Is anyone else having the same or similer problems with their tin lizzie 18. My mother is practically devistated. She has had her's for almost a year. Absolutley loves it, but the stitch regulator has gone out 4 times, and other minor problems, the company has given her a hard time from the beginning saying it was her house, starting out blaming it on static electricity, to now blaming it on her wiring in the house. She has put humidifiers in the house, a static pad to stand on when she quilts, touches metal before she touches the machine to discharge herself, and still no luck.

(She can do about 5 quilts and then the machine has a problem, has it fixed and the same .... it's always about 5 quilts and then something happens)

She just told me a week ago that when they were replacing the stitch regulators they were sending rebuilt ones not new ones. So makes me wonder!!!!

The company finally consent to send her a new machine to see if it was their machine and now she is blowing fuses with this new machine. So the company continues to blame the wiring in the house. She has had the power company check the lines to the house from the outside pole and an electrician check the house and even run a special wire specifically from the braker box to the room she is long arm quilting in.

My mother has 4 other Baby loc sewing machines and has had no other problems in the home with TV's or other electronic equipment. Anyone having the same troubles with Tin Lizzy? She loves the machine and is wanting this as a hobby and not wanting to give it up she really loves it, but she is sick over the troubles she is having.

I do not have a long arm machine (I would love to have one) but it sounds to me like she may be getting racked over the coals. I hope she has better luck because quilting as a hobby should not turn into a job you despise because of a machine giving you problems. I will be sure to stay away from that brand if and when I start hunting for a long arm machine.

I'm sorry for her problems, wonder where it was purchased? I saw this company at a recent quilt show http://secretworkshop.com/home.php?xid=dc4cb8659634370c880e3fb6a68e91c1 It looks like they may be having a forum on their site soon. Is there any tin lizzy18 discussion forums that you've found?

8) I'm sure glad you wrote in about this. I had thoughts about the
Tin Lizzie, but will steer clear of them now. Life is too short to even take a chance on a machine like this. There are lots of other brands out there.

HI, I just joined this list, been looking at the news letter for a few weeks. I got a Tin Lizzie in March. I have had very few problems, have quilted 7 tops and so far I have been thrilled. I have been using the stitch regulator for all of them. What can I say? I wish things were better for your mom. Is she working directly with the factory or a specific dealer?

i also have the tin lizzie and have never had a problem. when i had some questions in the beginning regarding thread, i called them directly on the phone and they walked me right through it. later i had a problem with the stitching (not the regulator) and again they solved it over the phone. that was 5 - 6 quilts quilts ago. no problems since then. i'm really sorry about your mom. this was a machine i recommended but now i'll think twice. what did her own repairman have to say?

I also have a Tin Lizzie....the old cast iron one and I have never had the kind of problems your mother has. In my case, I am constantly tinkering with the thread tension. I have always found the Tin Lizzie people to be very accomodating when I have called them with a problem.

Hope your mom gets this straightened out.

Hi, I have a Tin Lizzie 18, the older, heavy one, purchased second hand about a year ago. The machine had been back to the company for service before I bought it. I've quilted at least 25 quilts since I've had the machine. I used the stitch length regulator for a while and it worked fine. Then the little tiny plug-in under the top layer of the carraige kept coming unpluged. When this happens , in stitch-regulated mode, the machine goes crazy! This is not an easy thing to remedy, the machine has to be taken off the carraige- it weighs 95 pounds and I'm old.
I was all ready to call the company but thought I'd try to finish the quilt I was working on without the regulator. I did fine without it, I don't need it! Maybe I will call and order new encoders/plugs after the holidays but it isn't a big thing to me.
I hope you get your Lizzie up and running soon.
Mary

On another forum one Tin Lizzie owner does have several problems with his machine.

Regarding it being the electricity in the house, the easiest way to know if you do indeed have an electric problem is do you blow a lot of lightbulbs? If you turn on a light and it blows out right at that moment, that is usually an indication of a grounding problem because the bulb has gotten a surge causing it to blow. Now if the bulb just goes out while it's on, then the bulb just up and died.

