Viking Mega Quilter Help
 

:mad: I've been struggling with the tension on my Mega Quilter. I can't seem to get the bottom tension where it should be. I've had it cleaned, I oil it lots, I've done everything I can think of. If I adjust the top tension to where the bottom looks good the thread continues to break. King Tut has always worked good for me - Aurfill which I would like to use just does not work at all. I did buy a 2nd bobbin case to fool with but have not worked on that angle yet. I also switched to a 75 needle and that may have helped the thread breaking issue but why is this causing me so many problems now! I know with the Mega Quilter you have to use a HLx5 Needle or that could cause problems so I've always used that number and just used 90,80, or 75 sizes. Can anyone help? I'm at my wits end!

Oh Honey, I feel your pain!!! I have struggled so much with my machine so much I am ready to use it as an anchor for my boat!!!!!!!!!!!! I took it to my repair man and got him to re-time it and that seem to do the trick, for one quilt!!!!

I dont have any immediate solutions bc I am a relitively new owner of the MQ myself...BUT....if you go over to the yahoo groups there is a great Viking Megaquilter group I joined and they are cery helpful and very quick to respond with ways to fix the issues that arise!!

I wish you luck!

I use always use Aurofill on my Mega quilter and have no problems at all; this is the thread that Viking recommends for it. You have to make sure it's threaded right; especially at the top when you put it thru those holes; one is skipped. Also it has it's own type of bobbins and you can't wind them on the side winder because it goes the wrong way. I'm not sure where you are located but if you have a dealer around you you might take it into the store and have them to look at it.

On www.handiquilter.com there is a video about bobbin tension. This should help with your bobbin tensions. For the needle, I'm not sure how your tensioner is, but on the handiquilter it is the round type. I backed my tension all the way out (it was about to fall off the machine) and then counted how many FULL TURNS it took to tighten it all the way down. Then I backed it off 1/2 the amount of turns. i.e. it took 10 full turns to tighten so I backed it off 5 full turns. This put the tensioner at 50% then adjusted up or down from that point.
Good luck and I hope this helps.

tension should always be adjusted FROM the bobbin...put bobbin in case, properly threaded and then loosen the set screw till it BARELY falls downward on its own...a tiny jiggle as you hold the thread is okay, but no more....when that is right, put it in and adjust the top to match the bottom. this is pretty much true for everything but sergers, which have bottom tension, but no bobbins.

I don't have one but was hoping to buy one. A professional long arm quilter said that particular machine can have a lot of problems if your floor isn't level. You might try looking to see if something is off-kelter with leveling.

I suggest you clean your tension disks. You can use dental floss, or you can take the tension apart and clean each piece individually (if you do this be sure you pay attention to how it goes back together). When we first bought our GrandQuilter we had the same type of trouble, and the dealer told me to do this. If you have the tiniest piece of lint or thread in the tension it will cause you to break threads.

Also make sure you have the quilt at the right height relative to the machine bed. You should be able to slide your fingers between the take-up rail and the machine bed.

Hope this helps.

Darren

Solved my problems with Mega Quilter after 3 years of pulling my hair out, sold it and purchased a HQ 16 with
Studio Frame. Happy Happy.

I just purchased this same system(used) and am having problems with skipped stitches.....I have re-threaded, changed needles, changed thread, checked that layers were not too tight, as I am new to this machine I am out of things to try. I have been searching on the net and haven't found anything new to try...if the timing is off would it sew beautiful stitches for a few inches then skip about half an inch at a time? I took off the cruise control and skipped stitches are the same.....any ideas?