My 401A hasn't been the same since . . .
 

I loaned it to a friend because she wanted to make a summer quilt.

She said the needle broke on her and she replaced it but decided to buy her own machine. So they gave it back along with a new pack of needles.

I started to sew . . . broke the needle.

Cleaned and defuzzed the machine. Put a needle back in. Broke again.

Looked around to see if anything was hitting but couldn't see it.

Oh, it breaks when I zig zag.

Hoping someone out there has had this problem before and knows how to fix it.

I have no idea how to fix it, that is so sad!!!! So sorry!!!!

Could your timing be off? I bought a machine that was a needle breaker and only zigged but didnt zagg. I had to adjust its timing hook.

Or it could just be hitting your needle plate. So your thingy that goes up and down (cant remember the name) may need to be adjusted.

I checked for it hitting the plate. That's not it. I don't know what a timing hook is.

Why I hate to loan things out - - -

Hope it's something easy to fix/adjust.

I hit something with my Bernina and it knocked the timing way off, it had to go to the shop. First check to see if the package of needles are the right ones for that machine. If you've clean, oiled and done everything else, it might have to go to the doctor.:(

I would slide open the bobbin cover plate, pull the needle plate off of the machine, and then slowly turn the hand wheel and watch what happens as the needle drops below the bed of the machine.

Seems like it should be fairly easy to see where the needle is getting hung up enough to break it, though as mentioned, it is likely in need of service.

Hey ArizonaKAT,

here are a few articles I wrote in January about timing:
http://www.archaicarcane.com/excuse-...have-the-time/ - This explains timing

Here's how to check it...
http://www.archaicarcane.com/perfect-timing/

If you do find it out, let us know, and we can time it together. In theory, depending on what she did that broke the needle, it could be the hook or the needlebar that needs to be adjusted, but I'd like to know the result of the check first. :)

Wow, i'm sorry that this happened! Check to make sure that she put the new needle in correctly.