Mortishax5

Hi I have always had a quilt shop do my quilts, but since I have moved to Fl there is only 1 quilt shop where I live, and they do not do longarm quilting for people. So I found me a used Baileys Pro 15 with frame for a very reasonable price. Iam having issues with my needle getting stuck in the down position in the middle of my quilting and I have to remove the bobbin assembly to get it unstuck. Does anyone know what could be causing this? I keep the same speed and movement, so I am not sure maybe it could be operator error. Please any help is appreciated.

Prism99

It doesn't sound like operator error to me, but I don't have that particular machine. I am wondering if the needle is inserted properly? In any machine, the needle needs to be inserted correctly, all the way up, or you can get odd problems. Also, you need to be using the correct needle for the machine. I would double check that the needle is the correct one, then remove and re-insert it (or a new needle) and see if that solves the problem.

Mortishax5

I have made sure needle was inserted all the way. The manual I got with the machine does not specifically state what size needle it is suppose to be. Plus I got a small pack of needles with it. Now whether or not they are they correct ones not sure of. The lady I bought it from said she was selling because she never could get the hang of it. I am determined to learn it. Lol I have changed the needle and have broken a few. I have made sure everything was threaded correctly. I have to be missing something. Thanks for your reply.

thimblebug6000

I don't have this machine but I see a very old thread on the board that is about a Baileys, so will post a link here in case any of the info in it, might help you out. Help! Bailey's Home Quilter question

Mortishax5

Thank you I will go check it out.

quiltingshorttimer

not familiar with the Bailey, but if she wasn't using much, you might want to thoroughly clean and oil--that could be the needle hesitation issue. Hope you love it as much as i do!

bstock

I have the same machine. I don't think this has ever happened to me.
Is the bobbin thread all bunched up underneath ?

Prism99

quiltingshorttimer makes a good point. If the machine has been sitting unused for a long period of time, it's a good idea to oil and then run it for awhile without thread. I do this with my Voyager periodically, especially if I have not used it for a few months. I oil it, then let it run for 15 minutes at medium speed -- no thread, but with the bobbin in the bobbin case. This distributes the oil through the machine. If it's been a longer time than that, the next day I oil it again and run it again on high speed for about 10 minutes. Note: Since your problem has been jamming of the needle in the down position, I would run it *only* on a slow speed at first. Increase speed only if the jamming problem does not occur.

In any case, this would be a good test to see if the machine runs okay without thread and without a quilt. If it does not stop and jam the way you describe, then it's probably an issue with the needle, thread, or quilt. If the machine still jams with the needle down, then I would suspect that the machine needs to be re-timed.

Incidentally, how tight is your quilt in the frame? It should be relatively loose. The rule-of-thumb is you should be able to push a finger up from below the quilt and be able to grab that finger with your other hand. A quilt that is pulled too tight in the frame can cause problems too.

What type and size needle are you using? It should not be a ballpoint needle, and usually size 90/14 is the smallest you should use.

Macybaby

Don't have any suggestions for your jamming problem, but wanted to add that when I had my Bailey, it preferred a tight quilt sandwich. No way could I grab my finger. When I went to the HQ, it likes the quilt like Prism says, and I had to re-learn how to put a quilt on the frame. I never had problems with the Bailey, but when through months of problems with the HQ because it liked things so different than what I'd learned to do with the Bailey.

The Bailey is a stretched domestic machine, so it does not work like a true long arm, and a lot of things with it are quite different. I really liked mine, but got tired of dealing with adjusting the back bar every time I rolled the quilt. I love having a higher machine with a dead bar in at the back. Well, I love it now after I figured out to make everything work together.

Prism99

I found the Bailey website. Might be worth your while to call them:
http://bhqlongarm.com/

Also found their forum: http://bhqbaileyhomequilter.proboards.com/

I could not find a group on groups.yahoo.com, but the Yahoo groups have gone downhill for years so it could be there someplace......