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ok guys, i bought the machine in august from hsn. i'm a total newbie... i'm using bernina editor plus v6.
the problem is with the machine... the stitching is loose. the wrong side of the fabric looks terrible. bunched up threads, bobbin thread that looks very loose.


ive come a long way since i got the machine. i understand the basics of threading both upper and bobbin as well as the different kinds of stabilizer to use. i was breaking needles left and right in the very beginning. i understand there is a learning curve with the machine and i'm trying to be patient but seriously, i'm ready to scream.

is there a forum set up just for this particular machine?
does anyone know what the problem is with the loose thread? i tried making the tension higher. it comes set at 0. i went as high as 6 and didnt see any difference.
i put a new needle in.
i changed the bobbin (which i spool myself with brother's bobbin thread).

i wish there was a way i could post pixs of my work so you could see it. i'm not very good at describing the situation.
all i know is it looks terrible.

please help. i need suggestions.
thank you so much.
barb

I also have a PE-770, but have not had your problem.

Make sure that you have the bobbin inserted in the right direction. Also, make sure that you press down on the bobbin a bit as you run the bobbin thread through the little track that leads to the cutting bar. (I did have a problem when I did not get the bobbin thrread down deep enough in the little track soon after I got my machine.)

Check out the threading of the machine. It can be so easy to miss a step. Make sure that the tension disks are open when you thread the machine. If the tension disks are not open, then you will have problems. (It is the middle of the night here right now and my grandson is asleep in the room so I cannot look at my machine--I think the presser foot needs to be up to thread properly, then lowered to use the needle threader, but I may be wrong. I will check when he gets up for school in a bit and let you know if I got it backwards.)

I have never needed to change the tension on my machine--it sits on 00 which is where it was when I opened the box.

If all else faills, check with your dealer. It may be that your machine needs a slight adjustment. Please do not get too frustrated. That just will not help solve your problem.

Hope this helps.

Sarah

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrotherMachineEmbroidery/

The above is a yahoo group you can join.
I haven't had any problems (knock on wood). Make sure your presser foot is up so the tension is open. Be sure and use 90wt bobbin thread. Clean out the bobbin area really good, sometimes the little piece of thread can cause major problems. My tension is set on 00 as it came to me from HSN. I have never broke a needle yet. Go through your threading to make sure you are threading correctly. Sounds silly but sometimes we do the silliest things not thinking and miss threading correctly. You can always post a picture in one of the areas on the board here and link to it from this thread. If you have done everything you can think of the next thing is to take it in and have it cleaned and adjusted and looked at. I broke a needle once on my Brother PE170 years ago and it got the timing out of whack and wouldn't pick up the bobbin thread at all.

Barb it might help if you can take a picture and post it in the miscellaneous section. Sometimes it's hard to describe the problem accurately.

I had a 700II that suddenly started acting up a year after I had it - the bobbin thread was showing, the stitches were horrible - I tried everything and finally shipped it down to the dealer in Vancouver. It seems that a manufacturer's metal label had come loose and was catching the thread. They fixed it *free* and it worked great until I sold it a couple of years ago.

The 700 series are all the same machine just the designs and design transfer system changed as they upgraded to USB sticks, etc.

Dee

Could be that your broken needles have damaged the bobbin case or something in the bobbin area.
I would take it back to the dealer and have them look at it.
Then have them go through threading the machine with you and try a design on it before you take it home.

East Witch

I had this problem as well. I determined it was being caused by the upper thread being reeled off too fast - with not enough tension, therefore, making the stitches look baggy and loose. Are you using the netting that came with the machine?

I have a new PE 770 also and had the exact same problem. I tried every kind of adjustment possible on the machine, no significant improvement. It was driving me nuts.

Then I took a class at my local Brother dealer. What a great investment. She had the tech properly adjust the bobbin, which helped a little. But one thing she taught me made all the difference in the world.

