Originally Posted by blisterful
(I posted a few weeks before when I was having trouble with timing going out 3 times in three weeks). I am still having the same issues with this machine. Yesterday, authorized Bernina repairman said the reason my Bernina is going out of time is because I have been threading machine with the pressure foot down. I find it hard to believe his statement. If this were true, our owner's manuals would have a great big warning statement telling us our machine may need servicing if we thread needle with pressure foot up. Bernina owners, please let me know if you have ever threaded your machine with the pressure foot down and what you think of his explanation.
Just to clarify...when I said my machine gets "out of timing', I mean the whole bobbin case has come loose and the needle misses the opening where the hook is.... resulting in the needle hitting the casing. I'm not talking about my machine being "out of tolerance" where the stitches aren't correct.
Luckily, now that I'm so cautious of this machine, I sew with one eye and one ear focused on anything unusual, and I can catch the problem just as it happens and have avoided breaking a needle. I'm not speaking of just skipped stitches or thread breaking. Yesterday after getting machine back from shop I used Bernina for only about 2 minutes and then it wouldn't sew again! This time the needle went through bobbin case just fine, but needle wouldn't pick up bobbin thread.
Last night told me the machine was getting out of alignment because I didn't have pressure foot up when threading machine. After I got home, I looked up needle threading in my manual and it states pressure foot up, but no warning that "if you don't do it you will have severe mechanical problems and break needles!". I am not buying the fact that I have damaged my machine by threading it with the pressure foot down.
I have been in the sewing industry and have sewn on many brands and models. The timing has only gone out twice. That was when I was sewing commercially 40+ hrs. a week for 3 years.
Using a machine over a long period of time may cause a little wear or slippage. When the timing goes out on a machine, your machine will not sew properly, loose stitching, skipped stitches, etc.
So, you take your machine in for servicing and you are good to go for several more years. Not like I've been doing, taking my Bernina in to have timing set every week for 4 weeks.
Since I posted this morning, I called another Bernina dealer 40 miles aways. She said the pressure foot should be up when threading since it releases the tension and your first few stitches might be affected by being loose, etc. HOWEVER, not having the pressure foot up when threading will not throw your machine out of time causing the serious problems I have. She said there is something else going on.