Maybe your machine has a stitch width safety setting? I have the Sapphire 870q and made a comment one day about trying to remember I had the single hole plate on.... a nice member said to go into tools and choose that setting. It really works, even when you choose a zigzag stitch, if that setting is on...you will only get a straiht stitch. :D

It is pretty hard to throw machines out of timing I have hit presser feet, pins, broke numerous needles and in 15 years have only thrown one machine out of timing by a fusible vinyl that had a section not covered by fabric and it stuck to the bed of my machine not allowing the fabric to advance and that threw it out of timing. Your machine will not sew if timing is off.

Oh dear, poor machine! LOL

hitting rulers while long arming has broken needles, caused timing issue. On DSM I was pulling my good machine in it's rolling case and hit a sidewalk seam and dropped the case---broke off one of the 2 spool spindles :( not very fixable and the fix turned out to be temporary.

1)
I ruined my Sewing machine while I took my first quilting class over 25 years ago. Learned the hard way to not use hand quilting thread in he bobbin. To this day I blame the instructor for assuming this is common knowledge to a new quilter.
It was a vintage Singer and I loved that machine. At the time i barely could afford paying for the quilting class and materials as a single mom and was faced to having to pay to replace it after paying $ to have it checked
The silver lining was the repair man sold me a Featherweight in great working condition at a very reasonable price. And I loved learning to piece quilts -I got hooked
Became a fabric-holic too. 😍

2)
Last year my HV Emerald 193 (great machine) I impatiently pulled too hard on a snag/tangled threads in the bobbin and evidently chipped the bobbin case -thus the bobbin kept popping out. It was a slight chip but enough to paralyze my sewing on it. I ordered s new bobbin case and it's working great again.
Lesson learned, if I get my fabric stuck w tangles in my bobbin I no longer " pull " the fabric away/threads out. Instead , I patiently (which does not come easy to me, lol) clip knots off under the fabric close to the stuck area and use tweezers to clear the tangled threads.

I've been sewing for over 40 years and have never knocked a machine out of time. A vintage all metal machine has to be really, really abused for that to happen. I sew over pins, forget to change my needle plate, you name it I've done it. Only once did I hurt a machine. When I got my Brother PE200 embroidery machine a couple years ago it had a class 66 bobbin in it. I knew that couldn't be right so I googled the machine and on three out of the top five sites that came up people said that it does take that bobbin. So I loaded a hoop and hit start. Stitch, stitch, thunk! and the needle bar popped loose. I fixed the needle bar and got the correct bobbins and it works like it should. I should've listened to my gut in the first place and asked at the Brother dealer BEFORE I ran the machine.

Cari

My friend managed to get her auto needle threader on the wrong side of the needle it was impossible to move and it cost her a trip to the repair man. It was one of those accidents when she was sewing very slowly and carefully.

Ive broken needles by pulling the fabric from under the needle when it is still in the fabric, rushing too much.

LOL!!!! we really need to be able to laugh at ourselves.

I did that with my diamond, once, my brother, once and believe it or not with my new epic. All lived through the ordeal, you would have thought the first time would have nipped that carelessness in the bud. My quarter inch feet that are plastic all have a small hole in them. My epic has a mark on the faceplate. Lucky for me they are strong machines. I try to be super careful.....now.

When a needle breaks make sure you take the bobbin and assembly apart making sure part of the needle does not remain lodged in the bobbin mechanism. Ask me how I know