The Quilted Rose

Gammill Longarm Quilting Machines
and longarm quilting supplies

Trouble Shooting your Gammill

Always unplug your machine before any adjustments are made!

• Keep your machine well oiled and clean. Remember to oil the area behind the inspection plate on the left hand side of your machine every four months.
• If your machine is hard to move, check your wheels for thread and clean your tracks with the Zippy Track Cleaner.
• Check the threading of your machine before you make any adjustments. Always us a good quality thread. If you live in an area of extreme hot and dry to cool and damp, check your thread before sewing. Your thread may have dried out and will need to be hydrated.
• If you are having problems think back to the last adjustment you made on your machine. Go back and make sure that you made the adjustment properly.
• A needle in backwards in the most frequent call.

Skipping Stitches

1. Needle is bent, dull, or the needle has a burr on it. (change needle)
2. Lint under the throat plate, check wick in the back of the hook for lint.
3. Check spring has groove worn by thread at the point the thread passes over the spring. Thread will catch at the point and cause a skipped stitch. Check spring should be at 11 O' Clock.
4. Check spring should not touch any part of the tension mechanism while moving up and down. Thread your machine and pull on the thread to check.
5. You may have your fabric too tight on the rollers.
6. Upper tension may be too tight.
7. Rethread your machine.
8. Use a high quality thread.
9. Check your hook for burrs by running a piece of nylon stocking around the hook. The nylon will catch on the burr. Buff the burr out with a piece of emery cloth. Note: you may need to replace the hook.
10. Check the timing.
11. Plus Machines - Check the encoder O rings for cracks. If it is cracked, install a new O-ring.
12. Take-up roller may be too high. You should have a fingers width between roller and machine.

Tensions

Top Thread Flat

1. Oil and clean your machine.
2. Your bobbin may not be threaded correctly.
3. Lint on your thread guides and between tension discs.
4. You may need a new rotary tension disc, your thread may have worn a groove in the disc for thread to catch in.
5. Rethread your machine. Pay attention to the rotary tension disc, thread often will get wrapped around it incorrectly.
6. Clean your bobbin case behind the Anti-back last spring and the Top tension spring. It's a good idea to keep an extra bobbin case on hand.
7. Tension too tight.
8. Bobbin case has very little tension it should drop with just the slightest of tension. If your bobbin is too tight, you will never get good tension.
9. Your bobbin should be wound tight. Soft bobbins do not make a good tension. External bobbin winders are recommended. Bobbins shouldn't be wound too full.
10. Refer to the tension chart in your Training Manual for proper tensions.
11. Center thread cone under first thread guide.
12. Check the condition of the cone of thread, if the cone has been dropped, it may have a flat edge. This will make it more difficult for the machine to feed the thread properly. The thread will hang up on the compressed portion of the cone.
13. Put a sock on the cone of thread, this will help the thread feed to the machine evenly.

Please visit Linda's Electric Quilters for excellent pictures on adjusting tensions.

http://www.lequilters.com/maintenance.html

Lower Thread Flat

1. Oil and clean your machine.
2. Bobbin case too tight, the bobbin case should have very little tension and should drop with the slightest of tension. If your bobbin case has too much tension you will not have a good stitch.
3. Tighten upper tension after bottom tension is adjusted.
4. Lint on the thread guides and between tension discs.
5. Clean out your bobbin case behind the Anti-back lash spring and the top tension spring. It's a good idea to keep an extra bobbin case on hand.
6. Rethread your machine. Pay attention to the rotary tension disc, thread can get wrapped around it incorrectly.
7. You may need a new rotary tension disc; your thread may have worn a groove in the disc for thread to catch in.
8. Your bobbin should be wound tight soft bobbins do not make good tension. External bobbin winders are recommended.
9. Refer to the tension chart in your Quilted Rose Training Manual for proper tensions.

