Help with Brother PQ1500SL
 

For some reason my needle is no longer centered on my straight stitch machine, Brother PQ1500SL. It is just a tiny smidge to the left and is hitting the side of any foot I put on the machine. Does anyone know how this can be adjusted? I can't adjust stitch width since this is a straight stitch only machine. I have been all over the internet and back again and around again trying to find an answer. Help! TIA!!

Diana

The screw holding in the needle should be taken completely out and then the hole cleaned out. Could be fuzz in it. The needle bar set screw could have loosened. It wouldn't take much looseness mess up the alignment


You probably already did this but check that the needle is in right and not turned backward. This happens a lot.

Welcome from Texas.

Sounds like your needle might be ever so slightly bent but not enough for you to "see" that it's bent. I would try replacing the needle with a new one.

Thank you for the welcome :) I have tried a couple needles and that didn't fix it.

Could it possibly have hit a pin or something that maybe knocked the timing off, or the needle bar out of alignment?

I don't have any other ideas or suggestions. There is a FB group called "Brother PQ1500S pq1500sl and Baby Lock Jane Sewing Machines", maybe someone there can help.

It could be that the presser foot is twisted just a bit. To tell if it's the foot or the needle bar, remove the presser foot and see if the needle goes into the center of the needle plate hole. If it does, it's the presser foot that's twisted.

My Juki SS machine was just like this when I bought it. I called Juki and the tech was nice enough to email me a diagram showing the adjustment for this. Perhaps Brother would do the same for you. I have heard Brother gives good phone service.

Welcome to the QB from SE Michigan. I have the Brother 1500se, an older model similar with what you have. All the suggestions mentioned above should be helpful. Brothers does have tech support for the USA. I have traveled their site many times over the years. Your best bet above are dust and a bent needle. I know trying to get dust out or even trying to put in a new needle on the 1500 series can be a challenge. I will cheer you on because I is most likely this problem. If it is something else I would take it in for a tune up and repair. For something like this it should be included in the tune up.
Again welcome to the QB and I hope to see a lot of you here for some more quilty times.

Thank you so much for all the tips to try to fix my problem! I have not had a chance to try them because my job has been CRAZY, but hopefully soon. I just really appreciate the helpful and kind responses. :)