Plastic bobbin breakage
 

Hi, I was wondering if anyone else has had issues with plastic bobbins breaking. I got a Janome 8900 QCP and have had a handful of issues with it. One of those issues is that in just two month's time, (and very little use) I have had two plastic (Janome) bobbins break. The first one broke cleanly; the end just pop off. The last time it happened, the bobbin looked almost like it shattered. That was one of the new (and supposedly improved) blue Janome bobbins. This is very frustrating, because thread is not cheap and so far, I've not found a way to salvage the thread when it happens. My dealer has specifically said that I must use Janome bobbins, but this is ridiculous. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Additional info: I've been trying to improve my free-motion quilting so I was practicing with that. I also was using the larger (blue-dot) bobbin case – which I finally removed and replaced with the regular one. The bigger bobbin case seemed to cause more problems and did not improve stitch quality in any way.

I have janome bobbins, but also class A prewounds. Both work equally fine in my 8900 and my 12000.

I use paper sided prewounds. I take the paper off one side or both sides depending on the machine I use.

Wow, I have never heard of plastic bobbins breaking in any brand machine. Either you got a bad batch of bobbins (say that fast 3 times) or maybe the bobbin is not seated in the bobbin case correctly allowing the needle to strike it??? And you are sure you are using the correct ones for your machine?

I have heard that the build up of heat when rewinding them causes weakness and breakage. Will your machine accept metal bobbins? I only use prewounds in my machines because they hold so much more thread than you can wind yourself.

Yes, these were recommended at the class I got to go with the new machine: Janome machine and Janome bobbins. The big selling point was that they are not just "regular plastic," but had some kind of other element that supposedly made them turn easier.

I bought some plastic bobbins for my Brother on line from I think maybe e-bay. They were duds. After 2 of them breaking apart while filling them I tossed the rest. Will only buy from a known dealer. If you are buying from a Janome dealer in your area, try another one. He is selling bad , cheap, parts.

I have a dish full of plastic Janome bobbins from new to back 20+ years.
Experience taught me early on to slow the winder down if loading nylon/invisible thread, because it stretches it could go on so tight as to actually explode the bobbin.

I go through mine about once a year and pitch the ones that look like they've given their lifetime worth of service.
That said, I've had zero problems with bobbin/8900. I don't think I've done any fmq though.

Ohmygosh KalamaQuilts! You may have hit on the problem. Both of the bobbins that broke had the clear thread! I will try filling another with the clear, winding it much slower and we'll see what happens. Wish me luck! ;-)

I have had plastic bobbins come apart because they wound too tightly and put pressure on the sides. Winding too fast?

Maybe one of those stand alone bobbin winders might be in order? I'm not really sure how to slow down the auto winders. When foot controlled it was easy. I've never used a stand alone, but I've heard many compliments here, particularly the 2nd generation ones.

edited to add: I do have my Singer 404 vintage machine set up all the time, I'm thinking if I do something with the stretchy thread, that would be the place to wind the bobbin. Why buy a 30 dollar single use machine when I have a multiple use 30 dollar machine :)

I wound another bobbin about half full with nylon thread, just as a test. My machine is singing along just fine and so far, no bobbin issues. I think we've discovered the problem: operator error. LOL –– Thank you all so much for your help!

I use to overfill my bobbins on my Viking in the 70's and one side of the metal bobbin would pop off. But with the new machines overfilling does not appear to be possible.

I've had this happen with a plastic bobbin for my Viking, but I assumed that it was an old one from the early 1980's and that I filled it too full.

My Granddaughter was complaining to me about her bobbins breaking I had never had this happen so didn't know what to tell her now I know too

Just recently I found 2 Janome bobbins broken in the bobbin box, one was the blue one, the other clear, both had been filled with cotton thread at different times and were probably 2 years old. In each case the a side had popped off, had been used on different machines & had been put away in different bobbin boxes. A mystery to me.

I have found that if you slow down when filling a plastic bobbin with the clear thread and only fill it 1/2 full it seems to help. I have a Pfaff Passport 2.0, I broke a bobbin last time I used the clear thread, it got stuck on the bobbin winder.
Sharon in Texas

Yes, my Janome bobbin broke also, just winding regularly with 50 weight thread. The end just popped off.

I have a Janome 8900qcp and have not had any problems with bobbins breaking and I have used my machine a lot both for stitching and FMQ.
When you fill your bobbins, especially with the clear thread, try using the on/off switch rather than the foot pedal to run your machine and set the speed on slow. The on/off switch is a more even speed than using your foot so the bobbin will fill more evenly. You don't have to worry about when it comes to the full point because the machine won't let the bobbin overfill. Just hit the off button when the bobbin stops going around.

I broke one once winding it too tightly/fat. Other than that have had no problems with the Janome bobbins. They are expensive too especially the colored ones. No fun losing one.

I do not like the plastic bobbins and avoid using them if possible. But since these are specifically designed for your machine I'm guessing that you may have just gotten some that had a defect of some sort that didn't show up until you used them.

I, too, had problems with the bobbin exploding while I was winding. I don't think any of my Janome bobbins broke. I was blaming generic bobbins for breaking. It is very frustrating. I've wasted thread on 3 bobbins so far. Now, whenever I am using non-Janome bobbins, I fill the bobbin only 1/2 to 3/4 way to prevent this from happening.

I have had this same problem with the plastic bobbins that came with my Pfaff 4.2 Quilt Expression. Two broke while I was winding the bobbin. The whole side just popped off the first time. I heard it crack and stopped winding the second one. I have never been happy with the bobbin winding on this machine. The lever that is supposed to "feel" that the bobbin is full has far too much play in it. It wiggles back and forth. No amount of tightening works. The shop where I purchased it has been no help. They must say to keep retightening. I just keep an eye on the bobbin when winding and stop when it seems full enough.

I've had Janomes for 20 years and have never had this problem. I use plastic bobbins, not necessarily Janome brand, and also the prewound bobbins. My Janome 6600P has a special bobbin button for winding bobbins so only one speed available. Hope you get yours figured out.

I've never had a problem with bobbins on my 8900 -- unless I used the wrong ones (from a different machine) by mistake. I've brought them from the dealer and online. Hope the problem is winding the poly/nylon invisible thread too fast.

I had a plastic bobbin crack while loading Sulky metallic thread. No way to reclaim the thread.