Ugh, I just hate that I spent almost as much on this as I would have a new car and I don't enjoy the process. So basically, it is this complex for most long armers? How do you all stand the constant ripping out stitches and fiddling with this and that until you figure out the solution to the newest problem?

To to be honest, my gut tells me prism is right and I just got a dud machine. I told my dealer the other day that all these issues can't be operator errors. She's going to talk with the team about my concerns. It makes me ill that I spent so much money on something that takes a whole room in my house and I can't stand using it.

My stitches are usually not a problem, but one time I had lint in the arm of the bobbin case. I used to use a pin or needle to try to clean it out, but now keep a small dental floss...and floss my bobbin case! Keep at it....could be you are learning to trouble shoot for another time. Big deep breath...keep a list of what you have tried. Do you belong to an owners group for your machine? Other owners are the BEST resource.

I have an APQS Millenium equipped with Intelliquiler. I invested in the Towa gauges and been very satisfied with results. It took time getting the settings written down for my machine but was well worth the effort. An instructor I once had said "take it to the test kitchen" ... I do a protest on scrap to get my gauge settings anytime I work with something new so I can record the gauge settings and the fabric and thread information. You should not be having the kinds of problems you are describing. I would call the dealer again.

I have an Innova and am very pleased with it, but do occasionally have tension issues. Usually due to a blob of lint getting stuck in the bobbin case spring. But tension going off mid bobbin like you describe, really makes me think your bobbin winder on the machine is not winding properly so you are getting bobbins that are not wound with a nice even tension, too loose and too tight in places.

Just for the fun of it, why don't you try investing in some prewound bobbins and see if the problem persists. I am a great fan of the magna glide bobbins from filtec www.bobbincentral.com. The little magnetic core eliminates backlash issues as well (you need to remove the anti backlash spring in your bobbin case if you have one, should you decide to use magna glides). I rarely wind my own bobbins any more and my tension is constant right down to the last inch of thread on those bobbins. Now I have had some issues with some of Superior's prewound bobbins. They tend to go wacky the last 1/4 of the bobbin so I use those for sewing on bindings.

Feline, I like the idea of trying pre wound bobbins. My bobbins look tight and even, but I suppose it's impossible to really know while you are using them. I think I'll take my bobbin case to the dealer too so they can make sure it's not messed up somehow.

if I'd known I would have so many issues, I don't think I would have gotten a long arm, but it's too late to turn back now. Well, at least without losing a bunch of money by selling it.

Yes, prewound bobbins are the berries. What brand is your L/A......did you have a few lessons with purchase. Has the dealer come to your place to actually " see" what you are having a problem with? Sometimes simple things like can cause major issues.....going to fast for stitches to properly connect...I really am sorry that you are so bitter about your investment.....did you try before you bought? I have been doing this for about 15 yrs., and even with my regiment of things I do regularly, occasionally a prob comes up that makes me scratch my head...but then I do the checklist again and somehow it corrects.......I wish you the best of luck.....

I know you said that your dealer has been helpful, and has been out to the house to check etc - have you tried contacting Pfaff directly? Their educators are pretty good.
I recently had a situation with my machine and the local dealer was "so helpful", came to the house a few times etc but the problems went unsolved. As the machine was brand new, I got frustrated and contacted the company directly - turns out they wanted to see the machine in their shop - long story short - they had been asking the dealer to have it shipped back but the dealer wouldn't tell me that.
It might be worth a try, especially since you have had tension problems right from the start.
My machine was the same brand too, but never had tension problems, it was a software glitch combined with a motor box problem - all the problems are solved now, and so quickly once I got the manufacturer rep involved.
PM me if you want further help in following this path,,,,,
Good luck,

The only advice that I can tell you is to wait for a quilt show or sewing expo and test drive all the longarm they have in there and ask all the question you have. The reason I am telling you this is because a bought one last year and I don't like it that much even though is a great machine. A Longarm is a personal preference and also a budget matters.

This is helpful information. Thank you. I spoke with my dealer briefly yesterday and we will probably meet to discuss the problems again today. They have been very kind, but of course it is a business for them. I'm hoping we can resolve the problems without me having to get rid of my long arm.

I truly appreciate all the help and support provided on this board. Lately I end up crying whenever I have to pick out stitches. It's so much money to have spent only to ruin the fabric (thus the whole quilt) by picking out stitches over and over until everything is warped and even sometimes torn in a few spots.

I will update after I meet with my dealer.

I talked with my dealer. She is confident my machine is good, but just to be sure she's having the long arm teacher and the machine tech come out to my house. We're going to load a quilt on my machine so the educator can adjust the tension herself to make sure the baseline is good. Then we will quilt a while on it so if the machine isn't working correctly, the tech can fix it while the educator is there to be sure it's quilting well. They did this with one other customer and apparently her machine needed a lot of adjusting, but she's been happy with it ever since.

I really like and respect my dealer and I'm glad they didn't just leave me hanging. I'm hesitantly hopeful. They are confident I'll be a happy quilter yet, so we will see!