I almost panicked...but I solved the problem!
The other day my Janome 7700 was sewing badly. I figured there was thread in the tension disks, but didn't know how to get to them--they've pretty much managed to make them impossible to get to.
However, I pleaded with my DH to open up the front so I could get it them better. he couldn't get the front panel all the way off without breaking something, but he created more room for me to work on it.
After a while, I decided that surely the tension disks were ok in the front, but in the back, where the thread tends to migrate, it wasn't grabbing the thread--so that meant something was stuck in there. I couldn't see it, even with a magnifying glass, flashlight, extra lamp, etc. I was desperate! Why? Well, I bought it on line from a dealer about 5 hours from here. There is only one authorized Janome dealer in Poland, I've heard and it is about 5 hours in another direction....The thought of packing it all up in the boxes, finding the receipt, trying to get someone to look at it and fix it was more than I wanted to think about.
So, back to work I went. I finally cut a very small piece of cardboard about 1/4" wide by 4" long and stuck it gently down the back side of the tension disks, where I couldn't get to. When I pulled it up, up came the glob of thread you see in the photo. I grabbed it with my tweezers and was rejoicing. My DH was already in bed--I had been working on it for a while, but I told him, "It's fixed!" It sewed beautifully again, so I asked him to put the covers back on again.
So, I'm grateful--so grateful. I had never had to try to find threads stuck in the tension disks before--maybe it is because I hadn't sewn as much as I have in the last 10 years or so. I had a Pfaff Hobby that had had those problems. When I realized what it had to be (thread in the tension disks), I was able to find it and remove it, but with that machine I could get to the tension disks more easily. This Horizon--they've made it almost impossible!
Anyway, I'm putting pictures of the problem, the mess, the tools and I used and why I couldn't get to it without removing the cover at least somewhat.
I may have invalidated the warranty by doing it, but it is worth it to me--the very thought of the hassle of packing it up and sending it off somewhere, after finding a courier--it's more than I want to deal with!