Now, if you really want to shut up the techs at Tin Lizzie, put the machine on a battery back up unit. These can cost between $60 to $150 or more, but a battery back up will take care of any electrical problems coming from the wall.

If you have your machine on a surge protector, plug the machine into the plug nearest the source of power. Do not plug in any other power hungry appliance to the same surge protector or wall outlet, i.e. iron, sewing machine, fan, etc. I have my HQ16 on a surge protector and the only other thing plugged into that protector is a 60 watt lamp and I have nothing else plugged into that wall outlet.

Have you had the electric company check the meter? Over time the meter can actually work loose and cause the house to have a "Low Amp Draw" even tho the electric company will tell you that does not exist. After replacing two freezers, refridgerator, and water heater it was found that my meter was loose on the pole. That is equivilent to being half plugged in. Not a good thing.

You may want to check the outlet for consistent power. Go to Radio Shack and get a cheap ($10) volt meter to check the outlet. Plug in the volt meter, and watch it for a few minutes to see if you get flucuation in power flow. It should read a constant 115, if it don't then you need to get an electrician that knows what they are doing.

Sorry for being so long winded and coming off as a "know it all" but I have a masters in electronics and bachelors in computer science and repair. Also had my own computer company for 15 years, kinda ticks me off when techs try to throw blame when they don't know what the situation is.

Good luck and keep me posted on your progress.

Here in Florida, the power supply is so crappy that things like tvs and electronics blow out all the time, but the light bulbs are just fine. If your electrician and power company both tested and cleared that circuit, it has got to be the equipment.


Sounds like something else on that machine is making the stitch regulator go out.

Crashnquilt- I was thinking the same thing- surge suppressor with nothing else on it. Back up system- another good idea. We use them on our computers, probably a good idea for all of us since we invest good money in our sewing machines.

Barb

Any updates on the problems with the tin lizzie...have the issues been resolved yet?

:cry: I have just bought a tin lizzie and have had some problems.... I think it may be the stitch regulator also ... the lady I bought it from is going to talk to the main company sence it is under her warenty and see if it can get fixed... I hope so cuz I also just love it... I call her other names though right now using it without it....... works like a charm...
but I am not happy about it

I have a TL18LS w/Shirley Sticher. The 9 pin comes unpluged in the middle of a quilt and it's like Shirley is on drugs. Called the company and they blame Grace for the design and Grace blames them. BFF has one and the motor freezes up. She call the company and they told her to hit it with a hammer. Go figure. Wish I had never purchased this machine. Also, purchased designs off web, Shirley will not convert. Call Tin Lizzie in Utah 2 months ago with problem. Still can't use these patterns. Ready to get a atty and send this machine back. Local dealer no help. Knows nothing about the computer side of the machine.

Checking the voltage at the receptacle and a surge protector as already posted is what I would do.

With that checked off it's the machine, the electrical systems are real cheap, no relays, no nothing, meaning that if button/light/wire goes bad it messes up the whole thing.

The hard part is finding the bad part, there's no way to know where to start.

You have to make it clear that you're not going away until it is fixed, whatever that entails.

Some company's are better than others.

BTW I don't own TL so take this post for whatever you think it's worth.
Good Luck.

With the quilting business being a billion dollar industry in the past few years, many companies have jumped on the band wagon offering these home quilting setups.. Pure marketing, find a well known quilter, offer a generous name endorsement and sell while the iron is hot. I think the market is saturated with home type LA system and now after use many are showing how fast and cheap they were manufactured.

I have had my tin lizzie since July. !st issue came from factory with defected encoder plug (regulates stitch regulator). 2. Problem came from factory with the wheels misplaced on the carriage. Wheels were grating into the metal roller bar, metel shavings going into my encoder messing up my stitching. 3. Problem electical wiring issues with the nine pin cables going to handle bars causing none of the buttons to work, but yet all the lights where on.. 4. Machine motor fresszing up. 5. Loud clicking noise in the front of my machine. 6. Clicking noise in the white box where power supply is. 7. Problem the needle will not stop unless I turn off all power supply. 8. My frame is factory defected according to my dealer. I have issues with all three bars as well as the top bars when adjusting up and down they are very difficut to adjust up to allow your quilt to roll up, but then in the middle of quilting the side bars will just fall down. I quilt at least 2 quilts a week. I would strongly recommend to anyone wishing to buy a long arm machine to avoid tin lizzie. As of today none of my issues have been resolved and I am to the point of asking for a refund.

