Tacsew 111 Thread Catching In Reverse

[coryleif]

So my T111-155 has been making this clicking sound for years (maybe forever) while sewing heavier materials in reverse. I finally took the time to suss out the source of the noise.

This is what I observed: The top thread is catching on the edge of the bobbin basket while it goes around the bobbin. There's a li'l ridge or lip on it. Since it's sewing in reverse, the feed dog is travelling forward (opposite direction of hook) while the thread is going around and so lines the thread up on this ridge, where it hangs, and causes the thread to hang on the bobbin case, too ... and then it pops free.

Here's a li'l video (the first few stitches are forward stitches):

I think it's only broken a couple stitches in its life. I just got some thread lube and I imagine that will help.

Timing seems pretty good. Don't think it's ever skipped.

Stitch length here is about 5/inch here. Reverse is slightly longer.

I'm still looking into feed dog position and such, and will take a harder look at timing at some point, but thought I'd toss up this document for posterity.

Fun stuff.

[Wizcrafts]

Sometimes, machines driven by cogged belts have the belt installed in a slightly wrong position. It may be off by one cog, advancing or retarding the best timing position. The machine can still be timed by the hook, but the top take-up lever and rotation of the hook are not optimal. This causes the type of thread snap your machine has.

You should contact the dealer from whom you purchased the machine before opening up its guts, especially if it is under any kind of warranty. They may be able to offer guidance over the phone, or via a link to a posted video detailing how to retime the top and bottom shafts.

[gottaknow]

Sure looks like Wiz is right. If I were to make an educated guess, your top shaft is one notch behind your bottom shaft. You might also try increasing the travel on the check spring.

Regards, Eric

[Uwe]

My Tacsew T1563 had a similar issue even though it is a vertical axis hook. My thread take-up lever started pulling up too soon, before the thread was wrapped around the bobbin. I had to adjust the timing belt, advancing the hook driving shaft by one notch.

Some machines have markers for proper synchronization of top and bottom driving shafts. If your machine has those markers, do a visual check if the markers align at the right point in the stitch cycle. Exactly how that is checked varies between machines, check your machine's manual.

In the absence of a marker or a manual, I believe the following statement about top/bottom driving shaft synchronization should be true in general:

"The thread take-up lever is at the very bottom position (providing the maximum slack) when the thread wraps around the farthest point of the bobbin."

In your case (horizontal axis bobbin) the take-up lever should be at the very bottom of its movement exactly when the hook pulls the thread around the very bottom (6 o'Clock position) of the bobbin.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Uwe

[catskin]

I would also check for even a microscopic burr (rough spot ) on every thing that the thread slides over as it goes around the bobbin. Something might just have worn a thousandth and made a burr enough to catch ever so slightly.

[coryleif]

Thanks for the help, guys!

I've had this machine for about 9 years, and while it gets pretty light use for an industrial, I wouldn't be surprised if something has drifted.

This machine actually has a gear-driven hook. While it's called a 111-155, it's different in many ways from the Singer 111w155. Way to be weird, Tacony.

Thanks for the graphic, Uwe. It does look like the hook is a little slow. I'd say it's at about 7 o'clock instead of six.
Though, there's plenty of thread available to go round the bobbin (check spring looks okay, thread guides' adjustment has no effect); it's just hanging on that basket lip ... but if it had more thread maybe it wouldn't do that.

Catskin, I have checked for a burr. And like I said above, it is catching on the edge of the bobbin basket where there's a groove/lip. I wonder if I shaved that off it would do the trick.

Thanks again, everyone! I'll keep ruminatin' on it and take a harder look at the hook position. I'm in the middle of a project, so I won't make any adjustments till I'm done.

c