Bernina owners please give opinion
 

I have been having a continuing problem with my year old Bernina 570 with birds' nest occurring randomly. She is going into the shop again this week. I am seriously thinking of just trading her in because of this ongoing problem. I really do like the machine and their are lots of nice functions I really like. I have been wanting to get onto the embroidery part, but am afraid because I will be stitching along and all of sudden...bammm...a jam happens. I hadn't even done stitching on it the last time it was in the shop almost a year ago until last week when my Viking went down. I took her out, finally managed to put the update to the firmware in and was testing her out. I attached a border and it did great. then I was attaching the second border and it did the birds' nest thing out of the blue and I wasn't even near a seam...just stitching along. Cleared it. stitched about 10 inches..did it again, repeat. Cleared out 4 bird's nest....then it stitched happily along for two more sides of the border. I just can't figure out what I am doing but I am thinking, I am not doing anything. This machine has a gremlin in it somewhere. So I looked at the line-up and am thinking I might want a 590 as it has just a step up from the one I have and it is on sale through March Do any of you have a 570 or 590 and what has your experience been? Is this an ongoing problem with this model? I am thinking I am suffering PTSD from the issue of the bird's nest with this machine

I don't know anything about the machines you are asking about, but I have had a couple Berninas. Just for curiosity, did you take the guide classes at a shop? I know I would have had a lot of problems with my Berninas if I hadn't.

I took one...the first one...and then Covid hit. so they were canceled. I was planning on taking the zoom beginning embroidery one but...I am afraid to embroider because of the issue with the bird's nest in the bobbin area. If that happens at the high speed embroidery goes at, I don't know what will happen. I did have a Bernina 440 and 630 before and had no problems other than one circuit board that needed replacing on the 630. After that they worked great. I have have had a Viking D1 and a Viking SE previously as well as a Viking 500 and did a fair amount of embroidery on those. I know you can't just sit down and use a medium to high end Bernina as they can do so much and have so many settings. Oh, and the shop had just started carrying Bernina's when I got mine and if you asked a question, most of the time they did not know the answer. And the tech had just started with the Bernina tech classes. Just wish I had a knowledgeable experienced dealer nearby, but the next closest one is 90 miles away.

It's so frustrating to have machine issues.

Did you verify that you have the correct bobbin in the machine? Is there different bobbin cases? Did you accidentally mix the Viking/Bernina bobbins?

( I have a Brother and there are different bobbin cases.)

Next, do you have pre-wound bobbins to use if available?

Do you need to plug the foot into the machine? I have to plug the WF into machine and forget to do that sometimes.

Life's to short to stitch on a naughty machine!

The bobbins for the two machines are very different, The bernina has a jumbo bobbin and the viking has the little old plastic bobbin. I just can't figure it out. I have stitched on different machines for 40 years and this problem just seems to happen out of the blue. I have rethreaded everything, changed needles, reviewed the manual, checked my feet. It just won't behave. I really think there is some kind of glitch with the machine going on. Maybe one of the computer cards, or maybe something with the thread cutter although I don't use the thread cutter.

I bought the Bernina 770 with embroidery a year and a half ago, and I just love it. Recently I bought the Bernina 570, and love that one just as much! The one thing about the Bernina sewing machines, they require a lot of oil. My new habit has become to oil and clean my machine every time I start to sew for the day. I have noticed that if I don't, it will start to sew crazy. In addition, I reapply oil after about every 2 hours of sewing.
I know that seems like a lot of oiling, but it really makes a huge difference. I learned this from watching those "Bernina Jeff" videos. He really goes over lots of details of keeping your sewing machine happy.
​​​​ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ePh-12I6Oy0
Another good source for online information is Heirloom Creation sewing mastery videos. Amazing information! There isn't a whole lot of difference between the770 and the 570, so I would absolutely watch the videos on the 770. You will be amazed at what you will learn!
https://sewingmastery.com/bernina-770/

Ladywingnut- I also have the 770 and love it.
They told us to oil under the plate in the red dot when i took the classes, now Bernina is saying not to.
When i was in the LQS i asked and was told that there had been many complaints of oil getting on quilts so now they do not recommend oiling as often or even at that site. She recommended continuing to oil just as often and to just run a scrap fabric under needle before quilt.
Isnt it silly that companies have to change policy due to some folks that seem to lack basic common sense?
It’s not a machine issue if you overfill the oil and then get oil on your project!

I have only worked with Berninas in a classroom setting so I don't have any advice specifically with this machine. When I get a new machine it takes about 2 days of sewing (frustration) before we make friends. So I would say, just stick to it. But I would check ....

• Check your thread spool. Some of my thread spools have a burr at the bottom and it catches -- sometimes. Try turning it upside down or put in a new spool.
• Change the needle plate or move the needle to one side. I once had a needle nick the needle opening. It made a small burr and I had to file it down a little. You might want to take the needle plate off and look at it through a magnifying glass or try a different needle plate if you have one.
• Use the thread cutter. It's possible that the machine doesn't like the old fashioned way.
• Clean the place where the bobbin sits really well. I once had a build up of lint that was throwing off everything. When I cleaned it out, all was well.
• Do you sew at high speed? Maybe your sewing too fast and the thread doesn't have time to catch up. I would try slowing down. It may also help you to find some consistency in when it bird nests.

When my machines act up, I go back to basics. It usually turns up to be something small or I just need to go to bed and begin the next day!

Hope this helps!

Just an update on my 570...it is now gone, I traded it in for a new 590. I think I got a decent deal on it as I had to pay some bucks but the 590 has some differences including more ability in editing embroidery designs. The dealer was aware of the problems I have been having with the 570 and also seem stumped by it. So far, I am loving the 590, It just seems to stitch so much better, I really think there was something wrong with that 570. I have signed up for the embroidery training. Looking forward to stitching more on it.

Glad to hear you have a happy ending.