After following up with the owner of tin lizzie today, I just want you all to know that he told me that he would refund the store their money for my tin lizzie and the store that I bought if from would have to refund me. After talking with the store owner ( dealer) she stated that the owner of Tin lizzie had a NO REFUND Policy and that she did not have the money to refund me. I told her that is not the same information that the owner of Tin Lizzie gave me....so as the day went forward it ended up in a three way conversation. The owner of TIn lizzie backed down and LIED, and revoked his previous statement and further stated that TIN lizzie will only refund the cost with in a 30 day period. The dealer evidendely made comments as to my lack of knowledge....tried to make me sound like an idiot and of course did not back up any of my issues that had been reported to her. The dealer will not refund the money at any point after the sale. After all conversations lizzie did agree to send me a new machine a new computer and a new frame. As well as the same dealer who has been very poor....to set it up. Not only did the dealer loose a good customer but so did TIn Lizzie. You folks who do purchase your Tin Lizzie like me who was very excited to have a long arm machine and wanted it to work remember if you have any issues with in those thirty days and your dealer does not repair them you really need to go to the manufacturer and get a refund...before you are stuck with a 12000.00 headache.

love your dog I have 6 yorkshire terriers...
so you have the newer machine and it still messes up with you? mine is just 5 years old but still having troubles with it lucky the local dealer will come to the house and work with me but has a long list... anyway we will see if he can get her up and running .... she has her quirks... when changing quilts........

I Love my Tin Jizzie Machine , Could not libe without it . It's a Dream come true I can't imagine not Having the Ansley 28 in my life . The Staff at Tin Lizzy have been Great can't ask for better service . Surly this problem has to have been resolved after all it was back years ago and Now the Tin Lizzy is the greatest Affordable Long Arm on the Market I really can not say enough about the Machine to give it the praise it deserves . I would recomend buying the TinLizzy Quilting Machine over and beyound all the rest . Believe me when I say I have tried just about all that are on the market Tin Lizzy wins hands down Affordable and reliable Staff is great and on top of any guestions you have , they are their to help . They really care about their coustomers . I think this negative posting should be removed after all people look at the date . One bad Apple does not spoil the whole bunch . If your in the Market for a Quilting Machine you can not go wrong with TinnLizzy ,They are like Family once you own their machine you will love it Also .

I have a Lizzie and have had no problems with her at all. I felt that I could use better connection with the power cord..and the stitch regulator cord..so while at a show I talked to Ernie and he sent them to me the next week. He sent them at no cost. I have called them several times and asked questions..always so helpful. I am so sorry you are having problems. Ernie even gave me his father Bill's private number. He is a very cordial and helpful person.

I absolutely love the Tin Lizzie. It is the finest machine in this price range. The Grace table is extremely well built and stable. The Shirley Stitcher is fantastic. I can do a queen size quilt in less than 2 hours. You do need to keep up with the updates which makes your machine a step better each time. The front band must be kept tight, no give. The new encoders should be put on. Make sure all screws are tight. This machine should not vibrate is everything is correct. It is a thing of pure joy and beats the last one hands down. The people are great to work with and go to great lengths to make you happy. It's a winner!

I'm looking to buy a lizzie ath the upcoming Houston show...Are your mom's problems fixed??

