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hook mechanism is out of sync in my B…

Cecile_Moore | Posted in Equipment and Supplies on

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While sewing away last night, my low-mileage Bernina 140 started making snarled-up stitches below the throat plate, the kind where the needle thread never comes all the way out of the machine so you end up with loops of thread under the fabric and after about 4 stitches it seizes up. I have taken the hook mechanism out (as though to clean it – not as though to pretend to be a repairman!) and it looks fine, but I can watch it snag the thread with each stitch. Is this a minor adjustment, or must I take it in for repair? (The nearest repair place is an hour from me – bummer.) Thanks for any help or useful references! Cecile

Replies

  1. lin_hendrix | | #1

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    Hi Cecile,

    Look for crud or a little piece of thread stuck somewhere in the hook/bobbin area. Look very hard. My old Pfaff used to do this and it was always some lint wedged in between something. Take the feed plate off, put in a different bobbin with some waste thread, oil the heck out of the mechanism and with a new needle hand-crank sew (or try to) on waste fabric. I could usually spot the crud or tip of a little thread as the bobbin housing moved either from on top looking down or using a bright lite looking straight on. Try using tweezers to get the piece out.

    Otherwise you will have to take it in. It's either a non-reachable piece of crud or your timing is off or you've got a burr on a part of the mechanism.

    hope this helps,
    --lin

    1. Cecile_Moore | | #2

      *Hi Lin - Everything is clean as a whistle in there, and I called the Bernina dealer today and the lady said, "oh, you broke a needle, didn't you?" Yep. Bummer. She said I threw the timing off. Well, now I know one easy way to break a thousand dollar sewing machine. Does this sound a little delicate to you, or am I just ham-fisted? (I'm prepared for the second option...)Well, it's off to the Emerald City tomorrow!Thanks again, Ceil >^, ,^<

      1. Maura | | #3

        *I don't think you're ham-fistred, and I don't think that is necessarily very delicate of the machine, either. It is a possibility on any machine, any time you break a needle, from my understanding. That is part of the warning against sewing over pins. Having said that, I don't think I've ever seen it happen, personally. I was told (by a machine repairman) that every time it happens, it is easier for it to happen again.

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