Can I cry now or should I wait?
 

I was sewing along on my Brother SQ9000 ( not an expensive machine, but what I can afford) quilting a bowtuck i'm working on and it locked up. It gave me an error message for tangled thread. I removed all the tangled thread, made sure the bobbin casing and everything was clear of dust. I turned the handwheel to see if everything was moving freely and isn't. When I turn the hand wheel it feels as if at one spot something rubs or hangs up a little. Short of cracking open the housing I cannot find anymore thread.
I tried calling Brother and their offices are closed. I didn't see anything on their website about being open from 9-6 eastern. Fustrating. I hope whatever it is will still be covered by the warrenty but i'm not going to hold my breath. As it is to find a service person I have to travel over 40 miles north or south.

Now I feel like crying because I realized yesterday I really dislike the quilting part of quilting and had to force myself into working on this project.

oh no. i'm so sorry you're going thru this.....

Oh my, that is frustrating. A trick that I learned is to totally unthread your machine, and then remove the bobbin. then work the needle up and down to see it still feels "sticky". If it does, I would change the needle, and try it again. sometimes tangled bobbins put barbs on the needles that you cannot see. Try this simple procedure and see if it helps. Did you remove the bobbin cover plate too? Systematically trying little things can help. Good luck,

Thanks for the suggestion, but I had already taken the needle out. I had to, to get the thread out. I did remove the cover plate, the bobbin casing and any other thing I could actually access without breaking the body of the machine open. Don't want to invalidate the warrenty. If it is a peice of thread under something or up around the tension arm I can't get to it or see it. That's okay, I still want to cry but will wait till I talk to Brother tomorrow before I panic. They may be able to tell me something I'm not seeing. Thank you again for the suggestions.

i've had excellent service from brother. they do honor the warrenties. try not to worry, it'll probably turn out to be something very simple.

My SQ9000 also locked up. I just kept trying small things like you are doing and eventually it started working as good as new. I really don't know what finally fixed the problem. Just keep at it.

Elise

Sometimes...with an electronic machine, the act of turning it off for 10 minutes after making sure everything is clear of thread, is the trick. When you turn it back on...everything works.

I have a Brother Innovis 4500. It did the same thing. The tech who fixed it told me he found an extra piece of thread in the upper threading unit. My machine has an automatic threading feature. I asked him how did he fix it...Duh! He said he took out the screw on the back of the machine...it's by the needle end on the upper part of the machine. The side cap should come off. The machine has been perfect ever since. My husband is very mechnical & will be the first one to touch my machine if it does this again. Good luck with yours.

That's what I was going to suggest....good luck to you, I know how it is. My trusty Bernina failed a couple of months ago and I nearly had a coronary trying to get her to the repair shop! But....everything turned out fine, and I'm sure yours will too!