Look, Ma, no stitch regulator!
 

Late last night I was working on my long arm with the stitch regulator on. It started skipping stitches. My brand uses wheels with O rings which ride on rails to determine your speed. The rings need to be replaced periodically and they were more than due. Of course I didn't have any and wanted to continue quilting so I figured what the heck, and put the machine in manual mode. I LOVED it! for some reason it seemed to move more smoothly. I was just doing an elongated stipple, kind of a water design and had no problems maintaining even stitch lengths. This morning I loaded some practice fabric and was able to do some decent pebbling, which I wasn't able to do before. I'll have to try again after I get the O rings to make an actual comparison, but I'm going to try and continue with the manual mode.
Anyone else prefer quilting in manual vs. stitch regulated?

Can I ask what brand of machine and frame you have? I have often thought my stitch regulator causes most of my problems but since I would have to order parts to not use it I have been hesitant....

my stitch regulator seems to cause me some problems. but i use it anyway because i like to stop and start frequently and it keeps the stitches more even than if i didn't have it.

i pretty much ALWAYS quilt without my stitch regulator- i have a few customers who come in & rent time & they always use it- but that is the only time it is turned on- i haven't used it in years- actually hate it.
and i've always when teaching anyone on the machine had them learn without it- i kind of rank it right up there with a 'cruise control' on a car- i believe you should be pretty good at driving-have control- long before you ever turn on the cruise feature- same goes for the long-arm- you should have good control, ability before using the feature....just my opinion

I have a Tin Lizzie which, despite recent posts to the contrary, works very well for me. The stitch regulator is an on/off switch.
After playing some more today, I think it's going to be a case of 'the proper tool for the proper job'. I'll turn it on for some quilting designs and leave it off for others.

I do allot of ruler work. I use mine

My stitch regulator kept coming un-pluged, I do need an update on my machine. I've been quilting without the regulator for years now and doing just fine. I will get the fix when I take my machine in for service/cleaning/up-dates. It is long overdue but I've been waiting because everything else works fine and it's almost a 3 hour drive to a dealer, that plus my machine weighs 95 lbs. (old Tin Lizzie). I don't know if I'll use the regulator when it's fixed but it will be nice to have the option.:thumbup: