What should I do to keep the machine running smoothly?

Good general maintenance is the key to keeping your machine performing at its best.

1. We recommend investing in a small air compressor (available at Wal- Mart, Ace Hardware, etc. for about $90). It takes only a few minutes to turn it on and get enough pressure to blow the lint out of everything, including your bobbin case!

2. The wicks on the top of the machine don't need oil if they are wet to the touch. If your front handles and light fixture are black and greasy, you are over-oiling the wicks and eventually it may drip down on your quilt. (Note: It's always a good idea to move the machine off the quilt when you are done for the day, and slightly relax the fabric by loosening your rollers to prevent stretching.)

3. You should thoroughly clean and oil your hook assembly every day. Most quilters will do this before loading each quilt to prevent getting oil on the fabric. While you should clean out the lint in the hook area and in the bobbin case after every bobbin, you generally will be able to complete an average-size quilt before needing to completely clean and oil the hook area. However, if you are doing extensive quilting on a project, or if the hook area starts to get noisy and rattles, take the time to clean and oil the hook (of course, move the machine away from your quilt first). Hook assemblies will last a lot longer if properly taken care of.

4. Every month, take off the left side front cover (when standing on the free hand side of the machine) and clean this area out, making sure there isn't any thread wrapped around the hand wheel. Yes, it does happen!! Do this more often if you've experienced a lot of thread breakage. After cleaning out the thread, make sure the wicks are repositioned over their respective oiling holes before replacing the cover. Take a look at the new fly wheel cover offered as an accessory if this is a recurring problem for you.

5. If your needle up/down function seems slower than usual, chances are you have thread wrapped around the hand wheel inside the machine, causing the motor to be over-worked. It is normal to have to slow down the needle up/down speed once or twice from the factory settings. After that, it shouldn't need adjustment. If it does, it may be a circuit board issue. You should not ever have to speed it up.