Re: My Janome 204d Serger won't form a chain stitch. It...
I would suggest that you check the needles again, make sure they are both fully up into the needle housing. Also they should be at different heights in order to form the stitch sequence.
It is important that you thread the loopers first in the sequence shown in your manual, then the needles. So you may need to recheck the threading again and make sure the threads are in all the eyes correctly, especially the lower looper. Also some overlockers, have a sliding eye on the lower looper for ease of threading, if yours does, make sure it has been slid back to normal operating position.
When you have checked the threading up, take all four threads under the raised pressure foot and make sure that the upper looper thread and lower looper threads are not crossing over each other. Lower the pressure foot and try to chain off again. I hope this helps you to resolve the issue.
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try changing the needles---are the needles the correct size for the fabric being sewed? make sure you have long thread tails--that what I do on my serger you can try to post the picture
SKIPPED STITCHES ON A SERGER
1. Is the needle bent or worn--replace
2. Is the needle inserted correctly into the needle holder--check needle
3. Is the Serger threaded correctly--rethread
4. Is the presser foot pressure right for the fabric--adjust
use a scrap piece of fabric to sew on as you adjust the tension when the tension is to loose adjust one number higher till stitch looks good
is it possible that the needles are in backwards? it's very possible that the machine is out of time & would have to be taken to a sewing machine repair shop to be retimed
Is the needle thread actually going through the needle eye?
Is it chaining off without fabric under the foot? If not, then you need to revisit your threading up, there is a specific sequence that you need to thread the loopers then needles, then pull the threads under the foot, lower pressure foot and press the foot control to make a few stitches, a chain of thread should form.
If this is not happening and you have threaded it up in the right sequence, then check both needles are fitted correctly, fully up into the housing and flat shank to the back. On most sergers the two needles sit at different heights in order to form the stitches. If you haven't done it for a while, change the needles.
If you still can't get a chain of stitching then it is possible that the timing between the loopers and needles has gone out and it will need to be serviced by a technician to get this back right.
Serger may have a threading diagram inside the front looper cover which should show the various thread eyelets that you need to pull the threads through and they may be numbered one to 4 also to indicate order of threading. The diagram is usually colour coded to match the tension dial colours and serger usually has colour dots on the different thread eyes to help you follow the thread path for each thread.
This video is great and hopefully will help you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zszJYQe2aws&feature=related, it has lay in tensions while yours has dials so just pull the thread around the dial right to left and then across to the next thread eye and this should pull the thread into tension. Dials are usually all set to 5 for normal stitch formation.
On my serger you thread up in the following order: top looper (second from right dial), bottom looper (right hand dial), then right needle, left needle; this video shows all threading going from right to left however, so if you have a numbered diagram inside your thread cover, then certainly use that order. But always loopers before needles.
Raise the thread aerial first before you start, put the cones onto the thread spools and if you have any cone holders (little plastic triangles) put them on the spools first to steady the cones. Now for each thread, take the thread tail from the cone, up through the aerial thread guide, then follow the coloured dots and take this down the front of the serger putting it into each coloured thread guide, through looper then up under the raised pressure foot. Repeat for next looper, then the needles.
Pull all 4 threads out under the foot to the left, lower foot, then chain off a little to start and test sew on fabric, adjusting the tensions if you need to.
Other adjustments are stitch length (usually a knob on right beside the flywheel numbered 1-4, blade position, a dial either left or right of the blade, press on the blade to release the tension on it before you try and move it. And differential feed, this is also a knob numbered 0.5 to 2 usually. If you can't see this on the right by flywheel then open up fabric plate (left cover) and look in there for these two adjustments.
I would suggest you start with tensions on 5, and stitch length of 2-3, and test sew on scraps of the fabric you wish to overlock. You can then either move the blade to cut wider or narrower to suit and adjust the two looper tensions if you need to close up the thread on the cut edge. There is no black and white settings as each fabric will behave a little differently, generally you adjust the looper tensions a bit until the stitch is encasing the cut edge and you have a seam width that suits the weight of the fabric.
Differential feed leave on zero unless you find you need it when a loose weave fabric goes wavy, then turn it down to close up the feeding. Sergers have two feed dogs, one before and after the foot and turning differential knob changes the ratio of feed between the two so either stretches the fabric, or pushes it together as it goes through the stitching sequence. So by turning differential feed up to 1.5 or 2 you are stretching the fabric and you can do a narrow rolled hem edge that is all fluted (lettuce edging).
I hope this helps you out a bit, if you are completely new to this machine and have never used a serger then I always suggest taking a class from a local dealer, it is really worth the money and time as they are quite different to sewing machines but once mastered, really change the dynamics of sewing and techniques are much more like commerical production with flat construction etc.
You 910 serger doesn't have the option for a Chain Stitch. It is a 2, 3, or 4 thread serger. You can do a good number of different stitches but a chain stich is not one of them.
If what you mean it that it won't "chain off", meaning sew with no fabric beneath the foot as you gently pull the thread towards the rear of the machine, that could be for a number of different reasons. First, change the needles and unthread the machine and start over. If the threads are not exactly where they should be, your serger won't sew correctly. A great video on threading your machine can be seen at:http://www.husqvarnaviking.com/mediafiles/huskylock/index_en.html
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