Thread knotting during reverse - cause?

[baileyuph]

I had this problem - anyone found "one thing" that causes it?

Seems someone posted this problem not long ago, anyone remember that one and was their solution - tension adjustment?

Maybe there are couple things that cause this?


Doyle

[MinUph]

I have this problem on occasion. When starting the stitch I need to hold the top thread or this happens every time on the Pfaff and sometimes on the Consew. Seems to me to be thread related as it doesn't do it with different threads. Haven't broken it down completely yet.

[baileyuph]

Yes, Paul it probably can be more than one cause.  I went back and did a little checking and readjusted the upper thread tension.  It was way tighter than lower and need be, made the adjustment and that helped.  I don't know how the tension got that tight, but these threads today and the different sizes we use, anything can happen. 

I just finished doing 60 custom covers for a client, seemed to sew fine.  The only change ould have been a different bobbin and thread size, guess going from a 69 to a 92 thread in the needle thread made that kind of difference.  Like I said, the assumption is that is the only contributor.

I have to provide 60 more of those covers for the client and will pay attention to what I have to do regarding tension adjustment on that project.

I can remember when we only purchased one thread size and it was cotton.  Those days there wasn't the tension issues associated with these threads today.  I don't know if cotton can even be bought today.  Some of these marine threads are tough on a machine and can get expensive.  They last longer is the good news.

Doyle

[sofadoc]

I've heard of people experiencing that problem before. It is hard to pin down the exact cause, since some report that they alleviate the problem by changing thread, needles, adjusting tension, etc..

I remember having that problem in the past, but like you guys, it was never bad enough to worry about. Then I took my machine into the shop for re-timing. When it came back, the reverse-knotting problem never re-occurred. So I think it might be an ever-so-slight timing issue. Not enough to affect normal sewing.

It would be interesting to note whether or not this problem occurs on a machine that is badly out of time. I suspect that a machine that is skipping stitches doesn't have the reverse/knotting problem.

[MinUph]

Yea Doyle,
  Good old 16/4 cotton was all we had back in the day. Then all the new fangled stuff came out LOL. Cotton thread was so nice to work with though. Ut wouldn't hold up here in Florida even in a window setting. But it was nice then.

[baileyuph]

Yes, I liked working with the cotton thread, it held up pretty well in my furniture work and auto work.  But, the boat covers could need restitching pretty soon.

I have a VW Bus interior going and the customer (younger guy - wink) selected some garish outdoor patios material (some what similar to acrylic) and the machine worked in forward and reverse.  This is with 92 size thread.  So, in this instance, it looks like perhaps tension (the upper thread) just might have been what the thread knotting during reverse might have been contributed to. 

I have several machines but, when permitted, like to use the one already set up for that work already.  But with my variety and given several machines have to make adjustments for the specifics related to different jobs.

Talk about jumping around on projects, when I get finished with this old VW, I have to replace the carpet in a quad cap late model Ford F150.  You guessed it, smoker damage.

Big job!

Never a dull moment in business - huh?

Doyle

[BlueFlamingo]

I have a similar issue.  When I reverse, my thread wants to shred and break.  Works Great going forward.  Can't seem to figure this one out.  I believe it's got something to do with the upper tension as well but haven't been able to get her tuned in yet.  Working on it though