Help -Please
 

This has never happened to me before. I put an empty bobbin in the bobbin winder, pushed the lever down and filled the bobbin with new thread. It stopped, I lifted the lever up, and I cannot pull the bobbin off the bobbin winder. It is a Viking Husqvarna Lily Quilter 545. I thought there was thread wound around the winder, but can't seem to find any. Any suggestions before I take her to the Sewing Machine Doctor?? Please Help.

Did you by any chance fill the bobbin with nylon thread? I did this once on the Viking 555. The heat generated by winding the thread caused the bobbin to secure itself to the spindle...
I had to break the bobbin to remove it...this was what a SM mechanic told me to do. Just be careful not to break the spindle. It breaks a bit easier if you remove some of the thread....I know, what a waste of thread....but better than a service call.

Thanks Susie - I will give it a try. This Board is just wonderful - an answer within 5 minutes!!

Thank goodness it is not a metal bobbin. Those wouldn't break. That's mostly what I have for my vintage Viking and Singer Featherweights.

I did it - I unwound the bobbin and took the bobbin off the spindle, as easy as pie. It's good to know that I need to slow down when filling the bobbin with 100% poly thread. I usually don't buy it, but it was a good deal - little did I know. Thanks again for your help, Susie.

I have a V. too, and I'm glad to know that this can be a problem, and best of all, how to solve it if it happens. Thanks for posting it, Susie, and for answering.

Same issue here w/my Viking. Just slow down and you should be fine.

This happened to me and for some reason the thread was too tightly wound. I jut unwound it and the empty bobbin came right off!

Plastic bobbins will warp over time and not want to come off after being filled. Slowly winding the bobbins is always best. I just unwind the bobbin until I can safely get it off. Don't want to damage the winding mechanism of your machine. I have Vikings also!

Speed is not always good is what my dealer told me. I have a Viking and when filling it with regular thread, the bobbin was hard to remove. She told me to slow down so now I go about half speed if I need to fill a bobbin. For piecing, I purchased prewound bobbins so I don't have so many to fill!! :-) Happy Quilting!

Glad I could help...love the machine, but not too fond of a couple of it's quirks! 1/2 speed is always a plus when winding the bobbin.

WARNING - WARNING

Invisble thread - when using this in addition to slowing down DO NOT wind your bobbin all the way full. Only wind to about 3/4 otherwise you take the chance of getting your bobbin out of shape. They tell me to do this even on the metal (my bernina) bobbins.

Regarding the speed of winding your bobbin...I have been told that fast winding actually causes the thread to stretch. I've been told that by both my Viking dealer and my former home ec teacher.

Is your spindle all the way back in the sewing position? I had this happen and thank goodness the repairman did not charge me any thing. And he was sweet enough to wait til I left before he fell to the floor laughing. In my defense it was my 1st ''new'' fangled Singer. This is why I love my vintage Ladies - they are so easy to figure out their few problems at home.

When I first bought the first Viking (+1 or 1+) in 1999, I was told not to wind polyester thread fast because it would tighten the plastic bobbin up on the spindle, and it is not easy to remove it unless the thread is unwound first. I forgot one day, and it was a pain to unwind the thread. It is rather annoying the bobbins were specially made for this model and generic metal bobbins could not be used, instead. When I buy my next machine, it will take metal bobbins as well as plastic ones.

this is exactly the problem. It will not happen with your machines that have metal bobbins, only the plastic. It gets hot and out of shape. Wind it slower next tiime.

For this stuck bobbin, pull off the thread. You can save it if you wind it on another bobbin with an external winder. Then THROW THAT BOBBIN AWAY. It is warped and will not work.

I own several Vikings...When I went to a class with Sharon Shaumber she told us the common "L" metal bobbin fits in our machine and works better than the plastic. That would also eliminate the problem of tightening the plastic bobbin when it's wound. The only problem is the "L" bobbin doesn't fit on our winding post, BUT works great on the "sidewinder". Of course the other benefit is that you can but about 100 bobbins for $10!

I've had that problem with the stand alone bobbin winder. It winds so fast that every time I used a plastic bobbin the bobbin would break. I guess the speed built up too much heat. Now I wind the plastic bobbins on the sewing machine where I can control the speed. I don't have the problem with metal bobbins.

I'm so glad to have read this thread. I am a 'fast as possible' bobbin winder, and haven't had a problem so far, but now that I know that this can be an issue, I will definitely slow down and think preventative!

I'm thinking I am glad I passed on buying a Viking. I have enough challenges in life without my favorite toy being persnickety. I wish you all wonderful quilts, with lots of love.

This happened to me once before. I had wound a bobbin with bottom line. I had to bring it into the dealer. They didn't tell me how they fixed the problem, I just know the bobbin was off when I got it back. I learned something, here. I was not aware to wind the bobbin slower when using poly thread.

I have two Vikings and want to thank you for this post. I love my machines, but have had problems with the bobbin winder too.

Thanks for sharing...learn something useful here everyday. :) :)