My bobbin thread keeps breaking!

[Louweasel]

 
My bobbin thread keeps breaking and I have tried everything I can think of!

I’ve used a different bobbin

I’ve used different thread

I’ve used a fresh needle

I’ve cleaned out the fluff

I’ve tried loosening the bobbin tension

I’ve tried adjusting the bottom tension.

It was serviced a month ago since which time i have sewed a cotton dress and it behaved beautifully.

Now it seems to be intermittently breaking threads - I did most of a baby quilt top then it went through a phase of breaking, I thought it was an evil bobbin as it stopped when I changed it. Now it has started again and breaks on three different bobbins!

Arrrrrrggghhhh can anyone help?

[Louweasel]

Sorry that should say top tension not bottom tension. I’ve tried adjusting both, several times!

Also I am using aurifil thread (also tried a specialist bobbin thread)

[Morgan]

Needle Size?


Some information
https://weallsew.com/how-to-pair-thread-weight-with-needle-size/
- plenty more info around on the internet if you search on Match Thread to Machine Needle Size

For quilting, a top stitch needle can be useful - larger eye, deeper cradle for the thread etc.
helps minimise the effects of abrasion (ie. fabric & wadding brushing on the thread each time it travels through the layers before it even makes the stitch)

[Mr Twingo]

My threads break if:

1. I put the bobbin in the wrong way (thread wound anticlockwise instead of clockwise)
or
2. The thread has slipped out of the take up lever.

Maybe it's one of these on your machine?

[arrow]

Which type of machine is it? I have had thread braking until I stopped using a particular brand of needles, sometimes the whole package can be a bad batch in the production.

Where does the thread snap, near the needle or some where else? Can you turn the balance wheel by hand and pin point where the thread catches or pulls? Try to check for burrs or scrates in the thread route; guides, grooves, throat plate hole,...

[Louweasel]

Belated thanks all - it was a busy week and I didn't have chance to try again. Just have sat down and given it a go; using a brand new packet of needles in case i had a bad batch as suggested, reverting to tension as set by the servicing techs a month or so ago, using good quality cotton thread, carefully loading bobbin and rethreading from the top.  I had the needle plate off and the bobbin-guts out and gave it another clean trying to spot any wisps of thread but no luck. It's still breaking. I'm just trying to sew a practice scrap of doubled quilting cotton rather than the actual quilt. I think arrow may be right about a burr on the needle plate - that is where it is breaking I think, even though when i have the bobbin out the thread pulls smoothly. Fortunately when i had it serviced in mid-june they told me it was guaranteed for six months so hopefully it will not be expensive to take it back to be looked at - I think that's all I've got left to do!
(it's a janome 2200XT, arrow)

[Louweasel]

OMG I think it is solved! Someone on a facebook group suggested it might be the heat..at first I thought no, it was switched off for a week when I last tried so it can't be overheating. But with the weather we've been having, I thought to myself, actually even though the machine is kept out of direct sunlight, this is a modern well-insulated flat (as opposed to a draughty stone cottage or whatever) and considering it's over 26 degrees as I type this at nearly 8pm with all the windows open, when I'm out all day with the windows shut i bet it is just really hot all day. The machine is sitting and stewing at at least 25 - maybe the thread is getting just as hot, bothered and sweaty as me! Metaphorically. So I was discussing with a sewing friend at work saying, maybe I will just wait and see if it sorts itself when this heatwave is over. She said, why don't you try putting the thread in the fridge for a bit? Worth a try! So I popped the bobbin in its case, plus a spare full bobbin and a few spools for good measure, in the fridge when I got home and after a couple of hours, decided to see if it made any difference. I have now quilted a baby quilt with no breaks!!! I've popped the threads back in the fridge ready to do the binding another day.
Thanks for all the help and hope this will assist anyone who searches for such things in future!

[arrow]

For me, Gütermann's sew-all polyester always behaves well when others act up, very easy to adjust tension, fabric weights and needle sizes I have in the drawer, etc. It should not act up in heat either, at least summer temperatures. The cottons I like best tend to be mercerised and at least around medium sew-all weight unless it's very sheer fabric.

[annieg]

Wish I could put myself in the fridge with such a positive result!!
 
Annieg