I have a Brother PC-420 (the Project Runway version), and between yesterday and today, it's bent/broken three needles! I have no idea why. Here's what happened, hopefully there are some clues for those of you who have more experience than I do:
Needle break #1:
I've been sewing for a week straight, and yesterday the needle gets bent during a stitch. I couldn't find an obvious cause, so just switched the needle.
Needle break #2:
Well, this was just a bending. The next day, I was checking the new needle to make sure it wasn't going to break and just with one stitch, it was bent a little tiny bit! I put in a new needle, and made double sure everything was in the right position and nothing was mis-aligned before I started sewing again.
Needle break #3
I sewed for half a day with no problem. At some point, I realized the auto threader stopped working. It seemed to be no longer aligned with the needle's eye. To fix it, I went to remove and re-install the needle, and I realized the needle was kind of stuck in the needle bar. It took a little wiggling to get out. I gave up on the threader for an hour before I decided to try fixing the alignment again. This time, the needle was REALLY stuck in the bar. It didn't budge with any amount of wiggling. I gave up on it for good, and when I started sewing, the needle was WAY bent and then broke off. I had to use pliers to pull the "stump" out of the needle bar.
So the clues:
- Needle gets wedged tightly, unusually so
- Auto threader not aligning
- Repeat bending/breaking despite efforts to check position
I suspect it has to do with something in the needle bar. Maybe some small part that's loose or broken?
Has anyone experienced something similar? I don't really know what to look for when I'm examining the needle bar.
(I've already looked in the needle bar for any sort of culprit, and I removed the bobbin/shuttle to clean and look. Nothing suspicious, only a bit of lint. I haven't been sewing anything heavy duty, just some thin satin.)
Thanks in advance!