Dominover

Thanks, I'll do that. Also, as Pintodelux above has said, it is probably my needle thread combination once again.

I seem to be having a user issue with my Consew 226 walking foot machine. Almost every time I do reverse stitching I get knots on the underside of my sewing job.. It's very difficult to get it right. I'm wondering if somebody can explain to me when to push down and release the lever when reverse stitching.. This always seems to happen when I'm trying to anker my stitching at the beginning, or right at the end of the job. What could I be doing wrong here? Do I need to make some adjustments to try to get this to work properly? Thanks

Thanks for replying. Well, I ended up pulling apart the top tensioning system and now I see how it all works.. It's all working fine. I recently cleaned this all out and made sure there were no snags. However.... When the problem started, it may have started because there was a bit of glue on the needle.. So, I replaced the needle. I took a set of DPX17 size 100 needles from the packet and replaced several with no luck. But... as I have previously noted, the thread I am using is too thick for a size 90 which is why I'm using a size 100 (at least I thought I was). I ended up getting out a magnifying glass and checked to make sure the size of the needle was 100. Would you believe I have an entire packet of size 100 needles which read size 90 on them.. I admit that thought the size of the hole was small but kept going with it. So, for some reason, I've bought a dodgy packed of needles (size 90's in a size 100 packet). Couldn't believe it.. That's why the thread was still breaking after I replaced the needle. Initially it was breaking because of the glue on the needle (could have bent it too). Now I have around 3 km of cotton on the floor and a new understanding of how the upper tensioner works. . Also, and entire day lost. Everything is working fine now.

I'm all of a sudden having problems with my top thread breaking. Everything has been running fine for about a month now, this is after I adjusted the hook timing and pushed the hook closer to the needle eye. Since that time, everything has worked perfectly. Now, all of a sudden, my top thread keeps breaking. It seems that when the needle is moving up, there is an enormous amount of tension on the thread which wasn't there before. The current tension setting were working perfectly on the same thickness of leather and everything. So I'm baffled here. I have a Consew 226-R walking foot machine. Here's what I've done and checked so far. When the arm is at the very top, the alignment marks under the machine line up perfectly. I've checked the hook timing and it coincides perfectly. As mentioned, I adjusted this a month ago and it worked fine since. Checked the hook for burs (no burs, still smooth and not bent). Checked the needle guard for burs (no burs, smooth and not damaged in any way). I've tried re-adjusting the upper tension and for some reason it's suddenly very difficult to get right. It goes from too tight to too loose. Checked the bobbin, re-wound it and checked the washer underneath it to see if it has been damaged (nothing different there). Re-threaded the entire machine (still no luck). Changed 5 different needles to the same size and stepped the needle up one size (from 100 to 110), but still no change. Oiled all the moving parts. Checked around the bobbin carrier for snagged thread, but there's nothing there. I've really cleaned things out in the bobbin area, checked for loose screws, checked for anything bent and it all looks fine. Would anyone know how this could possible go so wrong all of a sudden? I was hoping somebody may have had a similar problem and recognized this issue. Thanks

Thanks very much for your comments.. and thanks for the help too! I can re-confirm that the thread thickness is an issue here. The Consew 226 is a leather sewing machine so maybe the force it places on the thread is too much for a needle with a smaller eye (so either a larger needle or a thinner thread is the solution). I'm in the process of building a tent. First I'm sewing the floor but I don't want to use too large a needle. This is why I've been experimenting with the size 90. I might just settle for some thinner thread.

Thanks for your efforts. I've checked the needles already and they've fine. As mentioned, if I step up to a 100 needle all the problems go away. Stepping down a size to size 90, the catch fails to pick up the thread on random occasions. Even if I use a thinner thread. So I have now reset the needle height and adjusted the gap between the needle and hook. Now the machine will sew with the thinner thread on a sized 90 needle, but that is the thinnest thread. But my upholstery thread I have shown above, whilst i does work on a size 90 needle, it's not perfect. Tension is difficulty to get right and it occasionally breaks. I've concluded that adjusting the gap between the needle and hook has helped things but not enough for my upholstery thread (shown above) as it's probably too thick for the needle. It slides through fine but when under tension it seems to be causing problems. All the timing markers line up well. There is an instructional video on youtube for the consew 225 which is identical to my machine, the consew 226 (only difference is the reverse stitch). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wNBPX8i524 To me, it still seems strange that this thread doesn't work with this needle but when compared to the thinner thread I have, it's at least twice as thick, so maybe it really is just too thick. Oh yes!.. I mentioned above that my machine is bobbinless.. I used the wrong word.. I just meant that it doesn't have a removable bobbin case. But there is a bobbin.

I tried a thinner thread with my size 90 needle but the problem still persisted. I'm thinking that the catch is not close enough to the needle on each rotation so I'm in the process of adjusting it a little closer. Can't hurt. The reason I think it's possibly this is because the scarf in the thinner needle may be fractionally too far from the hook (thread catch, whatever you call it). Any thread on this size 90 needle won't stitch without failing to pick up the thread. The needle height is perfect and I've tried several needles from different stores but still the problem persists. The tighter hole in the size 90 needle is probably holding the thread that little bit closer into the scarf which is why the thread isn't being picked up. Still trying to undo one stubborn screw but will update if it works.

I have no idea how thick the thread is, but at the store it was sold as upholstery thread 100% polyester. Extra strong. I'm using the same thread with a size 100 needle as I was with the size 90 needle. Here's a link to the thread I bought. https://www.spotlightstores.com/sewing-fabrics/haberdashery/sewing-threads/gutermann-extra-strong-thread/p/BP80055520-000

What sized needle would you use for this? I just stepped up the needle size from a 90 to a size 100 and the skipping has gone away. It seems that was the problem. I would be interested in knowing what sized needle you would use for this though?

You know, I suspected that it may be the case. I'm not sure how thick this thread is but here is a pic of it. There is 110 yards of thread on this reel.

It just says 100% polyester. Glitterman brand.

I'm using a size 90 needle. I'm also using a 100% polyester thread (strong thread). The Consew 226 is Bobbinless. My problem is that no matter what I do, I can't seem to fix this problem where my machine is not picking up the thread on the underside. This only happens every now and then but it's an ongoing problem with a size 90 needle. This has only started happening since I changed the needle down to a size 90 (because I'm using thinner thread). I was using size 100 before. I've adjusted the tension over several times and even pulled the tension knobs apart and cleaned them. No grooves in the plates. I have re-positioned the needle several times and still the problem exists. The needles are the right length and the right type. I realize it has to do with the hookup underneath but I'm not sure how to correct it. I'm no sewing guru and think there must be something I need to use when dropping the needle size to below 100. That's just a guess. Any clues as to why this might happen? Thanks