meyert

Hello..... In May I bought a Janome 6600 and I LOVE it. I have had many hours of problem free sewing, but today I had an episode. I was machine quilting a memory quilt. I was using a decorative stich. The same decorative stitch that I have used on 2 other completed quilts. This 3rd quilt I was probably 80% completed with the quilting.. then I heard a noise. I don't know what it was. But I stopped sewing pulled out my quilt and put in my "test fabric". When I started again on my "test fabric" all was well. So I put my quilt back in.. and I barely started sewing again and I noticed everything was knotting up - the feed dogs were not moving. I didn't get too many stitches in... but when I stopped I could not use the auto thread cutter - I got error "stop for safety". I couldn't pull my quilt out... it was all knotted up. I ended up removing the foot and taking a seam ripper to remove some stitches to get some wiggle room. Then I tried to pull the bobbin out, but I couldn't I had to cut the threads to get it out. I was using a different color thread on the bobbin and I could clearly see that the top thread was all pulled down into the bobbin case. I ended up having to have to take the plate off because the top thread was all knotted up under, in and around the feed dogs. After I cleaned all of that thread out the machine is running great again... Question #1 - Any ideas what I did or didn't do that could have caused this? I know without seeing first hand it may be difficult.. I am just looking for ideas to keep it from happening again. Question #2 - I didn't void my Janome warranty by pulling off the plate and pulling out that rats nest did I? Question #3 - The whole thing ended up putting a small hole in my quilt (maybe 1/16" or so). Thank God I had interfaced the tee shirt that probably kept it from getting worse... BUT do I need to be concerned that this hole will get bigger? If so, what can I do to prevent that from getting larger? I appreciate all of your thoughts Teresa

peacebypiece

Sounds like your top thread was not working properly. Perhaps the thread slipped out of the take-up lever, then lack of tension & all that extra thread underneath got tangled up. Also sounds like you did the right thing to "fix" it. Taking off the throat plate is not likely to void the warranty, since most machines now have changable throat plates for different types of sewing.
How about embroidering a very small motif over the hole. I'm thinking tiny flower or ladybug, etc.

meyert

Thank you for your reply, I will watch my top thread. I like the idea of a flower, except this is a memory quilt for my nephew who we lost in an auto accident this spring...so the quilts are pretty masculine so the flower would not really fit in.

bbhatch

I have the same machine, and it seems to be rather finicky about lint/thread around the bobbin case. When it acts up I can usually dust out that area with a small paintbrush and some canned air to make it behave again.

BeckyB

your warranty will not be void for this, this is what you have to do to get the mess cleaned up and is not going to effect the warranty

Buckeye Rose

I also have the same machine and have episodes like you just did. Sometimes the thread will slip out of the take up lever causing problems....was suggested to me to thread the take up lever in the opposite direction - it does help a bit. I also find that sometimes the tension discs get "funny" and I have to turn the machine off and on again - seems to fix it. I don't care for the problems, but they only happen when doing fmq. I find that if I check the tension on the top thread before starting that it helps (with the presser foot down you shouldn't be able to pull the thread through).

Tartan

I have had this happen on occasion with a dense embroidery design on a thicker sandwich. It is as if the dense design gets hung up too long in one spot and then too much thread is at that spot. I also have had to take out my needle, remove the throat plate as far as possible and operate to get the quilt and thread to release. I try to use less dense designs on thicker sandwiches. Remove the plate falls under general cleaning and maintainance in my opinion and will not void a warranty. Is there an actual hole or are the threads just separated? Separated threads can be coaxed back into place with a pin. If it is a hole, you can put a label over it or add a pre-made embroidered patch in a guy theme.

Scissor Queen

There are a few things that can cause problems on the 6600. #1 is the thread jumping out of the take up lever. Thread it backwards and it won't be a problem. #2 is the bobbin not being threaded right. Make sure the thread is in the little slot. #3 is the thread coming out of the #7 thread guide. I only have this happen with really heavy threads.

quiltingloulou

I have had this happen and the cause apparently was a flaw (knot or such like) in the thread.

Peckish

This has happened to me and it's because sometimes I'm a doorknob and forget to lower the presser foot. However, it sounds like you had already been stitching quite a while, so that probably wasn't your problem.

Was your test fabric sandwiched with the same batting as the quilt?