Hi,Nope rarely have that problem,my needles don't get the chance to ' age', I usually break them long before that !!! So often I forget that I have a 1/4 inch foot on when I want to do a fancy stitch-- then my poor machine beeps and shudders as the needle breaks---so do I.The old grey cell are sometimes a little slow when I'm on a roll with a new idea. Oh well It means my needles are always sharp,even if I'm not ! Letty.