alb Report post Posted January 11, 2010 Hi, I have an Adler 30-5. It is stitching thin (approx 1-2 oz) leather just fine but when I try to sew thicker leather (approx 1/4 in or so) it skips almost all of the stitches. I have changed the adjustment on the arm to heavy leather, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. It does seem to be making a clicking noise when it skips a stitch but not when it stitches okay. I'm not sure where the clicking noise is coming from. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated..... Thanks, Ann btw - I have read lots of the old messages and they have been very helpful for me in learning about my machine. thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Report post Posted January 11, 2010 I don't know anything about the 30-5, but if it is like a Singer 29, once you go past a certain thickness there is no tension on the upper thread. When the foot lifts up to a certain height, it pushes up the top tension disc and that is it, there is no more. Kevin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shoepatcher Report post Posted January 11, 2010 Ann, It could be a couple of things. What size needle are you using? If the needle is small, it could be that the needle is being pushed into the hook so that there is no loop for the hook to pick up. I would try and turn the machine slowly by hand to see what the needle and hook are doing. Watch to see if the needle is being deflected by the hook. Too much tension on the top thread will also warp the needle so that the hook will not pick up the top thread. That may be the clicking sound you are hearing. Are you using a sytem 332 needle, same size as the 29x3, 4 or longer needle 332lg which is the same needle as the 30-7? I will have to check to see which needle system your machine is supposed to use. glenn Hi, I have an Adler 30-5. It is stitching thin (approx 1-2 oz) leather just fine but when I try to sew thicker leather (approx 1/4 in or so) it skips almost all of the stitches. I have changed the adjustment on the arm to heavy leather, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. It does seem to be making a clicking noise when it skips a stitch but not when it stitches okay. I'm not sure where the clicking noise is coming from. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated..... Thanks, Ann btw - I have read lots of the old messages and they have been very helpful for me in learning about my machine. thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alb Report post Posted January 12, 2010 Glenn, The needle is a 332 lg lr. The other numbers on the package are 10 130 21 4 Is there a way to see what the hook and needle are doing when I'm actually stitching a piece of leather? I was thinking I would loosen the tension on the top thread all the way and then gradually tighten it until it started stitching on the the thin leather and then try the thicker leather. I am quite new to using any type of sewing machine. Actually as I think about this maybe it is the tension. The machine is not used very much at all. I was practicing with it a couple of weeks ago and noticed that it didn't seem to be threaded correctly. The thread was only going through the tensioners on the side of the machine and not through the tensioner on the top. My user's manual only shows one tensioner - the one on the top, so I figured the other one was some sort of pretensioner added to the 30-5 model and not shown in the basic 30 manual. So I moved the thread to the top tensioner and left it out of the one on the side altogether. It seemed to sew fine after that but maybe I didn't try it with any thicker leather. So - how should it be threaded and how do I adjust it so that the tension is correct? Also - I don't really understand how the tensioners are supposed to work. Is the thread supposed to sit on the outside of the metal plates or does it slip under and between them? THANK YOU!!!! Ann Ann, It could be a couple of things. What size needle are you using? If the needle is small, it could be that the needle is being pushed into the hook so that there is no loop for the hook to pick up. I would try and turn the machine slowly by hand to see what the needle and hook are doing. Watch to see if the needle is being deflected by the hook. Too much tension on the top thread will also warp the needle so that the hook will not pick up the top thread. That may be the clicking sound you are hearing. Are you using a sytem 332 needle, same size as the 29x3, 4 or longer needle 332lg which is the same needle as the 30-7? I will have to check to see which needle system your machine is supposed to use. glenn Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer Report post Posted January 12, 2010 (edited) The tensioners should only be used one at a time so don´t try to use both at the same time!! The thread slips in between the tension disks. I´d suggest that you try a heavier needle and see what happens. It might work. Edited January 12, 2010 by oldtimer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wizcrafts Report post Posted January 12, 2010 The outside tension disks, on the front of the head, facing you, are meant to be used for darning, or for situations where the pressor foot lifts so high that the main tensioners are released by it. You can use them if needed instead of the top tensioners. You can also use the front tensioners for winding bobbins, if you have bobbin thread on the little spool post near the back of the machine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alb Report post Posted January 13, 2010 Hi all, I was a bit impatient and started messing around with the tension - both top and bottom and have now succeeded in putting the machine so out of whack that it will no longer even sew thin leather. The thread is going through just the top tensioner. I used the picture in the book so I'm pretty sure it is threaded correctly. I need to know how the thread is supposed to move in the top tensioner. When first threading the machine through the tensioner the thread sits on the outside of the metal plates and moves around them. At some point the thread goes inside and between the plates and then it seems like the top tension is extremely tight, even though I've turned the screw on the tensioner to the point where it's almost off the post. (It was in this position when it was stitching) I'm not sure how it's supposed to work or what it's supposed to look like. I've just realized that I've been threading the machine when the foot lift is down. Is this the wrong thing to do? Maybe I should have been lifting it which releases the spring on the tensioners and then the thread would go inside the plates. Okay - I'm going to stop babbling. Could someone please give me an idea of how to systematically go about adjusting tension and give me an idea of what the tensioner is supposed to look like when it's working correctly? Should the metal plates move with the thread? Should the thread just slide between them? Should I be able to see anything rotating with the thread? THANKS to everyone who has posted so far!!! I really appreciate it. Ann Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CowboyBob Report post Posted January 13, 2010 The thread needs to be between the 2-discs that why it gets tight,how tight it is supposed to be is best checked by test sewing,a few weeks down the road you'll be better able to test tension by pulling. And the tope tension does need to be tighter than the bobbin. HTH Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
