jpt Report post Posted October 27, 2019 Yesterday I visited a small leather bag factory that has been closed down for some time. The owner, around 80 year old lady, is selling some of the machinery and that's where I bought my Adler 69 some weeks ago. This time I bought various pieces of small hardware for bags and some spools of threads as well. In one corner she had maybe hundred spools of thread with a sticker saying "Amann Dominator 7". I took one of those, and then at home googled that it is cotton thread and the current product name is Amann Mercifil. The size doesn't seem to be Tkt 7 (#415), if I put it next to Gutermann Mara 15 (#207) it actually looks slightly thinner (in the picture Mara is brown). Some weeks ago I also bought a Pfaff 545, and finally today I had some time to play with it. I used the Dominator thread as I wanted to figure out if I should buy more of it (the price is very low). However, I just couldn't figure out the thread tensions. In the end the bottom tension was almost none and the top tension was so high that it was difficult to pull it by hand. Still the top thread got pulled to the bottom of the leather. I used Nm 160 needle (=23 needle size). I also tested Nm 140 needle (22), but it didn't make things any better. To make things worse, it seemed that the top tension varied. If I had set the tension so that it was difficult pull, after sewing a little bit it sometimes was easier to pull. But there was no consistency in this. Have I threaded the machine correctly? What should I do/test next? And if it is not yet obvious, I have very little experience with sewing machines. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pintodeluxe Report post Posted October 29, 2019 Did you figure out your Pfaff machine, and get it sewing well? It looks like you have a couple little issues with the way it's threaded. The way you've come through the guide post on top of the machine looks good. But when you head over to the tension assembly, enter the top hole from the right-to-left, then enter the bottom hole right-to-left as well. Kind of like a barber pole pattern. Also, when you wrap around the tension discs, don't go around that little pin. There's a lot of misinformation on that part of threading an industrial machine. Going around that little pin adds unnecessary upper tension. Also, I would ditch the special thread for right now. Get yourself some #92 bonded nylon thread and a #19 or #20 size needle. That's a good universal setup that your 545 won't have any trouble handling. That way you can isolate the machine issues from the thread / material issues. Also, is this a H3 or H4 variant of the 545? They actually take different needle systems. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jpt Report post Posted October 29, 2019 Thanks for the hints, I will try them the next time I use the machine. Unfortunately, I have the machine in a place that isn't too close to where I live, so it will take some time. Going around the small pin is something I saw in a video on how to thread Pfaff 1245. Now that I looked at the picture on the cover of Pfaff 545 manual, the pin is not used. My machine is H3 variant and uses 134-35 needles. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gymnast Report post Posted October 29, 2019 Thread tension is an often debated issue in this forum, so I guess you might find some answers by searching. I suggest, that you get a few dynamometers, because they helped me a lot with such problems. Many details can cause variations in thread tension. You may find these two references interesting: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
