Thread Breaking on my LA
 

First off...Is it really a long arm if it is a DSM on a frame? :confused: Or is there another name for it?

Secondly, it was going along fine, I went for lunch, came back and the thread has broken 5 times in a row. First, it started skipping stitches for about 2 inches, but if I went backwards then forwards, it would start to sew again, then it just broke.

I have re-threaded, changed the needle, oiled, checked the bobbin, loosened the tension....suggestions?

Watson

You mention tension, I'm guessing that's the thread tension you are referring to. How tight do you have the quilt on the frame? It should be loose enough so that if you poke your finger up from underneath you can grab it with your other hand.

I have a mid-arm (Husqvarna-Viking Mega Quilter) on a Grace frame. I have found that my thread will break if the quilt sandwich is a lot higher than the machine bed or if it is too close. Hope that makes sense.

Love my Mega Quilter but no room for a frame. <Sigh>

I think it's a mid arm I think longarms have to be 18inches

A dsm on a frame is a short arm.

Cari

I would say, experiment...sorry I can't help you isolate the problem further.

I had a very similar problem on my longarm. It turned out the thread was wound too loosely on the bobbin. If you poke at the thread with a fingernail it should be firm, not squishy. I use a stand-alone bobbin winder and had to change the way the thread went through the tension disk on it. I doubt that's your problem with a DSM, but it's something to check.

I'll check that, Dunster.

Another piece of the puzzle...it seems to be mainly when I get towards the ends of the quilt...Not so much in the main part of the quilt.

Watson

Watson from experience with my Gammill if you are experiencing breakage near the end of your quilt sandwich, somewhere the quilt sandwich is hanging up putting pressure on where you are sewing. Since I don't know how your setup works exactly I can't say for sure but I do know I was having breakage and after checking many things, tension, etc the problem was I needed to raise my lift bar so the underside of the quilt had more clearance. Is this as clear as mud???
On Gammills we have a 'wheel' that we can turn to raise or lower the bar that rides near the back of the throat.
Hope this helps. Other than changing the needle and rethreading and checking the bobbin this is all I can think of. Good luck.

I have a Janome with a 9 inch throat on a quilting frame. I guess calling it a short arm or "shorty" would be correct.
Are you allowing enough space from the take up bar to the machine bed? I was told to be able to just get two fingers between the take up bar and the machine bed for nice smooth stitches.

Sounds to me like one (or more) of your rails is/are bowed. When you get your quilt off, take a good metal ruler and make sure the distance between them is all the same. In other words, make sure that they are all truly parallel.
Often one side or the other seems to be off. You can address this by figuring out which side is looser, then adding a layer of batting to the quilt sandwich roll. You don't want to quilt this extra batting, just stuff it into the unquilted roll to take up the slack on the looser portion to even everything out so you have the same tension across the whole frame.

I have a long arm and always pick up some kind of new tips when subjects like this come up. If your problem is always in the same area, then really look that area over good for any inconsistencies. For me, it is much harder to fix a problem when it is intermittent. Thanks to all of you for the good advice given here.

Interestingly enough....I had an issue on one quilt where everything would be going good and then all of a sudden my thread would break and it was in almost the same spot every time. I had to get my husband to come in and run the machine slowly and then I spotted that at about 2/3rds of the way down the track, my upper thread would get loose and catch on a small jutting out piece on my long arm. I moved the spool to my other thread holder and the problem fixed itself.

Just to put a finish to this thread, it seems that the reason for my problem was that one of my encoders was loose. I tightened it up and the problem seems to have disappeared. Lets hope it stays that way!

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Watson