I've had the same problems with the lizzie as you have. Anything the owner says is apt to be wrong. I do have a fairly good dealer and the repairman has been out several times but calling Greg or Ernie at the company number is useless.They usually won't call you back and if once out of 10 messages they
do they'll tell you its your fault. When Greg did return one call I told him what the machine was doing and he said that was too bad because he had two perfect machines sitting right there and he didn't know what my problem was. I also had trouble with the frame they sold me, the take up lever would unroll
when I tried to tighten the backing. I called the Grace Company who makes it and they told me they had trouble with that and sent me new parts. They were very nice

Yeah, I have the Queen Quilter 18. I bought it from Sewing Machine Plus in California. Since the beginning, I have had nothing but problems. I finally took it in for service in January 2012 since it had been approximately 2 years and never had been serviced. The technician noticed that the stitch regulator was not working properly and changed them out. (Under warranty of course.) Since servicing the machine, I have done 1 king-size quilt and a lap quilt. I went to redo the borders on the king quilt and the side-to-side stitch regulator will not work unless you manipulate the module. I have emailed the technician who worked on it to let him know that I am still having problems with it. Will call today to talk to a person. I am not pleased at all with my long arm. When it is working, it is a very nice machine. It does good work, but I can't keep taking it down to the technician (45 miles away) each and every time I want to quilt.

Save your money and get a different one, which one, I'm not sure probably an APQS or Gammil

Good luck on that refund. We have been trying for long time, about a year. Do yourself a favor; remove the large inspection plate. Using small flashlight and look down the long upper tube. We have sand castings still lodged inside, spewing sand throughout the machine.

I have a tin lizzie 18LS and love it. I did have some problems with stitch regulator stopping in mid-stream. My dealer told me to put some sort of liquid carbon stuff on the rollers. That worked lovely. If that is your problem, I think we bought it at Lowe's where the cut the keys. Also, I agree that you need to tell her to use a battery backup with surge protector. We were told when ours was set up to make sure we had that. I have never had any problems with mine concerning electrical. Sorry you are having problems, they are great machines.

Not sure what power supply you have, Australia runs on 240v. Because USA electrical items are geared for 110v, I think, we have to buy a "downverter" or "upverter" I think it's called, to plug the machine into, to take the stronger 240v down to the 110v, otherwise it would blow the whole machine, starting fires. And if that happens insurance will not pay out. Don't know if this helps, but it's worth a thought.

SO I'm curious, any of you who have had issues get any positive results as of yet??
What did you do to get them to take you seriously??

I ave a Tin Lizzie and last week got some thread caught in the bobbin holder - We are 8 hours form the dealer and between the dealer and Tin Lizzie my dh got it fixed and it is running great. Sorry you have a lemon - and haven't gotten the help you needed.

Tin lizzie
 

I bought my tin Lizzie less than a year ago HATE it worse machine I ever own it's a lemon nothing good about it wish I had money. To buy another name brand

I am thinking there could be a small short in the machine itself causing the problem, it is highly unlikely that it has anything to do with the power in the home!

One of my friends has the Ansley model and is saving her money for a different manufacturer. Nothing but trouble, I don't remember all the details but right now it seems to be the stitch regulator. Her dealer is a peach, machine? Not so much.

piney

I have the Tin Lizzie LS19 with Shirley Sticher II. If I could I would beat them over the head with it. I traveled to NC last weekend to do a quilt on my longarm that is at my mountain house (it's larger then the house here in FL) and true to form Lizzie was on drugs. I changed everthing but still could not make it work. Getting service from Tin Lizzie is crappy. Thinking about hiring a lawer.

YES! The auto stitch regulator is way too delicate in general. I had mine replaced once but it went out again shortly after it was replaced, so I have learned to make do without it. I have had mine for several years now. This and a couple of other things makes me wish I had waited and saved more money to buy a more expensive machine in general. I still use my machine but wish I had waited.......

I have had one for about a year now and love it! I have not experienced any "static" or electrical problems. I did have a problem with the stitch regulator initially but found I had failed to plug it in to the bottom of the machine (boy, was I embarrassed but I am lucky to have an outstanding dealer).

That being said, I am going to have to part with it as our living situation is changing and I need the room - not happy bout this but such is life! I have done several pieces with it and think it is a terrific machine. Sounds like something odd is going on.

