Thread injector troubles, looking for help??

**sonic** · 01-12-2010, 22:12

Howdy fellow diy'ers, and hangers..

My thread injector is driving me nuts like a pirate with a steering wheel in his pants..

so here is the problem im having.. my bottom thread (bobbin) is bunching up, and binding the machine. it goes about 4 stitches and starts making an absolute mess.
Its a brand new machine, singer tradition 2250 I think.

Here is what I have tried so far.

I have rethreaded it, and tried different thread, and different fabric.. even happens when I turn the wheel by hand. I have cleaned it, new needle, double checked the setup via the user manual.
(I am making tree huggers out of 1" poly straps, and sewing a loop for my dutch clips). Ive sewed just about the same material in the same machine before and had no problems..
any help would be awesome
thanx

**mclmm** · 01-12-2010, 22:31

Sounds like the tension is messed up. You'll need to adjust it.

Here's some general thread injector resources which may help:

http://www.wikihow.com/Adjust-the-Te...Sewing-Machine

http://www.fixya.com/support/t267959..._bottom_fabric

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf45666588.tip.html

http://www.sewmamasew.com/forum/inde...=2772.msg14681

Best I can do seeing as I don't know anything about these new-fangled machines.

Good luck.

**Ramblinrev** · 01-12-2010, 23:13

It sounds to me like it is the top thread, not the bobbin thread that is out of adjustment. The spool thread is on the bottom of the fabric. If it has been working before don't mess with the bobbin.. it is porbably fine. The spool thhread tension sounds out of whack.

**millarky** · 01-12-2010, 23:16

This happened to me once. A friend said make sure the thread in the bobbin is the same as top thread. I said that's silly, but I changed bobbin thread to be same as top and it worked!

**sonic** · 01-12-2010, 23:29

ok,
thanx for the suggestions. supper fast as always here on HF.
Ill go see what I can find with the tension adjustment.
I'm very new to gear making, and I watched your vids ramblinrev, thanx for those, very helpful..

**sonic** · 01-13-2010, 00:57

ahh!! the feeling of victory in the battle of human vs machine..

the top tension was too loose.. once I tightened that up. (almost all the way)
it fixed the bunching and frustration.. thank you for your speedy replies.

so now I have new tree huggers with permanent DC's..
doesn't look pretty,(still practicing my thread injection techniques) but functional.. lighter than a figure 8 knot. now I can loose about 2 feet of strap to save weight.

it seem that when I start a stitch, and then reverse to lock the stitch, and then keep going.. I get a bit of a clump of thread just in that place. it looks strong but a bit sloppy. is there a trick for that?

**Ramblinrev** · 01-13-2010, 05:57

Originally Posted by sonic

it seem that when I start a stitch, and then reverse to lock the stitch, and then keep going.. I get a bit of a clump of thread just in that place. it looks strong but a bit sloppy. is there a trick for that?

Where are you putting the fabric to start the stitch? If you are starting right at the edge that will often happen because the feed dogs don't move the fabric properly. Start by setting the edge of the fabric even with the back of the presser foot. Forward a few, back and the forward again. If that doesn't solve the problem try adjusting the presser foot tension. Good luck.

**MacEntyre** · 01-13-2010, 06:55

The top thread pulls a loop of the bottom thread into the fabric, where it is supposed to remain buried.

Loops or tangle on the bottom, need to tighten the top thread. It isn't pulling the bottom thread up through the fabric.

Loops or tangle on the top, need to loosen the top thread. It is pulling too much of the bottom thread up through the fabric.

Every time you change thickness or fabric, run a test and inspect the stitches. You can see the top thread just starting to pull a tiny loop through, or leaving a tiny loop on the bottom. Adjust until you see tight stitching top and bottom, with the loop not visible.

- MacEntyre

**JerryW** · 01-13-2010, 09:40

Just to add to the good advice you've already gotten here, as a general rule for me, heavier material(webbing) always needs more top-thread tension than lighter material(ripstop nylon).

After you get some experience with different fabrics, it will become second nature to know about where to set your tension. As said, it's a good idea to always sew a test seam on some scrap when changing to a different fabric.

Jerry