Mike,
I put 4 hrs on mine last night....and read many sites on threading and needle position,, then tried them all. I had this same problem when I got this, finally cured the problem but can't remember what it was..
last night, I had the same problem as you,, it's not constant. using 100/18 110/18 100/16 and a ploy thread.
My balling happens most often as it leaves the fabric,, the white stitches are from a standard treadle black is the 15 - 91
1st is 8 layers of T shirt next is only two