Loops on Bottom of Your Quilt

1. A loop is caused by any interruption in the flow of thread. Thread should flow smoothly through your machine.
2. Increase the tension of your check spring, turn a quarter turn to the right. Test your stitch, increase another quarter turn if necessary to accomplish a good stitch.
3. Check spring should not touch any part of the tension mechanism while moving up and down. Thread your machine and pull on the thread to check.
4. Rotary tension disc too tight, the thread should move the tension disc. The thread shouldn't move around the disc while the disc is in a stationary position.
5. Lint on the thread guides and between tension discs.
6. Clean out your bobbin case behind the Anti-back lash spring and the Top Tension spring. It's a good idea to keep an extra bobbin on hand.
7. Check Anti-back lash spring for burrs thread can catch on a burr and break thread or cause a loop.
8. Rethread your machine. Pay attention to the rotary tension disc, thread often will get wrapped around it incorrectly.
9. You may have your fabric too tight on the machine.
10. Tighten upper thread tension after bobbin tension is adjusted.
11. Rethread your machine. Pay attention to the rotary tension disc, thread often will get wrapped around it incorrectly.
12. Check your hook for burrs by running a piece of nylon stocking around the hook. The nylon will catch on the burr. Buff the burr out with a piece of emery cloth. Note: you may need to replace the hook.
13. Remove the rocking finger below the hook, when the rocking finger is not timed properly for the type of thread you are using, it will grab the thread and cause a loop.
14. Loosen fabric rotter.
15. Put a sock on your cone of thread. This wil help the thread feed to the machine evenly.
16. Make sure the needle positioner has not slipped out of it's slot. It should be about half way in the slot on the hook. The needle positioner hold the hook in place so the hook can't rotate by itself. If the needle positioner is too close to the hook the thread will get hung up in the slot and cause loops.

Thread Breaking or Fraying

1. Clean and oil your machine.
2. Replace your needle
3. Loosen fabric roller.
4. Check spring should be at 11 o'clock.
5. Lint under the throat plate, check wick in the back of the hook for lint.
6. Rethread your machine. Pay attention to the rotary tension disc, thread often will get wrapped around it incorrectly.
7. One of the most common causes of thread breaking is old or dried out thread that needs to be hydrated. Put the thread in a zip lock bag with a damp paper towel in the freezer over night.
8. Too small of a needle for the size thread you are using.
9. Upper tension too tight.
10. The smaller needle you use, the more flex the neelde has and the easier it will break. MR 3.0 will break easier than a MR 3.5.
11. Check your hook for burrs by running a piece of nylon stocking around the hook. The nylon will catch on the burr. Buff the burr out with a piece of emery cloth. Note: you may need to replace the hook.

Breaking Needles

1. Is your needle in correctly, and are you using the correct size of needle for your project.
2. If you have struck a needle or foreign object, and iif you have, check the timing.
3. Make sure the needle positioner has not slipped out of it's slot. It should be about half way in the slot of the hook. The needle positioner holds the hook in place so the hook can't rotate by itself.
4. Is your needle bar in the correct position? Can you see the entire eye of the needle in the lowest postion; no more, no less.

Threads

1. Use the same weight thread on the top and the bottom of the quilt. The same color thread gives a very balanced stitch.
2. Old or dried out thread may need to be hydrated. Put thread in a zip lock bag with a damp paper towel in the freezer over night.
3. Use the correct size needle for the size of thread that you are using.
4. Make sure that your bobbin isn't too full. If the bobbin is over full, it will rub against the bobbin case and cause the tension to be off until the bobbin empties to the point it is not rubbing on the case.
5. Remove the rocking finger below the hook. When the rocking finger is not timed properly for the type of thread you are using, it will grab the thread and cause a loop.

Thread Jams

1. A thread jam most of the time is caused by not pulling up your thread when you begin to sew. Don't panic; take the throat plate off and remove as much thread as you can. If the machine is still jammed, saturate the hook will oil and let it sit for a few minutes. Rock the fly wheel on the back of the machine until the jam is free. Repeat if necesary. After the jam is free, don't forget to wipe down your machine of the excess oil. When you put the throat plate back on, remember to center the needle in the hole of the throat plate.
2. When you oil behind your inspection plate on the left hand side of the machine, check each immediate side of the fly wheel for thread. Remove thread, a tweezer seems to work out best. Oiling should be done every four month.

About the Cross Track

There are two set of wheels, the machine wheels and the carriage wheels. There are four wheels on the back of the carriage; the two inner wheels do not touch the track, they are used to park your machine. The outside wheels drop off the side of your machine stand to park the machine head. Clean your machine tracks and carriage tracks at the end of each day with your Zippy Track Cleaner.

Motor Brush Cleaning

Please visit Accomplished Quilting for excellent pictures on how to clean Motor Brushes.

http://www.accomplishquilting.com/maintenance.html

If you have any questions about any of the above proceedures, please call us for clarification. We will be happy to help!