Consew 255 tension issue

[arich]

Totally new at this sewing machine thing! I just bought a Consew 255 last week -I tested it out before purchasing it and it worked great. Now that I'm home I can't seem to get the tension right -lots of looping on the underside. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? I'm pretty certain I've threaded the machine correctly. I've tried tightening the top needle tension as tight as possible tried sewing then loosening it out and no luck 

 

Edited October 10, 2016 by arich

[mikesc]

First off you have the thread wrapped around the pin at the right of the top tension..don't..it should go direct from the top tension discs to the discs that hold the spring below..( use the path I have marked in black ) change to that and try setting your top tension again..

[CowboyBob]

[mikesc]

Merci Robert   I was preparing dinner when I replied above, no time to make a more precise reply..

There is a video out there on youtube that says the thread must go around that pin on these type of machines, juki, singer, consew, ( I've mentioned it before here) it should be banned from youtube, it must have steered more people wrong ( and caused more sewing grief ) than any other sewing video on youtube.

the thread does not go around the pin ( or as he says "the latch" )..The atlas levy videos on youtube usually make you seasick ( crappy camera technique, this one makes me mad, it is so inaccurate ) done correctly, the thread goes around / through the tension discs and straight down to the spring disc..

it should go like this

 

I think that this second, correct video is from Eric, who posts here as "gottaknow" ( and who hasn't been around for a while, really hope you are OK Eric ) ..this is the thread path for a singer 211 or 111, or the Jukis or any walking foot machine with that tension disc and spring disc assembly, or the clones such as the consew..

The Thread  does NOT GO AROUND THE PIN / latch !!

Edited October 10, 2016 by mikesc

[arich]

Okay I will give that a try! About half the people said do not wrap around the pin while the other half said to. Hopefully this will solve the issue...

[mikesc]

Don't listen to the half ( they probably watched atlas levy's video ) who said to wrap the thread around the pin..and don't listen to them about anything else they may tell you.Saying put the thread around the pin there is nearly as bad as saying that you can make machine stitch in reverse by turning the flywheel the opposite way

Your 2nd image also shows that you have the thread coming off the spool and going through a thread guide on top of the machine, and then through another thread guide just before the tension discs, you can leave out the thread guide on the top of the machine. watch the second video that I posted carefully, you must "snap" the thread down between the two top tension discs, it has to go between them, they provide the top tension control, also pay attention to how to get the thread correctly through the spring assembly..lastly, in your 1st image, you have your thread going behind the felt pad,so that it is pressed between the felt pad and the machine body it doesn't need to, place it  between the felt pad and the clip that holds the felt , so that it is in front of the felt . actually on second more careful scrutiny , that doesn't look even like felt that you have there, looks more like a piece of surgical gauze..take it out and throw it away, just let the thread pass between the clip and the machine body.

Bear in mind that you do all this tension adjustment when the feet are raised using the lever at the back of the machine, when the lever is raised the tension discs are forced apart by a little pin in the machine body, so there is no top tension, you only get the top tension that you adjusted when you put the feet back down again with the lever to the rear of the machine..put the feet back down thread the needle and then pull on the thread by hand, after it has gone through the needle..you should feel tension..

Lastly, when you have the tension correct on the bottom bobbin there should be some resistance when you pull the bottom thread , but not as much a s the resistance from the top tension..and the bottom bobbin is in correctly when the thread tail from it makes a "9" around it before it goes to the hook finger, , or  you can think of it as , the thread must be coming off  clockwise from the bottom bobbin, not anti-clockwise..

Edited October 10, 2016 by mikesc

[arich]

First off thank you guys so much for your time! I followed step by step (several times) but I'm not seeing much difference. On the left the needle tension was as loose as could be and the right is as tight as I could get it. Do I maybe need to adjust bobbin tension? I haven't touched it at all, it hasn't been messed with since before I purchased it so I'm not sure why this would be the issue but it's all I can think of 

[mikesc]

Your thread path is still wrong, your thread should be passing inside of the ring at the top of the needle ( I have marked it in red )..re your bobbin tension, leave it as it is ( it may be too loose, but, only change one variable at a time )..Did you get a manual for this machine ?

Manual...ignore the parts about reverse, the rest of it applies to your machine.

www.consew.com/Files/112347/InstructionManuals/255RB-2.pdf

Maybe someone has a link to a clearer version the photos in the one from Consew are very dark.

 

Manuals for other similar machines, such as the manual for singer 211 or 111 or juki 563 will also explain the same adjustments as the basic machines are very similar to yours.

 

Also begin by using the same thread in top and bottom, you look to be using two different thread types, ( they appear to be different colours and maybe different thicknesses or thread types ) when you have the tension correct  for the same thread top and bottom, then you can change one of them.

Edited October 10, 2016 by mikesc

[arich]

It makes no difference. It didn't come with a manual but I have looked it over online -it wasn't much help 

[mikesc]

Download the manual from the link I posted ( not "look it over on line" ) then read it ..carefully, all the way through, making sure that you understand it, reading it will make a difference..

if you had had other industrial or walking foot sewing machines, you could maybe "wing it" without a manual, because you'd have had the experience adjusting them, but as this is your first, you need a manual for it ( the link I posted above is to the manual for the same machine as yours, only yours does not have reverse ), on your computer, and preferably even printed out on paper..

 

previous ( short ) thread here about a consew 225..with a link to a video ( not mine ) of it sewing..thread path and tensions are like your model, look at where the thread goes at the bottom of the machine ( where you have your "gauze" , and look at where the thread goes through the ring at the top of the needle )..your thread path must be correct before you begin adjusting the tensions.

 

 

Edited October 11, 2016 by mikesc