Help, can’t reach broken thread Sweet 16
 

I had a needle sensor failure alert. Sure enough, thread is snarled in bobbin are. Could not get it out so unscrewed needle plate. The thread is quite short and tightly caught, I can not reach it to dislodge. I am in Hong Kong so there is no technical help here. Does anyone have a suggestion?

Concur with long pair of tweezers. There are ones that have a bent tip that might work. There are plenty to look at on amazon so you can get an idea

You have to release the pressure of the thread being caught up so tight. I would start cutting it into pieces. Use anything that will let you release it, razor blade, thread ripper or a pair of small scissors with those very sharp tips. Then use a small vacuum or tweezer's to get all the small pieces out of the mechanism. When I have had to do this, I have hade to take the whole bobbin assembly apart. Even a small piece of thread can cause you more problems.

Wonder why it happened in the first place? Are you using the correct bobbins? I have several different machines and have learned the value of buying machines that use the same bobbins. Some that look the same have a tiny size difference that can cause a lot of problems. Maybe a longer piece of thread that wasn't on the bobbin got down there and snarled itself up. Hope this is a one time problem and your sewing becomes much happier today.

Edited to add: I just realized you said a Sweet 16. I think what I have stated still applies, but maybe not. I have a Nolting long arm and when I have had bobbin problems it has been because the bobbins were wound loosely. Rarely do I see thread snarled down there. Good luck with clearing your problem up.

Sometimes a little bit of oil and work the hand wheel - this is enough to move the thread to a point where you can grab it.... Good luck!

yes, to above replies, try to see if you can move the hand wheel a little bit. this ususally helps me dislodge a bit of thread.

I agree with Barb about cutting the thread. But I would try releasing thread after each cut to minimize the amount of small cut pieces of thread. At some point, after a cut, you will hopefully be able to pull and release the thread.

If you really have to tug on a thread, having a pair of hemostats handy is very nice. The ones I have now are 5 1/2" long, but I preferred my old ones, which were 7" like these: https://www.amazon.com/Fishing-Strai...gateway&sr=8-7
Hong Kong is a very populous place, so I'm sure there must be medical supply stores where you could buy one locally if you needed to.

I, too was going to suggest a little oil and maneuver the bobbin. That is what we used to do on the commercial machines.