Help with tension on my Tin Lizzie
 

Just can't seem to get rid of the loopies on the bottom. I have tried everything I can think of - any ideas from Tin Lizzie owners? I have a new needle adjusted the top tension, the bobbin tension, cleaned it, same thread I used on the quilt I did Friday and still lots and lots of loopies.

I was having the same problem yesterday on my Crown Jewel. The thread had come out of the tension disks when I oiled the bobbin race and ran the machine without the bobbin. It worked fine after I rethreaded.

Here is a link online that suggests what to do when you have tension problems:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...3204844AA3ZiTr

But remember when adjusting the top tension, you have to make full turns of the nob to get any kind of adjustment, not just little turn or half turn (ask me how I know!)
Good luck

I used to have terrible problems with tension. I learned that my bobbins hadn't been wound tight enough. The tech adjusted the tension on the bobbin winder and that helped. Then I found that using a TOWA tension gauge to set the bobbin tension really helped. I set the bobbin tension first then the top.

Good luck.

Is the pressure foot down? Ask me why I mention this.

I use this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mRhcquZTM
There is a group dedicated to Tin Lizzie on Yahoo.
I've been pretty lucky, I haven't had any tension issues with mine, however, couple times I missed with the thread path around the tension disks. Make sure the thread is going thru the disks and not between the disks and the machine body. I would also clean the tension disks one more time. Normally if you have loops on the back, there's something going on with your top tension.

I was going to ask the same thing. I've got a Queen Quilter 18 which is apparently a step-sister to the Tin Lizzie. It came with practically zero instructions. Thank goodness for Youtube and the internet, or I would have tossed it on the wood pile after my first attempt. Being used to a regular Domestic Sewing machine, adjusting my tension was a foreign concept to me.

If the problem is on the bottom of your quilt, it's your top thread that needs adjusting. Loopies on the bottom means you have way too loose of top tension. Righty tighty. Lefty Loosy. The other problem with getting lots of loopies on the bottom is that your presser foot is still raised. You have zero upper thread tension if your presser foot is up. That's the first thing to check. After you get your machine threaded, see if you notice any difference in how easy your can pull thread through your needle. With the presser foot raised, it should be pretty easy. If it's still extremely easy to pull the thread after you lower the presser foot, you need to re-thread your machine. Once you have this squared away, you can start adjusting the tension knob.

Thank everyone. I went back yesterday cleaned the bobbin case and rethreaded it and it works.