cricket_iscute

What needle are you using, does it match your thread weight and fabric weight, and did you try changing it?

cjr

I changed rhe needle when I started quilting this quilt. Used reccomended needle

I spent a lot of time yesterday fiddling with this machine and more time ripping out quilting. I'll seeif i can get DH to take apart. I did download instructions from above mentioned web site.

ArchaicArcane

I doubt it's in any manual other than the TFSR manuals. Most owner's manuals say something to the effect of "If the top tension doesn't fix it, the bobbin tension may need to be adjusted". Not really helpful.

Yes, the 99 is basically the same case and it's the first one I ever found a deformed spring on. I don't know why it happens but I know that the one I was working on at the time had some thick thread on the bobbin. Perhaps that's all it takes? The springs for the 99 and the 401 are still available but the replacement ones are very brittle and I've had one snap at the screw hole before I ever got it fully tight to set it back to the original setting.

Caroline, could you possibly thread the machine with 2 different colors and sew a test strip on some scrap fabric and post a photo of both sides? Sometimes all of our eyes together can spot something...

manicmike

Great idea. A picture's worth... etc. :-)

EDIT: Caroline, did you check the hook timing after setting the needle height? If the pop is gone (you didn't say, but I assume it is) and you're still having tension trouble I still suspect it's the hook timing

Jeanette Frantz

Tammi and Caroline, I've had a 328K since it was NEW, back in 1963. I've never had a bobbin problem with my machine, except for one thing. One of the tiny (VERY TINY) screws in the bobbin case worked its way out and fell on the floor. MAJOR PROBLEM THEN! However, my son and his ingenuity, once he discovered that there was a missing screw, he ran a magnet all around the machine, and before long he picked up the TINY, TINY screw up with the magnet. Bingo, put the screw back in and tried it out -- just a little bit of adjustment, and it ran like a champion. Just a word of caution -- the screw is EXTREMELY TINY, and it was very hard to determine that the screw was missing! It was even harder to find the location where the screw fit. Finding the "spring" on the bobbin case was also quite a trick. Be very careful handling the screw -- it's very easy to lose it and very hard to find it once it's lost! The spring, once it works its way out, can easily drop into the works on the bobbin case, and can jam up the machine. To continue trying to run the machine can cause even more damage to the bobbin case. Because the machine is all metal, it doesn't damage easily!

I've never had a problem with my bobbin case (except for this one instance, and except for a metal bobbin which was damaged when stepped on. Of course, if you step on a plastic bobbin, it will break and won't work at all. I do buy the Singer plastic 66 bobbins and they work very well in my machine. I have no idea why others have problems with the plastic bobbins and I don't! I do know that the Singer plastic bobbins work very well in my machine, but the "cheapo" plastic ones not made by Singer, my son tells me, are absolutely awful! Recommend a thorough check of the bobbin case, clean out and lubricate the bobbin case, and I hope it will be okay!

Give it a try!

Jeanette

cjr

Thank you very much all. Lots of other things going on, this challenge will have to wait a month or so. I'm switched to a Singer 1939 66 to finish this quilt. I need to have it finished by Memorial day for Granddaughters graduation. I will get back to it.

tranum

Very very important to have the correct size bobbin. Don’t ask me how I know this !