sweetpee

My 301A sews, but the bobbin is having tension problems. All loose and thready. What could be the problem???????I really want to get her going.

miriam

If you thread the needle from left to right instead of right to left it will do that - check your manual.

Just a precaution, check how your throat plate and the little notch for the bobbin holder line up. There is a picture of one on a post about cleaning up a FW it should look like that. http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...t174236-2.html look at window 15. It is the same for the 301. Also window 4 and picture 3 with it assembled.

jljack

I also have had my 301/FW bobbins wind looser if I wind it on the Sidewinder rather than wind it on the machine...be sure it winds tightly. Also don't fill it all the way. It's a smaller bobbin, so you'll want to wind a few more, but don't over-fill them. That creates a problem, too.

janeite

The tension screw might need to be tightened on the bobbin case. I would make sure to check with a bobbin wound on the 301, and like others have mentioned, make sure the machine is threaded correctly. Was it sewing correctly before, or is this a new to you machine?

If you just got it, and the machine was dirty, it would probably be a good idea to take the thread tension unit apart and clean it.

oldtnquiltinglady

I have just bought a 301 and am having a problem with the tension on it. Is the tension thingy hard to take apart and put back together? It seems pretty dirty and sticky like.....

Jo Ann

Rumbols

I recently bougth a 301 on Ebay and it had the same problem even after I cleaned her up really good. I remember how my sewing teacher in grade school (dating myself I am sure) taught me to check the bobbin tension. I put the bobbin in the bobbin case and just held the whole thing up by the thread and let the bobbin case and bobbin drop. Found that the bobbin case was not tight at all and the whole thing fell too fast. Used a screw driver to tighten the bobbin tension and tested again. She was much slower falling that time. So I threaded her up and when I started sewing, she sewed like a dream. Hope this helps.

janeite

It is not hard to take apart and put back together. The manual has pictures to guide you. Just take it slow and look at it for a while to remember how it goes. I like to lay out the pieces in the order I took them off. A digital camera could be helpful if you are very nervous about it. You could take pictures of how the parts go together. If it is dirty and sticky if needs to be cleaned.

miriam

OH it is sticky! Yuck - yeah take it apart and clean it. The first time you do that is the hardest. The manual should have instructions how to do that. Take lots of pictures. Use a muffin pan or something to keep things in order that you took them out. It helps to know which way things are turned. Go slow. Keep DH out - (lock him in the basement) Read the instructions several times. It is like making a quilt - you have to read the instructions and work up your nerve. Clean as you go. Here is a generic type manual. You will need to look at your type of tension and then go from there - it has info your owner's manual doesn't have. http://www.tfsr.org/pub/technical_in...echanism_2.pdf the info for the later 66 and 99 should work. You can print it out and make notes or what ever you need to do.

J Miller

OK ladies, lets not pick on the hubbies. FYI I can fix a tensioner too. And I don't need a pair of water pump pliers and a hammer to do it.

miriam, Thanks for the tensioner link. One more fix-it manual for my library.

Joe

miriam

Sorry Joe - didn't mean to step on your feelings again.
My experience is that my DH will use more force than I will and that can be fatal - If I need force I call him in and then hover and kick him out once the force bit is over - he's good natured about it and has enough other stuff to do... LOL.