Problem with HQ 16: Help!!
 

I'm really hoping that someone can give me some advice. I am having trouble for the first time with my Sweet 16. The top tension keep popping out of the tension disk - this never happened before. I've checked for lint, have rethreaded a million times, but it keeps happening, creating nesting on the bottom. Do I need to change the needle? If so, does it take special needles or can I use the needles from my Bernina? If it's not the needle, what else could be causing this? I've quilted about 80% of a king size quilt with no trouble, so I know it's not the thread.
Thanks for your help.

Not sure about the HQ 16, but on another group a quilter had this problem with her longarm. After trying the usual to correct the problem, she finally took the upper tension system apart and found rust in her top tension discs. Some emery paper took care of the rust and, after reassembling the upper tension system, the problem was gone. How old is the machine? If it's a new machine, this probably would not be the issue.

My Sweet 16 has special needles. Rounded top without a flat side. Don't know what a Bernina takes. Sorry I can't help with your problem. I have not had that one yet. Good luck I know someone on this board will be able to help. There are several very knowledgeable people here,

You probably do need to change your needle, but I'm not sure that's causing this particular problem. I don't know about needles from your Bernina, but I do know that I would never use needles from my Janome in the Sweet 16. I do change the needle about every other quilt, and you do need to match the needle with the thread you're using and use a needle made for the Sweet 16.

When I first got my Sweet 16 I didn't realize how much of a tug it needed to floss the thread in the tension disk. You really have to pull very firmly until you feel it click into place. Once it's clicked into the right spot, at least for me, it would not come out unless I pulled it out. Is it possible you've got your tension set very loose? It could be so loose that it's not holding onto the thread.

If none of this helps, you can adjust the position of the needle. First make sure it's in correctly, with the little cut out facing the back of the machine. The eye should be at the six o'clock position. Insert a second needle into the eye of the first needle and turn it so that the eye is at 5:30 instead of six. My dealer recommended this and it helped.

I'm sure other more experienced users will chime in. This is just my two cents.

At least HQ has great support. I suggest you call them on Tuesday, after the holiday.

I have a Sweet 16 too. Do you have a thread net on your cone of thread. I find that helps. Also, if you're working on a big quilt like that, sometimes the bunched up quilt can get piled up and in the way of of the thread path and and cause that problem. If you've never changed your needle, you probably need to :) And your domestic machine needles are different. Just for reference, look on the HQ website and you can see a picture of the type of needle you need. You can use a business card and slide it between the tension discs to clean out lint that may be stuck it there. Good luck! P.S. There is another good forum specifically for the Sweet Sixteen on Yahoo groups.