home with the machine, (I always carry a ziplock bag with thread & needles in it with 4 different kinds of bobbins... just in case I find a nice used machine to test) make sure that the needle goes up and down and the feed dogs are working, open up the lower machine and check to see the bobbin case (if it has one) is spinning. What this does is make sure there arent any broken gears. But if there are it wont be terribly expensive to repair the machine. Singers from the 70's & 80's are notorious for having nylon gears and the teeth chipping from them. What I would do is pick up even a non working one of them for next to nothing, drop about $125 into it at the repair shop, and then keep it as a good old stand-by. They form excellent stitches, handle heavier fabrics and you can use a mechanical ruffler on them without worrying. I have a 30 or so year old White sewing machine (all metal gears inside) that is a real champ, sews through leather, is pretty to look at, is respectable for free motion sewing, quilted beautifully, has adjustable presser foot pressure control like the new Janome's. A beautiful machine... and I only use my griest ruffler on that machine because everything else I have is electronic and more sensitive and I am afraid I would damage the machines using it. (call me a worry wort) LOL

I hope this is some help to you.
Good luck.
Paula
(I know it is easier to drop another $57 into a cheap machine, but in the long run, you will be happier with a vintage singer or white... and I am not talking about the old old 50 - 60 year old black behemouths either!)

That is basically my theory with my Elnas. I have an old Super that is always threaded, there are three older Supermatics in storage waiting to be needed, if the Super ever breaks down. My main machine is a Bernina 830. I am not going to hold my breath waiting for it to die.

tim in san jose

Thanks, LInda.

Paula, I'm definately going to pick up the next used one I find if it is cheap. (and if it "works" and all). I know how all the gears and guts of things are made out of plastic (or nylon as you said). It's the same way with Kitchen Aid mixers, and I have one that is just a couple years old. I'm scared it will die. Everything else I get tears up! My DH told me I was going to have to stop being so "hard" on appliances and such! (jokingly)

Have you tried unscrewing things in the bobbin area yet to find thread?

When the Kitchen Aid does stop working, it is going to be a fiber gear, and yes it can be replaced for far less than a new mixer. Mine is going on 20 years and I get the feeling it is just a batch of bread dough away from needing fixing.

tim in san jose

Linda: OMG! :!: the new Kitchen Aid Mixers have plastic gears in them now? Are you talkng about the big stand-up mixers? :? I have the 1974 Kitchen Aid, the first model of the current style Hobart Released. It is all metal gears inside. Here I was hoping for a new to me 6 quart sometime in the next 20 years... hmmm maybe not! :roll: Thanks for the heads up!

Paula

I had the same problem! I removed the needle plate and took out the bobbin cover and discovered a little nick in it- that's what mine was snagging on. I simply smoothed it out with a nail file and put everything back in place, and it worked after that!