Dropping stitches on a carpet serger.

[hirsutus]

Earlier this summer, I purchased a Karpet King/N-C 860 serger, in need of some TLC. I cleaned and oiled it, rebuilt the oil pump and replaced the tension springs and plates. Based on the good advice offered in this forum, I purchased some carpet yarn from N-C and can now thread the machine in a reasonably short time.

I set the needle position and the loopers according to the manual then spent a lot of time getting the thread and yarn tensions set so that it would serge using a piece of cloth wrapped around a piece of corrugated cardboard. I am now trying to serge a tight, short berber but the machine drops stiches, around three or four every 12 inches. Results seem about the same whether I chamfer the edge of the carpet or not. It looks like the left looper is not engaging with the thread from the needle, I'm running out of ideas, can anyone offer any advice?

Hirsutus.

[bobbin]

Obviously, this is a timing issue.  I don't know how to time a serger.  Do you have an option to bump the needle size up a bit?sometimes that can help on really thick items.  I'll  bet Gregg will have an answer for you, and there's another machine guy too (forgot his name!). 

I bet you're frustrated right now.  I hate it when I have to get something done and can't quite get the result I want. 

[Gregg @ Keystone Sewing]

We just rently sold a refurbished Karpet King/N-C 860 model, and even we had a bit of trouble with getting it setup.  I really don't know where to begin with this, honestly.  The problem is that there could be some wear on the machine, or loopers.  At this point, the needles could be incorrect system, wrong thread, bad/wrong/bogus loopers (our machine had the incorrect loopers, and we had to purchase new ones).  There is so many reasons a carpet serger, or any serger could skip stitches, it's hard to pin point without being able to see, touch and feel the machine. 

[hirsutus]

Thanks Gregg! Based on your comments, I concentrated on the left looper, I tweaked the angles of the left looper and sharpened the point slightly. The right looper appears to be in the right places at the right time so I haven't touched it. While not completely cured, the machine only dropped about 12 stitches on a 16 foot border around an area rug.


NEW QUESTION:
How do I end the stitching on a serged border? Presumably I create an overlap, I can do that, but how to remove the carpet from the serger?

hirsutus.