Singer 15-91 snapping needles...please help
 

Hello I am brand new and joined just to ask!

I love my Singer 15-91 and I think I might of made a mistake. The 15-91 is my primary sewing machine.

My machine is regularly oiled every 10 hours of use as instructed from the user manual. The needle is installed the correct direction all the way into the the hole. The screw is hand tightened but never over tightened. I was using Schmetz Microtex 90/14. I am going to buy sturdier needles. -Maybe my needle was too delicate for the work I was doing.

A month into using the 15-91 I started hearing and feeling a little grinding in the machine. I found black lint caked under the bobbin case. After cleaning it out and replacing it the grinding feeling/sound was gone but then my machine started to misbehave. -Maybe I messed up my timing when I reinstalled my bobbin case.

Besides the needle being too thin and the timing being off is there any other reason my favorite girl would be snapping needles?
Thank you in advance!

Welcome to the QuiltingBoard!

I don't think a 14 needle is that delicate really. There should be a chart in the manual showing needle sizes for various fabric weights, check that first. It is highly unlikely that removing and reinstalling the bobbin case or the hook/race would disrupt the timing, but you can eyeball it fairly easily. Hand cycling the machine, look at the needle at the very start of its upward stroke, the hook should be at the needle at the eye, or very close to the eye, the upward stroke creates a loop in the needle thread that the hook grabs. That's where I would start diagnosing anyway. Also make sure you test with a brand new needle, you don't want a needle with even the slightest bend in it.

I agree with Joe. A size 14 needle isn't delicate. I often use 80/12's just because they leave a smaller hole and have never had a problem with them. I've even used them to quilt. I don't think that is the problem. I'd follow Joe's directions and try to figure out why the needles are breaking. I also agree with using a new needle. Even a slight bend can throw things off enough that you break needles.

How does it break needles? Right away, every time? Or does it sew a while, then break?

I'm a rookie, but bear with me. It has to be one of 3 things, right?
A) The needle hitting something
B) Something hitting the needle
C) The thread binding up an deflecting the needle enough to break it

I'd first handwheel it and see how it does. Then I might remove the needle and run it. Listen and watch for any odd behavior. Then maybe run it with a needle and no thread. If it doesn't break a needle, maybe add the lightest thread you can find and maybe it'll start breaking thread instead of needles. All that to try and isolate which end of the machine is causing the problem.

Have you checked to see if the feed dog has worked loose? Maybe it's that simple.

Good luck with it.

FWIW: these machines almost never go out of timing. I can't see how cleaning the hook assembly can result in a timing problem in any event.

Are you pulling the fabric when you sew? If so, the needle may have deflected and hit either the hook or more likely on this machine, the needle plate. Are there any marks from needle strikes on the plate or any burrs on the hook?