Tried this and it worked.
OK - last week I wrote about the Artistic 18 longarm skipping stitches while it was in "Cruise" mode and going in a backward motion. After doing every fix in the book and correcting the timing and raising the needle bar and adjusting the hopper foot ... it still skipped stitches. So after a call to the place of purchase they suggested unplugging everything. The encoders, the light, the "brain" of the machine and even unplug it from the wall for at least 1 hour. Well, I did that and when I went to sew ... it worked great. No more skipped stitches. Then I moved the handles to the back of the machine and tried the laser light - and it began to skip stitches. So I did the unplug it all and guess what .... now it workd great but I can't keep doing this. So I think the problem is in the "Brain" of the machine which is attached to the handle bar and plugs into the side of the sewing machine. I will be calling the shop again tomorrow to report my finding and maybe they can send me a new "control pack Brain" and see if this new one works consistantly.
They say there is a learing curve but this is getting laughable!
Bonnie aka KylersNanaB