She showed me how, on spools with small tapered ends, allow the thread to wind several times around the shaft of the spool holder in the machine. This causes a tug of war with the machine trying to pull the thread off the spool. I had not noticed this before. Solution? A $6 spool stand that sits next to the machine, holding the spool upright, lifts the thread up over the end of the machine, and smoothly feeds it to the system. Problem solved. Tension is set at 0, bobbin is just slightly tight. Now it stitches like a dream! That little $6 single spool stand has been wonderful. It'll hold any size spool and I never have that problem anymore.

Try getting one & resetting your bobbin like mine & see if that helps.

I too have a PE770. The first thing I see is that you are winding your own bobbins. Have you tried prewound bobbins at all? I tried winding my own a few years back for an older machine. The bobbin thread is so fine and just seemed to spin around the bobbin and would not wind tight enough. Now I only use prewound bobbins and buy by the box of 100.

I also have the thread stand that was recommended when I bought my machine, because they said using the horizontal thread spool on the machine causes thread jams and broken needles. (If you use the machine horizontal spool don't put the end cap on tight because that prevents the spool from moving as needed - probably the problem.)

Even though I had the stand, right after I bought the machine, somehow the thread became caught under the spool, tightening the thread. That bent the needle and jammed it on the plate of the machine. I haven't tried the "thread nets" yet, but I guess I should. I now simply keep a constant eye on the upper thread for fraying or tightening problems.

When a friend had problems with breaking both the thread and needles on the Disney version of the PE770, she was told that she had a lot of loose threads-fibers inside the upper tension area and that it was caused by pulling the thread backwards to remove it. It seems a waste of thread, but I do cut the threads at the top by the horizontal spool, and then pull that thread piece out down by the needle.

Thread pieces and lint will cause a lot of problems. When I put a new bobbin in, I take just a minute to remove the bobbin case and throat plate and brush clean those areas. I also use canned or compressed air for both the bobbin area and the upper thread area.

Have also had problems w/ my PE 770. Had smaller machine 4X4 first, which worked great, but didnt like such small dimensions. Bought the 770 in Feb. of this yr. Have had nothing but trouble w/ it. The exact same problems as u. Was so frustrated i set it aside & just hated to go into my sewing room & look at it. Just tried it today, same problems!!! Emailed the dealer, waiting for a response. Have so many items i want to do. This machine has gotten me so down on embroidery. Just can't afford to purchase new one. It is a relief to know that i am not the only one with this problem. Makes me feel better.

Hi Honeybee

I note that you stopped winding your bobbins and now buy them prewound. Have you noticed a significant difference in these vs the bobbins you wound yourself? Was it enough of a difference to warrent the added cost?

What generally does it cost to get the prewound bobbins?

Thanks!

You did not ask me, but I use prewounds most of the time and never have problems with them. There is lots of thread on prewounds, and they last a good while.

When I wind bobbins, it is because the item will be seen from both directions, and I wind with the same thread that I am sewing with(40 wt embroidery thread). These are the only bobbins I ever have trouble with--the thread on some of them seems not to be wound evenly and I have had several times when the thread gets tangled as I am embroidering and I have literally had to cut the threads loose to be able to remove the fabric and the hoop from the machine. I wind my bobbins on a sidewinder, not the machine, and for some reason something is not quite sometimes--maybe too loose, or maybe loopy in places. I have not totally ruined anything yet, and I am happy to say that, but it is a matter of time I am sure with the bobbins messing up like that.

I prefer to use prewound when I can so I do not have problems with the ones I wind.

Sarah

I am with you. I just bought the same machine from HSN and this is garbage! I have had to fiddle with it for 3 days and honestly its a crapshoot whether a design is going to come out okay or not. One design worked fine, the next was all bunched up and mangled. I have the tension all set, tried multiple brands of thread and I even used the netting and I am beyond the words of frustrated. I am ready to ship it back to HSN.

