The Sewing Place

Help I have thread caught in my upper threading

Elnnina

Help I have thread caught in my upper threading
« on: November 09, 2019, 11:29:17 AM »
Please do any of you have a Bernina Artista 200 - and if so have you ever had thread getting caught in the upper threading, particularly where it goes up the left hand side of the take up cover and before it goes into the hook of the take up  lever.

Mine is well and truly caught in something, I cannot get hold of my mechanic, and I am very wary of trying to take the cover off the end of the machine - also I do not have the appropriate sized allen key.

I have secured the loose ends of the thread with some magic tape so that they do not wander or get blown /sucked into the inner workings of the machine, but I am at a loss as to why this has happened and also what to do.  Any help gratefully received.

So Chic

Re: Help I have thread caught in my upper threading
« Reply #1 on: November 09, 2019, 11:53:09 AM »
I have an Artista 630 and this happened to me.  I took the cover off and just pulled the thread out very slowly and very carefully.
So Chic
Bernina Artista 630, Bernina 800DL, Janome Cover Pro 1000CP and an elderly Singer Touch & Sew 720G as a back up

Ohsewsimple

Re: Help I have thread caught in my upper threading
« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2019, 11:58:38 AM »
@Elnnina have you tried moving the fly wheel back and forth?   Try cutting the thread off from the right hand side see if that releases it.  It could be caught on what I think is called the check spring. 
I had same sort of problem with my Diamond the other day.  Pair of tweezers, haemostats and light on my phone worked wonders.   :).  Couldn’t wait for my old boss to be nearby to look.   :o

Elnnina

Re: Help I have thread caught in my upper threading
« Reply #3 on: November 09, 2019, 12:07:47 PM »
Ohsewsimple I have used a torch and managed to see the thread and pull this out from the right hand side of the take up cover - luckily the thread is white, but it won't budge on the left hand side  and I am loathe to keep on moving the hand wheel as I cannot see exactly where it is caught - I do have a particularly fine pair of 5" forceps and they enabled me to get to the right hand side easily enough but the take up cover is really in the way of the take up lever.  I could also see the reflection of yet another sensor in the machine so if I do take the end cover off I will be extremely careful and if there is any doubt I will leave well alone until I can get hold of my mechanic - I have left a message, but had no reply from him so wonder if perhaps he is on holiday or is ill.  Luckily I do have other machines so I am not without - it is just a nuisance really  - luckily I was just changing the thread on the very last bit of sewing, - so today I can start putting things back where they belong and then start adjusting my pattern before I start all over again.

Ohsewsimple

Re: Help I have thread caught in my upper threading
« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2019, 12:49:23 PM »
@Elnnina always good to have a spare machine....or two.   :[
It is annoying I know.  Best not mess and damage the sensor.  Bernina is horrendously expensive for spare parts.  Hope you get it sorted soon.

Stitchalot

Re: Help I have thread caught in my upper threading
« Reply #5 on: November 09, 2019, 14:47:41 PM »
It’s happened to me a few times and I have just cut the thread away and left a tiny piece it there. It disappears in time. I’m sure that is not the correct answer!!

I can tell you why it happens though. It’s because the last stitch has not been completed. Always use the button to raise the needle to the highest point before threading, rather than the hand wheel. Then the thread take up lever is in the optimum position for threading.

Elnnina

Re: Help I have thread caught in my upper threading
« Reply #6 on: November 09, 2019, 15:43:00 PM »
Thanks again for all the advice, suddenly I remembered a little chrome piece in one of the 'Wardrobes' and this has two different sized ends, and on looking in the manual it is called a 'Torx key'. So very nervously my husband undid the screw - I couldn't even move it - and then slid the very end cover off - exposing the take up lever and somehow the thread had got caught between the take up lever and another part of that lever and the thread came out whole - thank goodness.  So panic over.

I have to add that in all my sewing years and that is a lot, I have never managed to get thread caught in the threading/tension part and this certainly scared me because it is a computerised machine and I have to admit I am rather scared of the whole machine and know that a lot can go wrong very easily if I make a mistake.  Do you know the very first time I went to use this machine in my home once I had connected this to the electricity there was a high pitched noise and it wouldn't stop - it was not like that when it was demonstrated.  I had no idea why it was doing this, turned it off and on again and it still screeched - guess what was causing this - the bobbin winder had been knocked into bobbin winding position and as it is an automatic process - this was something totally new to me.

I really am grateful to those who have come up with suggestions, as I really did not want to put this machine away and forget about it, I do use the machine for my corded buttonholes as they will all be identical and for top stitching as I can easily set the stitch length, but for general assembly sewing I use an older Bernina.  I really must take courage in my hands and start to explore and use the embroidery section of the Artista - that is why I bought the machine in the first place.

Thanks again everyone.

Ohsewsimple

Re: Help I have thread caught in my upper threading
« Reply #7 on: November 09, 2019, 16:22:26 PM »
Oh wonderful @Elnnina.   Just a thought, what thread were you using?   I’m sure you weren’t using any old cheap thread :).   But some of those are too stretchy and cause major problems by pinging back inside the machine. 

Elnnina

Re: Help I have thread caught in my upper threading
« Reply #8 on: November 09, 2019, 17:01:30 PM »
Only Gutermann and this thread catching nonsense has never ever happened to me on any machine, but I accept that this newer Bernina with its take up lever guard is totally new to me.  Oh I am so relieved, and so is my husband, he was not looking forward to driving across to Watford and back and now that we know it was so simple to sort out, I have no doubt words would have been said about wasting his time!!

