• Needle fatigue.  Needles do a lot of flexing with longarm quilting and over time the metal will fatigue possibly causing the needle to break.
• Bulky seams.  Generally normal seams do not cause issues sewing with Nolting longarm machines.  Bulky seams where four, six or eight seams come together may prove to be more taxing on the machine's capabilities.  The needle being the weakest part may break.
• Mechanical issues.  We have seen two times when a mechanical issue has caused the needle to break.  When the needle was not aligned correctly it became pinched and broke.  In both cases the collar on the shaft that the hook assembly is mounted on loosened up allowing the hook assembly to move very slightly pinching and breaking the needle.
• Machine seizing up due to lack of oil in the hook. 

What Can Happen When The Needle Breaks

When your nerves settle down after the needle break, it is important to first find all the needle pieces, then, take a look at what has happened.  Because needle breakage is not common, we recommend taking a much closer look to make sure there is no damage to the hook, throat plate, and to check the timing.

What damage to look for:

• Turn the power OFF.  Remove the throat plate, remove any remaining needle and look for damage around the needle hole.  Damage might include needle pricks, scratches or gouges around the top of the needle hole or in the needle hole.  These must be smoothed out.   
• Brush or blow the lint out of the hook area.  Slowly turn the front hand wheel clockwise and look through the throat plate opening at the hook assembly and hook shield for any pricks, gouges or scratches.  These must be removed.
• From the under side, grasp the hook assembly and see if it moves front to back.  It should be tight with no movement front to back.  If it moves, it needs attention.
• Check the hook timing.  Sometimes hitting a bulky seam will cause the hook to rotate slightly on the shaft out of the timed position.  Do not assume the machine needs timing.  First address all of the above issues and deal with the timing last.

Fixing the Problems 

Once the problems are determined, each must be corrected before attempting to replace the needle and sew.  Any scratches, pricks or gouges in the throat plate, needle hole, or on the hook assembly will cause the top thread to shred after  sewing only a few inches.   

• Fixing gouges, pricks and scratches.  Use emery cloth or from an auto parts store purchase wet sanding paper in both 600 grit and 1000 grit. 
• The emery cloth can be torn into narrow strips and fed through the needle hole in the throat plate.  Have someone hold onto the throat plate and sand back and forth to remove the damage in the needle hole. 
• Use a 1" wide strip of the wet sand paper, 600 grit first, then 1000 grit to finish and sand any damage on the hook assembly.  A drop of sewing machine oil can be put on the scratched area before sanding.  If the damage cannot be removed, the throat plate and/or hook assembly will need replacing.  Make sure to wipe clean with a oil damp cloth to remove all filings.
• Fixing the movement back and forth in the hook assembly/shaft.  Call your dealer or Nolting tech for guidance with this repair.
• Timing the machine.  The position of the timed hook is specific and takes some practice to do correctly, however, it can be learned.  Do not try timing your machine if you do not feel confident in doing it.  Call your dealer or Nolting tech to walk you through the procedure.  It is good to learn how to time your machine, however, never assume that every problem is because of timing.  If you do not feel confident timing your machine, at least learn how to check for correct timing.  Again, your dealer or Nolting tech can help you with this.

Back to Quilting  

Now that the issues that caused the needle to break are all taken care of.  Replace the needle with a new one.  Always purchase your needles from your dealer or directly from Nolting to make sure they are compatible with your machine.  When ordering from Nolting or your dealer, make sure you specify which hook your machine has, L (smaller) or M (larger) hook, as the needles are not the same.  Before replacing the throat plate, turn the hand wheel and observe the needle position, whether timed correctly, and that the needle is not flexing when the hook passes by.  If all is OK, then put the throat plate back in place and tighten the throat place screws.

Time to quilt again. 

Summer Maintenance Tips

• Oil your machine following the same schedule

  Four red oiling points.

  as normal, the 4 red dots on the top of the machine every 8 hours of quilting and the hook every 2-3 bobbin changes.  If a lot of lint, oil the hook more frequently.  If you have not quilted in some time, oil the machine head and bobbin area before warming up the machine.

  Correct position to oil hook with needle down.

• Warm up your machine.  Yes!  Even in the summer the machine must be warmed up for about 5 minutes.  I am finding that if I let the machine warm up (run at mid-range speed) for about 5 minutes the internal running parts are warmed up to the temperature they need to be for optimal use and I have far fewer problems adjusting the thread tension when starting to quilt.  Usually one tension adjustment is all that is needed.
• Run an air conditioner or dehumidifier in the quilting area.  High humidity is not only uncomfortable for us, but can wreck havoc with cotton thread, batting and even cotton top and backing.  Cotton can absorb up to 40% its weight in water.  In high humid conditions cotton can  absorb moisture right out of the air.  This can affect both the bobbin and top tension and sometimes makes it impossible to adjust the tension.  Try switching to a poly thread and keep the AC on for comfort and to pull the excess moisture out of the air.
• Always unplug your machine when you are not using it, even if it is plugged into a surge protector.  Those nasty thunder storms can produce surges that can take out the best of those protectors.
• If you have a Pro, you may need to run the "B1" adjustment more frequently.  The Pro has very sensitive electronics.  I have found that draw downs in power can cause the take up lever to get out of sync quite easily resulting in needle drag or not being able to bring the bobbin thread to the top.  Draw down in power can happen from AC units turning on in your home, or even the house across the street.  There is no damage to your machine, but the problem of needle drag or bringing the bobbin thread up is annoying.  It is easy to fix.  Simply put the machine into the adjustment mode and run the Needle Positioning Speed Auto Adjustment to correct this situation.  Pro machines, instructions on pages 27 & 28 of your Pro machine manual.  FQ and CLX instructions on pages 21 & 22 of your Equalizer manual.
• If leaving a quilt on the frame for a day or two, always back off the tension on the rollers some so that the quilt is not being stretched for days.