Help! Bobbin issues on new Brother Pq1500s
 

Ok ladies. I am in dire need of help. So I just got my new quilting machine today. It's threaded. Bobbin is in. I sew. I stop sewing. I want to make sure everything is good, I get all excited, and then I see the problem. I rethread. I rebobbin (yes, I'm fairly certain that is a word). Same thing. (By the way, this is not thread cutter related.) I go to pull out my muslin and I can't do it bc I see there are 3 threads coming out from underneath where the bobbin thread exits and there is no sliding out, it's stuck/jammed. You can see what the bobbin thread looks like on the second picture. Does anybody, by any remote miracle, know what's going on here?

Actually, I'm not so sure it's bobbin issues. WHen I switched the bobbin threat to white it turns out that the black top thread is the one getting caught. Argh!

I have this machine and found it difficult at first. My guess is that the bobbin isn't sitting in the machine correctly. Or isn't fitting in the bobbin case correctly. Make sure you practice a straight stitch first with feed dogs up before you try FMQ. Keep trying... I love my machine.

We use this same machine at work. 1. Do you have the bobbin in the case correctly? Bobbin should unwind clockwise. 2. Do you have the bobbin thread completely seated under the tension spring? 3. When you put the bobbin back into the machine, do not have the little flip handle out. When you press in the bobbin case you should hear/feel a click. 4. When you thread the machine, you should go straight from the thread holder to the pre-tensioner (the thing with 3 holes in it). Your thread should be going down in ALL 3 HOLES. (If you use just 2 like in the manual the thread screws up) It should be down hole 1, back up and down hole 2, back up and down hole 3 Thread should be wrapping around the tensioner. When you thread the machine, make sure the pressure foot is in the up position. Make sure you have your thread completely seated in the tension disks AND you are going around the check spring, then under the hook and up into the needle take up. Also, if you have changed your needle the eye of the needle goes side to side not front to back. Also, the FLAT SIDE of the needle shaft goes to the right.

Let me know if this doesn't help and I'll check it out better.

GOOD LUCK, those are DYNAMITE machines!

The top thread is the problem. I used to have this problem frequently when doing FMQ and still have it at times. I can't exactly say what causes it because I'm a novice at FMQ. For me it tends to happen when I get my hand speed and machine speed out of sync. After much frustration and trying every possible solution, I have found when it happens now I need to walk away. After a bit of a break, things always seem to go better.

I love the machine and hope you will come to love yours, too. I'm no expert on anything, but I've had the machine for over year. Feel free to PM me if you have any problems that I may be able to help with.

My heart goes out to you. I hope you figure this out.

Did you put the presser foot down?

I don't use all three holes, using all three puts too much tension on the thread. I use the first hole and only go through it from the top, use it like a thread guide. The manual says it's for various threads that may need more tension, not for every thread. Threading this way solved many of my top and bobbin thread issues and stopped the needle from becoming unthreaded when using the thread cutter.

Oh it's so nice to hear people out there! I've been working on this for the past 4 hours. I could cry. What concerns me also is the tension dial. No matter what I set it to, after I've been quilting for even a minute or two it just goes to whatever tension it desires on its own. The dial itself doesn't seem loose, but it's got a mind of its own and it is definitely laughing at me. Do sewing machines have personalities?! I swear this one does.

I believe the bobbin is correct, it fits into the machine. I have tried only threading through one of the holes, not two. I'm using a new needle, good thread, and no matter what the upper thread forms a huge mess on the bottom. This has to be operator error, but I have not gotten five good minutes out of this machine all night. I don't want to mess with the bobbin tension bc that I have done all the bobbin tests and that is smooth when I pull on it.

I am going to take a deep breath and try to reevaluate tomorrow. Any other suggestions or prayers, I am listening to you!

Crashnquilt, my bobbin (sorry, I get so confused with this) unwinds counterclockwise. If I'm holding the bobbin in my left hand, I wind the thread around it in a clockwise motion with my right hand. This is the way I put it into the bobbin holder. Is this correct?

I know nothing of your machine specifically, not do I know anything about machine quilting. With those disclaimers...have you checked to see if you have some teeny, weensy piece of thread stuck somewhere in the bobbin area? That's what usually messes up my viking.

I use both ways, 1 or 2 holes, so I don't think that's your problem. Can you get a decent regular stitch? When the bobbin compartment is open and you "hand turn" the needle, does it pick up the stitch correctly?

Are you sure you are using the correct bobbin? My Pfaff bobbins fit, but the sewing was all messed up.