Incidentally the overlocking thread that I use are my left over stocks of a Belgian brand which was lovely, but the company went bust, so then I have quite a lot of a thread called Saba by Amann, only that too is now so difficult to get hold of if it is still made.  The one I dislike is Moon threads that is too hairy for me, and I have perhaps two or three small spools of that - which I can always use for tacking purposes.   Whilst  I have other threads all assorted makes from years and years ago I believe in tacking and use these threads up for that.

My machines regardless of which one I use  only have decent Gutermann thread, Schmetz or Bernina needles, and on the old mechanicals they have either Elna or Bernina oil.  Incidentally when there was a sewing machine shop near me I would go in and buy several packets of needles at a time, and one day I was asked if I break needles, my answer is no I don't, but I change my needles regularly in the sewing machine after each garment, and on the overlockers after about 8 hours use - they were rather surprised at my answer and this was a shop specialising in selling sewing machines and overlockers - does make you wonder doesn't it.  Machines are an expensive piece of equipment and they deserve the best and need to be kept in tiptop condition, even winding a bobbin you can see a trail of thread dust, so heaven knows how much thread dust occurs with a needle going up an down all day.

Ohsewsimple

Re: Help I have thread caught in my upper threading
« Reply #9 on: November 09, 2019, 17:44:10 PM »
Very wise @Elnnina and so right about the machines being expensive and deserving the best.   You’d be surprised at how many people are happy to use cheap rubbish.   ><
And nothing surprises me now after what I’ve seen.  We had a textiles teacher in once complaining about the stitching.  It was blatantly obvious the needle was blunt.   But why would she change it if it wasn’t broken?   Oh dear, wouldn’t want to be taught by her!
Yep I’m not a great fan of Moon but have used it.  If a machine was really bad inside the engineers used to give a little plastic bag full of the muck back to the customer.  And the staff had a lesson on how not to treat a machine!   :)

So Chic

Re: Help I have thread caught in my upper threading
« Reply #10 on: November 10, 2019, 13:07:28 PM »
@Elnnina
Good to hear that you were brave and that your machine is now working again.  I agree with comments made the others with regard to using decent needles and thread.

I used to have an elderly neighbour who used to sharpen the ONE needle she had for her sewing machine.  She was horrified when I said I changed needles after every garment.
So Chic
Bernina Artista 630, Bernina 800DL, Janome Cover Pro 1000CP and an elderly Singer Touch & Sew 720G as a back up

Elnnina

Re: Help I have thread caught in my upper threading
« Reply #11 on: November 10, 2019, 14:37:41 PM »
Oh Sew Chic I do understand where your elderly neighbour was coming from - my mother would also have been horrified with my changing needles so often.  She had a Frister Rossman that she bought in 1936 a hand crank, and when I started using this machine I was not allowed to change the stitch length cos 'it would mess up the tension'.  My mother also boasted that she had never ever changed a needle in that machine and yet she had stitched all manner of fabrics with this from curtaining to soft furnishing covers and that fabric was quite thick, to canvas awnings, clothes including muslin bridesmaids dresses for my elder sister and I and this was after she had made the covers to recover some armchairs.  When I bought my first sewing machine, again a straight stitch this was electric, and thus she was rather jealous of this and would use it without my knowing when I was at work, however when I got married my machine came with me much to her disgust so whilst she still wanted to sew she was not happy with a hand crank, so my father bought an electric motor and fitted this on for her.  It wasn't until they moved to Suffolk in the early 70's to retire and on finding that she could attend some sewing classes which she enjoyed she was persuaded to buy a Bernina 830 Record in 1975 with a small legacy that she had inherited - this is now my main go to machine and whilst she had used it no way had it been used as much as my own Elna SU which I bought in the same year.  Oh blunt and slightly bent needles can cause so much damage, and when I inherited the Bernina I did find all manner of different packets of needles in the accessory box - I presume she had bought these in a small local town - just an ordinary haberdashery - and no way was I going to use these they were disposed of very quickly.  I also found no oil with the machine, so I went to my nearest machine dealer and asked if they would order me a bottle of the Bernina oil, and in fact they gave me one from a new machine as I was so insistent that it was Bernina oil and not a large can of Singer oil.

I also cannot understand it when people buy these beautiful but expensive machines but then quibble about feet and other attachments for them.  So many times we hear that people have bought a job lot of x number feet at a silly cheap price and then find that they cause their machine problems in trying to use them.  Yes I know that Bernina feet are expensive, very expensive  for some, but there are ways around getting these if they really need/want them - I personally just asked my family for feet for Christmas and my birthday, I did the ordering so I knew exactly what I was getting, and thus I now have the most wonderful collection of feet/attachments/accessories  for all my machines and I really do use them.  Only this last week or so I have had three sewing machines in use plus an overlocker, I have the most wonderful triple straight stitch on my Elna - I use this for sewing in the sleeves and the nature of this stitch means that the seam cannot pop, I used the older Bernina for the main construction of my garments, and then the Artista for the buttonholes and the top stitching - yes I know I could have used either the Elna or the older Bernina for the buttonholes, but I do like them all exactly the same size and the Artista makes this so much easier to do and I had twenty buttonholes to do.

I am just so glad that the jammed thread was so easily removed and relatively painless, but I am annoyed that it happened in the first place, I shall be extra vigilant in future when threading this.