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-   -   Problems with jammed bobbin area on Anker Phoenix 429 (https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage-antique-machine-enthusiasts-f22/problems-jammed-bobbin-area-anker-phoenix-429-a-t247803.html)

miriam 06-03-2014 10:55 AM

Did it ever work?

Cecilia S. 06-03-2014 10:58 AM

Miriam, do you mean did it work prior to this bung up?

Yes. The lady who had it before me sewed for years, all her kids' clothes.

I got it last year, and cleaned it up, and sewed a bit on it, but I am afraid I can blame myself for the thread jam because I was not smart enough to properly thread the pig-taily thing on the bobbin case. It is definitely my fault.

When it sewed (before I jammed it up), it sounded like a dream, mechanically, and made possibly the most gorgeous zig zag I have ever seen. That is why I named him Ziggy ;-)

Please don't give up on me - Miriam, you are one of the last bastions of hope out there :-)

miriam 06-03-2014 11:10 AM

I'm hoping Mizkaki or Tammi show up around here. I've messed with that but I don't know how to tell you. Keep tinkering - I had one I worked on for a very long time - I had to walk away a lot - but I kept going back to it. Finally I took it all back apart and put it back together and got it timed some how and it worked just fine the 100th time must have been the charm. It would help to know what you are doing wouldn't it? I know the thing you are trying to work around - is there any adjustment in that? Is there something that holds things in place? Is there a screw you loosened and forgot about? When you put it back together, does it turn before you put it on the shaft? There is only one way that thing goes and if one little thing is wacky you have a problem but most of the time it simply won't assemble wrong. Worst of it is you don't have anything else just like it to look at... My problems were self inflicted, too. Take your time and if you have to go walk away. Tension Tamer tea...

Cecilia S. 06-03-2014 11:12 AM

1 Attachment(s)
Perhaps this photo will simplify the ultimate question: In this photo, which show the bobbin business (taken off the machine, and with the bobbin next to it), should it all behave as thought it were one solid piece, or should there be freedom of movement amongst any of its components?

Currently, there is no freedom of movement; it behaves as one piece, made up of one main part with two slightly springy brackety bits (with the thread - grabbing hook/s) on them. There are no stray bits of thread or debris anywhere that I can find.

If you tell me that it ought to behave as one piece, that might help me try to troubleshoot elsewhere. Or, if indeed things here are supposed to move freely within this one piece, this tells me that something is still awry.

Thank you!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]477775[/ATTACH]

miriam 06-03-2014 11:30 AM

I think if it is a rotary motion the bobbin should not move - the rest should rotate around the bobbin. The clone bobbin case stays put and it rocks back and forth around it.

Candace 06-03-2014 12:16 PM

The bobbin case is held still by the assembly with the finger. It shouldn't rotate fully. The finger should stop it from rotating. The second half is what rotates. Something is up with that bobbin assembly. I wonder if the screws haven't been fully screwed back in. Sometimes the finger needs a bit of adjustment as it should hold the bobbin case yet not lock it so tight that it prevents the back half of the assembly from rotating.

oldsewnsew 06-03-2014 12:40 PM

Popcorn eating bystander here...can you post a pic of it as you have it assembled? Of course you tried it with the bobbin case installed empty, just to see if it would move okay, right? When you figure it out,& you will, I'll bet it was something simple, like ME!

Mrs. SewNSew 06-03-2014 06:01 PM

Does the finger part have some room for adjustment? Don't ask me what machine it was or even the bobbin type, but I remember working on a machine where with one little piece, if I allowed too much room it buggered up and if I allowed too little the works jammed up tight. It had to be worked with to get just the right amount of space.

foufymaus 06-03-2014 09:05 PM


Originally Posted by oldsewnsew (Post 6743289)
Popcorn eating bystander here...can you post a pic of it as you have it assembled? Of course you tried it with the bobbin case installed empty, just to see if it would move okay, right? When you figure it out,& you will, I'll bet it was something simple, like ME!

*settles in to seat with a box of red vines and a soda* Can you turn the hand wheel when the bobbin casing/assembly is out?

Cecilia S. 06-03-2014 09:33 PM

Wow, you guys are grabbing snacks and settling back into the side show that is my sewing machine? That's awesome. Keep snacking; I need your brain power here!

A few things:

1) The finger attaches to the underside of the machine bed, and there is no adjustment. It is fixed, period. (And yes, it is in correctly)

2) The machine is an oscillating hook, not a rotary one. (I am 99.8% certain of this.)

3) When the entire hook assembly is off (i.e. three mid-weight set screws on the shaft, removing the entire bobbin mechanism assembly), the machine turns freely; handwheel moves, needlebar and all sewing mahine guts move properly.

4) When entire hook assembly is replaced, but finger is off, machine still turns, needlebar, guts, and all, but hook assemble rotates fully as one unit; no oscillating.

5) When finger is added to the equation, assembly turns about 1 millimeter, (regular amount of built-in play for oscillation) and when it contacts the finger, and then the machine seizes. Handwheel continues to turn, but in a spinning-out sort of way. Needlebar and guts no longer move.

6) By the way, the "bopbbin race hook assembly unit" does not have any motion even within itself, whether on or off the machine. This seems wrong.


I hope this is all clear, I can try to post an annotated photo... we'll see if I am smart enough...


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