I purchased a Tin LIzzie in August of 2012. It worked perfectly for about 6 months. Then I started getting an index error when I was using quilt magician, I have trouble with the tension now...and when I try to pull the bobbin thread up from the bottom my top thread is getting wrapped around the bobbin casing. My local dealer has had the machine four different times. Each time they tell me that the timing was off and that it is fixed now. I get it home (which is no small chore - it weighs 40 lbs and my sewing room is on the 2nd floor!)...I turn it on and start sewing and THE SAME THINGS START HAPPENING. I had finally had enough of my local dealer and went direct to Tin Lizzie. I am not impressed. I sent a service request through their website...and did not even get an acknowledgement after 2 days. I called and got to talk to a representative who seemed initially to be very helpful. However, he wanted to talk to my dealer to see they could fix it locally while on the phone with one of the corporate service techs. He called me back 2 days later and suggested that I take it back to my local dealer because he'd been on the phone with them and he felt certain they could fix it. I refused...I'm not taking that machine back to that dealer. I explained all that I had been through with them again...and he said well...I guess you could send it back to us. DUH! That is what I had said I wanted to do from the beginning! He wanted to call the dealer again to see if they had a box I could use so TL wouldn't have to send me one. (Oh...and by the way...the dealer never GAVE me my box when they set it up...lesson learned). I did not hear from him for several more days...so I phoned back. He was "unavailable". However, he did call me back the following day and said he was on a business trip. When we talked again it was as if he'd forgotten the bulk of what we discussed in the previous call! He thought I was going to let them fix it! I don't think they are CAPABLE of fixing anything beyond timing. So I went through it again with him...and he remembered basically what we had discussed. He said yes...the dealer had a box...but they didn't have one that would exactly fit my machine... but did have one that was close that I could have. He said he'd get me the repair ticket out quickly. Two days later a lady calls me from the company to work on the repair ticket. I had to give her my warranty # and serial #...I just find it odd that they don't have that info available to them on their computers...but ok. We get off the phone...and she calls me back...to get my address...really? She calls back a third time to get my credit card and I went off on her. She said that my year warranty was up...but I got her to do the math with me...I was still within my warranty period and this was an ongoing problem and I wasn't going to pay them to fix this machine. Finally...after the FOURTH phone call...she emailed me my repair ticket. At the same time I was trying to get Tin Lizzie to allow me to send my machine back...I was also looking on line to see if the Quilt Magician and the Phoenix frame can be used with any other type of longarm. I sent an email to Quilt Ez...the company who manufactures the quilt magician and asked them that question....the customer service rep sent me a response...and asked why I might be interested in changing machines...so I told them my story. They got a service tech to contact me...and the service rep from this company was able to figure part of the problem I was having with my machine....the needle sensor was not working. This OTHER company sent me a new needle sensor FREE of charge...and worked with me on the phone to help me install it. The original needle sensor had broken completely free the bracket that held it in place...so no wonder it wasn't working. Given that this problem had been a constant issue for over 4 months...you'd think that my local authorized service rep would have explored that. It was a very easy diagnostic test that showed that it was not working. So...from that I conclude that they never even did any diagnostics...they just reset timing and called it a day. Timing by the way...can be done by a 10 year old with a screwdriver....and it takes about 5 minutes. I still have problems with the thread getting wrapped around the bobbin case and with tension. So this morning I shipped my TL back to the manufacturer. There are two quilt shows coming up in the next couple of months that are relatively close t my house. I plan to visit the TL booth there and have a discussion with Mr. Floyd...or whomever the top rep is on site...to express my disappointment with their product, their technical support, their customer service AND who they allow to sell their products...because the local rep is a HORRIBLE representative for that company. What I hope to accomplish is to give the machine back to Tin Lizzie...and start all over with a completely different product.

Oh My I have had mine about 4 years and the stitch reg. has never worked. sent the machine back one time. came back in worse shape than when I sent it. I have called, emailed and I still cant seem to get any help. The warranty expires in 2014 so I guess they are trying to hold out until then. I just use the manual stitch but I sure could not make one for anyone else.
Very disappointed in this company .