I practiced with threading, changing bobbin, regular stitching before I tried free motion quilting. But I don't remember having to do much with tension. I think the bobbin case needed one tiny screw turn. Again, make sure it's working well on the regular stitches. I put my Pfaff away and use the Brother for piecing.

Here is yahoo group just for this machine. It has helped me a lot. : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PQ1500/

My repair guy says it has to do with upper tension. BUT, I had to return a Brother machine because it was defective. Unfortunately it happens, and I called Brother and they told me to return it ( I had issues other than what you have) so if all else fails and even the repair guy can't help, call Brother and ask if they have problems with this machine. I love my new one.

I think it is the upper tension. What I don't love is that the tension dial does not stay where I put it. It moves on its own when I sew. I put it on 4 and next thing i know its at 6 or 2. I have threaded and rethreaded, new thread, new bobbin, new needle.

It sounds like you really need to contact Brother and tell them you have a defective machine. If your tension dial won't stay where you put it, there is no way you will EVER get a good stitch out of that machine.

I have never had my tension dial move on it's own. That sounds wrong to me.

It's not normal. All other issues I'm sure I could figure out but this one has me stumped. I'm talking to the tech on Friday. Has anyone purchased a machine from amazon? The seller was kens sewing and vacuum place. Please tell me you've had positive experiences with this.

After a clean head and a conversation with the tech, I learned that you have to adjust the tension on this machine with the presser foot down. I also noticed that when the presser foot is up, it does something to the dial and it appears as though it's a different tension. You put the presser foot down again, and voila! It's at the same tension you originally had. Honestly!

Anyhow, I was also (**sigh of deep embarrassment**) not threading correctly. With new eyes in a new day, I was missing something.

So now my machine is better. I do still notice that the bobbin thread is still showing up on the top although generally better with the tension at 1. I can't go less with this and this seems to be the remaining problem. (There also was a bit of puckering when straight lining but I don't notice with FMQ and that's the only thing I'm using this machine for.) The bobbin tension seems good and I don't want to go fiddling with it. Is it normal to have a small bit of bobbin thread showing through? No top thread seems to be showing up on the bottom. The bottom looks perfect!

Why are you so nervous about fiddling with your bobbin tension? Your statements "the bobbin tension seems good" and "a small bit of bobbin thread showing through" are contradictory. If your bobbin thread is showing on top and you can't adjust your top thread tension further, then you MUST adjust your bobbin tension.

I have this same machine, only had it for 6 months or so. It sews perfectly until I try to fmq and like you it goes nuts. One thing I found is that inside the bobbin compartment is a little hook with a thread cutter in it. You put your bobbin in and then pull the thread around this and it cuts the thread off. This was new to me because any machine I ever had you would use the hand wheel and then pull the bobbin thread to the top of the machine. You must use this little contraption and not try to by pass it or your machine will not sew correctly and create awful birds nests on the back and even pull the fabric down into the machine. Also when doing fmq reduce the pressure on the foot by using the round knob on top of the machine to back it off a little. Your owners manual will explain more about that, but that did help me a lot. Also one other thing, Make sure when you thread the machine, the thread goes thru the needle left to right. The owners manual for this machine in my opinion is not very clear and right after I got it I found out I was threading it inorrectly. You are very correct in that the machine speed and how you coordinate your hands when doing fmq is very important. On that one you will need to practice and get the feel. I have 5 other machine and have been sewing for over 40 years and this machine is definitely different. Just practice and try all the suggestions here posted by others. Most of the other comments I can relate to and have tried myself. Stick with it, get some scrap fabric and practice it will get better. Good luck

Thank you so much. Think I have finally figured it out. I was almost going to take a hammer to this beautiful machine!

I'm having the same problem you had with the upper thread. It seems to get caught (producing your "third" thread) under the needle plate in the machine part that holds the bobbin case. I can avoid difficulty if I use the automatic thread cutter. Unfortunately, if, with the needle in the up position, I try to pull my material away to manually cut the threads, I often meet resistance and I appear to be pulling out 4 threads, not just two. This occurs especially when I use the reverse stitch lever, but at other times, too. Is you problem still solved or do you still have reoccurring difficulties with this problem?

When I bought my Janome 6600, the tension dial wouldn't stay put. It kept loosening. I even taped it with masking tape to keep it in place. I took it in to be repaired and they fixed it. It still moves if I accidentally bump it with my thumbnail, but it will hold it's tension now. I would take it back to the dealer and have their technician fix it.

Solved my thread problem of a few days ago: another case of user-error. I took off the needle plate to watch the bobbin case holder below and saw that the thread was catching on its "pointy part." All I needed to do was turn the hand wheel a little more to get beyond this section so there would be no snagging.