faulty needle?

I was starting to work on some of my rainy day projects yesterday, so I
put in a new needle. I started sewing but noticed that the machine was
making a noise that I wasn't familiar with. Sort of a ticking sound. My
first thought was to clean and oil the machine (Singer 2662). So I
openned it up and found a few lint bunnies. Nothing huge. Removed the
bobbin carrier and cleaned under/around that area as well, and followed
the instructions to oil it. Went back to trying the machine again and
its still making this small ticking sound. So I walked the machine
through its paces. I tried several different stitch patterns, different
needle placement, different stitch lengths. Nothing seemed to make a
difference. So, I openned up the bobbin area and the machine covers and
worked the hand wheel listenning to various parts of the machine through
a cycle or two. I think I found it. When the bobbin hook swings around
and passes the needle, its making contact. Its obviously not hard
contact, just grazing the tip of the needle. So I pulled the needle out,
looked at it carefully checking for bends etc. Looks fine. Thought it
might be just the way the needle was seated in the carrier, so I
reseated the needle and turned the hand wheel again. Still get the
clicking, but its a little bit less loud than it was. Should I worry
about it? Should I replace that needle?

The cost of a needle is about 50 cents. The cost of a repair trip is
???

I believe that the real problem with your machine is that the bobbin
hook thing may be out of alignment ever so slightly, so as to cause
the needle to hit and this will happen with a brand new needle.

You can buy all bobbin holder parts, but it might be the ring that
holds the hook in place that is bent out of shape. This can and will
happen if somebody (who will remain nameless in your household)
sews/mends/hems jeans or other extremely heavy repairs too fast and
with too small a needle. Such a misuse of your machine will also cause
those lint bunnies...

Irene (who knows about this from sad experience)

FtForger wrote in message ...
I was starting to work on some of my rainy day projects yesterday, so I
put in a new needle. I started sewing but noticed that the machine was
making a noise that I wasn't familiar with. Sort of a ticking sound. My
first thought was to clean and oil the machine (Singer 2662). So I
openned it up and found a few lint bunnies. Nothing huge. Removed the
bobbin carrier and cleaned under/around that area as well, and followed
the instructions to oil it. Went back to trying the machine again and
its still making this small ticking sound. So I walked the machine
through its paces. I tried several different stitch patterns, different
needle placement, different stitch lengths. Nothing seemed to make a
difference. So, I openned up the bobbin area and the machine covers and
worked the hand wheel listenning to various parts of the machine through
a cycle or two. I think I found it. When the bobbin hook swings around
and passes the needle, its making contact. Its obviously not hard
contact, just grazing the tip of the needle. So I pulled the needle out,
looked at it carefully checking for bends etc. Looks fine. Thought it
might be just the way the needle was seated in the carrier, so I
reseated the needle and turned the hand wheel again. Still get the
clicking, but its a little bit less loud than it was. Should I worry
about it? Should I replace that needle?

FtForger wrote:


Should I worry
about it? Should I replace that needle?

Any problems with a sewing machine, replace the needle first. For 50
cents it solves 90% of the problems.
Roger.
--
Yarn Forward
Your On Line Yarn and Scrapbooking Store
http://www.yarnforward.com

Thanks Irene (and everyone else that posted opinions on this). As it
turns out, it IS the needle. I replaced the one that was "ticking" and
the ticking went away. The replacement, from the same pack, is also bad.
Its not quite straight left to right. I know this because the automatic
needle threader doesn't go though the eye, it misses just to one side.
The third needle in the pack of 4 seems straight in both directions.

I know that no one else in the family is using my machine...its in my
bedroom, and no one else is interested in using it. Plus, with the
other things on the sewing table, I would notice if someone moved
anything...

Irene wrote:
The cost of a needle is about 50 cents. The cost of a repair trip is
???

I believe that the real problem with your machine is that the bobbin
hook thing may be out of alignment ever so slightly, so as to cause
the needle to hit and this will happen with a brand new needle.

You can buy all bobbin holder parts, but it might be the ring that
holds the hook in place that is bent out of shape. This can and will
happen if somebody (who will remain nameless in your household)
sews/mends/hems jeans or other extremely heavy repairs too fast and
with too small a needle. Such a misuse of your machine will also cause
those lint bunnies...

Irene (who knows about this from sad experience)

FtForger wrote in message ...

I was starting to work on some of my rainy day projects yesterday, so I
put in a new needle. I started sewing but noticed that the machine was
making a noise that I wasn't familiar with. Sort of a ticking sound. My
first thought was to clean and oil the machine (Singer 2662). So I
openned it up and found a few lint bunnies. Nothing huge. Removed the
bobbin carrier and cleaned under/around that area as well, and followed
the instructions to oil it. Went back to trying the machine again and
its still making this small ticking sound. So I walked the machine
through its paces. I tried several different stitch patterns, different
needle placement, different stitch lengths. Nothing seemed to make a
difference. So, I openned up the bobbin area and the machine covers and
worked the hand wheel listenning to various parts of the machine through
a cycle or two. I think I found it. When the bobbin hook swings around
and passes the needle, its making contact. Its obviously not hard
contact, just grazing the tip of the needle. So I pulled the needle out,
looked at it carefully checking for bends etc. Looks fine. Thought it
might be just the way the needle was seated in the carrier, so I
reseated the needle and turned the hand wheel again. Still get the
clicking, but its a little bit less loud than it was. Should I worry
about it? Should I replace that needle?

Admiralla wrote:
timing could be off, or B: check to see that the needle is pushed up as
far as it will go. If the needle is down slightly that can cause it to hit
off the hook slightly. Something that may have happened when you changed
the needle to begin with.

Thats a good point. One day, I changed the needle on my sewing machine, and
'tick tick tick' was the result. I eventually worked out the needle was
low, and then found I had a little bit of fluff wedged up in the hole the
needle goes into - which was causing the problem. So it pays to check!

Sarah