Has your Q24 had problems with the check spring breaking?
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 3
Has your Q24 had problems with the check spring breaking?
I've had a Q24 for about a year and a half now. It's a lovely machine in most ways but I've run into a recurring problem and I thought I'd see if this is a common one among Q24 owners. Right before I took my machine in for it's one year tune-up, the check spring broke. I wasn't too concerned because I had used it heavily and it seemed to make sense that a flimsy wire would break after a year of heavy use. After I got my machine back I quilted a small number of quilts (maybe four) and....huh?....the spring broke again. Hmmm....maybe I was running the machine with the upper tension too tight. Must have been user error. I took my machine in again. Once I got it back I was very careful not tighten the upper tension above the default setting. Well....you can probably see what's coming. I quilted about four quilts and toward the end of the fourth a broken-off piece of the check spring fell onto my quilt. Is this a common manufacturer error or is it something I am doing? Or maybe something I'm not doing? If it's me, what (What??) could I be doing wrong?
Last edited by QuiltnNan; 06-01-2019 at 03:35 AM. Reason: shouting/all caps
#2
Welcome to the Quilting Board (QB)...I have only had my Q24 a couple of months and have only done a handful of quilts so, unfortunately, I cannot answer your question or offer any feedback. While I hope it something I won’t have to experience, I will be following this post to see if anyone else has had any issues or suggestions.
#3
I don't have experience with the Q24, however I have had an Innova for 8 or 9 years and I remember changing the check spring only once, maybe twice. It wasn't broken when I changed it, but the tension had become inconsistent. Changing it (on my machine) is easily done and doesn't require a technician. Since you've had so many failures in a short time, it would seem to me that something else might be going on. You may be right that someone got a bad batch of check springs. Ask the technician who has been working on your machine if others have complained about the same problem. Good luck!
#4
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: NY
Posts: 10,590
My experience has been the same as Dunster's. I also have an Innova and can change it myself. One of the problems I first noticed with the Bernina longarms is that you can't self service them, a major inconvenience IMHO. Many longarmers change the check spring regularly. I don't unless there is a problem. What you describe sounds like there is another problem as Dunster mentioned or perhaps a faulty batch of check springs are in the supply chain.
#5
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: NY
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Edited to add, with other brands of longarms where the upper tension assembly is on the exterior of the machine's housing, replacing a check spring does involve taking off the upper tension assembly. Most other LA on the market are pretty straightforward and mechanical so not too difficult to take it all apart to replace with the help of youtube and or manuals. Not the case with Bernina.
With bernina it is hidden away inside the housing of the machine. And tension settings are all electronic on the Bernina LA that I have seen and played with at shows and dealers. So they probably don't want end users messing about in there and will most likely void the warrantee if you try.
Last edited by feline fanatic; 06-01-2019 at 01:08 PM.
#6
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: kansas
Posts: 6,407
I have a Gammill and my tech said change your check spring at least once a year, more if getting heavy usage. I can change either just the check spring or the whole check spring assembly. My friend that has a Q24 for about a year now hasn't said anything about difficulty with check springs--sounds like maybe there is either a bad batch of them or the tech is not getting them in correctly??
#7
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Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 3
Thank you, everyone, for your replies. I hadn't thought about the possibility of a bad batch of check springs. Today I took my machine in to be repaired and was told Bernina will be releasing a new "assembly" (that's what I'm calling it but I'm not sure that is the correct word for it) which includes the check spring and which the owner can replace by removing just two screws. Sounds great to me if I correctly understood what I was told--but I don't guess this will be coming out for some time yet.
Last edited by saufroq1; 06-01-2019 at 11:22 PM. Reason: clarify meaning
#8
Today I took my machine in to be repaired and was told Bernina will be releasing a new "assembly" (that's what I'm calling it but I'm not sure that is the correct word for it) which includes the check spring and which the owner can replace by removing just two screws. Sounds great to me if I correctly understood what I was told--but I don't guess this will be coming out for some time yet.
#9
Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 13
update? Q24
Thank you, everyone, for your replies. I hadn't thought about the possibility of a bad batch of check springs. Today I took my machine in to be repaired and was told Bernina will be releasing a new "assembly" (that's what I'm calling it but I'm not sure that is the correct word for it) which includes the check spring and which the owner can replace by removing just two screws. Sounds great to me if I correctly understood what I was told--but I don't guess this will be coming out for some time yet.
#10
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 1,231
I have a Gammill and my tech said change your check spring at least once a year, more if getting heavy usage. I can change either just the check spring or the whole check spring assembly. My friend that has a Q24 for about a year now hasn't said anything about difficulty with check springs--sounds like maybe there is either a bad batch of them or the tech is not getting them in correctly??
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