Lisa

Maybe it's the HSN machines?? I bought a factory Refurb. from Ken's and I love it!! I did have a problem with tension, but it was because I did not get the bobbin thread under the "spring" on the bobbin case before wrapping it thru the plastic groove.

Most problems are because it was threadedwrong or the bobbin is not set right.

Take a deep breath, get out the manual and follow it line by line. If ti doesn't work....RETURN IT!

I have a brother sewing machine and the PE770.....I love them both.

I had purchased the PE70011 from HSN over a year ago.Well I sent that one back with in a week.No questions were asked I got my refund no problem.Then I went to ALLBrands and got my PE770 from them and have had it for over a year.I have minor problems but it is always something I am doing wrong or something I can fix on my own.Nothing big.Maybe HSN gets all the machines that are messed up.Alot of people are complaining about their machine that came from there.
Isn't there a tension test you can down load so you can see where your tension is at and what it should look like?
I will have to look and see if I still have it on my computer.Here is the link.just click on Brother pes and down load
http://www.windstarembroidery.com/embro ... mation.cfm?


I use pre wound bobbins all the time I buy the nebs for my 770.

One of the most important things that's causing your problem is the bobbin! You can't use pre wound bobbins unless you have a spacer for the bobbin. Brother bobbins are different and that's all I've used, ever.. Good luck.

I guess I've been lucky. Mine came from HSN in a sealed box and was brand spanking new. Nothing leads me to believe it was a refurbished, a return or lesser quality because it came from HSN. I think these machines can be just like any other item out there such as appliances, cars, etc. Some just come out of the factory with problems or user error. I received mine in July and I'm amazed at how much I've made on it already especially for Christmas. I had approximately 30 bath towels, 25 throw blankets, several pillowcases and 3 baby orders that included burp cloths, paci clips from Embroidery Garden, wipe cases, and luggage tags from Embroidery Garden that is used on the diaper bag. I did all these in 3 weeks before Xmas, not to mention all I've done just as regular items. Not one problem. I do wind my own bobbins with 90wt bobbin thread. I figure why chance it if winding my own is working just fine. My tension has not moved from "00" as it was set on out of the box. I do use mini kings on a single spool thread stand I purchased at JoAnn's that sits to the side of my machine. I use a 1gb flash drive and only have 1-5 designs on it at a time. Other than that I treat it just like I do my Janome, keep the bobbin area cleaned out, needle changed when needed, always clip the thread and pull the thread thru the needle when changing to another color, keep clipped threads and used stabilizer, trash away from the machine and in the trash can. Maybe I'm just lucky. Both the Janome and the Brother have never given me problems. Just my 2 cents.

i too purchased mine from hsn and i love it! hasn't given me any problems at all and i use it almost daily. got mine in july or august. i have used 70-90 bobbin thread which i wind myself. again so far i have not had any problems at all.

I have the same machine and have been having issues lately. When sewing some of the thread comes out with black on them, kind of like oil. Not sure why it is doing that. I've had a couple of major jams the past few days and two needle breaks today. Very frustrated also.

How long have you had the machine and have you had it serviced recently? I'm a firm believer in regular service. My Janome goes in once a year and sometimes twice depending on how much I use it. I've only had the Brother since July and I've been taking a break since Christmas but it will go in for service in March or April.

I got it in Oct. and it went in two weeks ago because the needles kept breaking and the thread kept breaking. Turned out my foot was bent so they replaced it.

HAVE YOU CALLED BROTHER AND TOLD THEM OF PROBLEM. THEY ARE VERY NICE PEOPLE. THEY DONOT LIKE PEOPLE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THIER MACHINES.

I'm glad they found the problem. I had a similar problem with my Janome a year ago. I got the machine in March of 2005 and never had a problem with it, except needing cleaning and service and once had some temp adhesive collect in it from using too much. I kept having problems and it turned out my foot (which is clear plastic on the Janome) had a very faint hairline crack and the thread would get caught in it. Had to see it with a magnifying glass. Sometimes it's the smallest things!