Grand quilter 18.8/ quilt artist problems?
 

I've had this set up for three years, and due to circumstances have had very little use of it. A couple of quilts off the first winter. Followed by moving to a different location our farm 200 Kilometers away.Always use surge protected power source. After a year of not being able to go there I tried setting up quilt layers and the tensions didn't work I moved it back to the city for service required to get a new table so it could be serviced. We had it all set up and functional due to illness it sat another year. I did one free motion quilt for my grandson this spring. Now I'm trying to run it same problems with tension (thread breaks) partial patterns then x axis quit working called for a service call no sooner done and paid for replacement wheel and part of the service. Working sample plain layering, similar problems and feeling very frustrated. Is this a common experience?

I think this is a rebranded Tin Lizzie 18 LS. Look at the pictures from that company's site & compare it to your machine. I had a lot of issues with mine, however, tension wasn't one of them. I found this video very helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mRhcquZTM
I couldn't keep the stitch regulator working, and finally just learned to quilt without it. Not as advertised, but certainly can be done, and I successfully did a lot of quilts that way until I upgraded to a different brand.
If I am correct, and it is a tin lizzie, there is a yahoo group dedicated to this machine and very helpful.

I believe this is not part of the Tin Lizzie models. I do believe the Grand Quilter 18.8 is made by Pfaff.

Here is another site for problem with thread breakage
http://www.joscountryjunction.com/pf...knock-on-wood/

Also here is a discussion forum that you don't have to join and they talk about longarms
http://quiltwithus.connectingthreads...quilters/forum

Try setting your tensions the way Jamie Wallen recommends. It works for quilting on all machines, but is especially helpful for quilting on a longarm. Here is a link to his video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mRhcquZTM

What type and brand of thread are you using? I have found that Glide thread (a trilobal polyester from bobbincentral, available online from retail distributors) is very carefree on the longarm. I would recommend purchasing just one cone and trying it out to see if it solves some of your problems.

What brand and size of needle is in your machine? Typically you want a size 16 or even 18 for a longarm. However, it also depends somewhat on what size needle your machine came from. I just took a class from Jamie Wallen and he mentioned that you should never skip a needle size (up or down) on your longarm, as longarms come timed from the factory for a specific needle size. You can move up or down one needle size from that without a problem, but skipping a needle size can require re-timing of your machine for that needle size. Probably not your current issue, though.

Here is a link to a Yahoo group for the Pfaff machines, including yours:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/...ndQuilter/info

The above appears to be an active group, and you are likely to find some good help there that is specific to your setup.

Edit: Be sure to check out the links previously posted. It's possible your problems are related to your frame setup, and one of those links shows how to change it.

One more thing to consider. How tight are you winding the quilt sandwich? If it's drum tight, that can cause problems. Typically you want it loose enough that you can grab a finder that is poked up from underneath.

Thanks to everyone who posted the great links.