Long Stitches (Stitch Regulation Failure)

Stitch regulation problems can be caused by a number of things symptoms of a stitch regulation problem include:

Symptoms

• Irregular stitch length
• Long Stitches
• Needle hesitation
• Needle staying in quilt
• Tearing Quilt

Troubleshooting and Diagnosis

Troubleshooting a regulation problem is always simplified by identifying which component of the regulation problem is the root cause. To do this, isolate each individual encoder:

A. Ensure that the machine is in REGULATED PRECISION stitch mode

B. Isolate the MACHINE encoder (often called the Y-Axis encoder) by trying to stitch a straight line front to back and back to front.

C. Isolate the carriage encoder (often called the X-axis encoder) by trying to stitch a straight line from left to right and right to left.

D. If the machine is hesitating or otherwise functioning poorly in a given direction, a visual inspection is needed of the offending encoder.

For the encoders to work, they need to be:

A. Plugged into the machine via the encoder cable which is a grey ribbon for legacy machines, and a black cable similar to a headphone cable on Gen. 3 machines.

B. The silver wheel on the encoder must have the rubber O-ring on it.

C. The encoder must have downward spring tension in order to press the wheel against the track.

D. The wheel on the encoder must roll 100% of the time when the machine is moving in the direction that the encoder controls.

E. The encoder cable must be checked for damage, and connections.

Tip: The routing of the cable causing it to get hung up on tracks or other cables and creating regulation problems is a common problem to be aware of.