I wonder if someone can give me some advice please, My job is printing t shirts etc but i sometimes help out with the embroidery. I don't know anything about the digitizing but i'm alright running the machines, (I know how to press a button Anyways, we have this logo that we run quite often and it causes a lot of problems. There is an 'I' in the logo and the thread breaks continuously on the dot, the dot is about 6mm. We have the digitizing done outside and this particular logo has been re-digitized a few times because of the problems, but the company that does it says that it runs perfectly on his machines. I was running this logo today, we have five machines and it was running fine on one of the machines, no breakages at all but on the others it was really bad. All of the settings are the same, and the logo is the same. I've tried changing needles, checked the bobbins, checked the settings, material thickness etc. I put a different colour thread on the worst machine just to see if it would run and it was perfect. The thread I am using is Madeira, which I am told is one of the best. The person who normally does the embroidery seems to accept all of these breakages, he has the patience of a saint. On Saturday according to the analasis on the computer, i ran 185 polo shirts and had 172 breakages Please can anyone give me some advice before all my hair goes grey.
Also, can you tell me if the digitizing would need to be done differently for polo shirts and suit shirts.
So if I read you correctly, you had a lot of thread breaks, changed the thread to a different color and it runs fine? Sound like you have a bad spool or batch of thread or you might need to adjust your machine tensions for that particular thread.
Have you adjusted the tension on your bobbin holder? You might want to run an X or FOX test with each needle. That would show you which needles are adjusted correctly and if you have any that the tensions are off.
I did adjust the bobbin tension and it didn't make any difference. I don't think it is a bad batch of thread as we have been doing this job for a long time and we have had a lot of thread in this colour. I don't know what you mean by running an X or FOX test with each needle, i'm not very experienced with embroidery (thats the biggest problem Although i'm lacking in experience, i do really believe its the thread. If you look at the machine, all of the threads, 15 colours on each machine are straight and the madeira thread is slightly curly. But, as I said before, i'm told madeira is one of the best. What do you think?
X, H or FOX tests are exactly that, running those letters on each needle. They exercise the machine in pretty much all directions. If you look at the back of the stitched letters, you can get a real good indication of how your tensions are set. You should see the middle third of each letter is bobbin thread and the 2 outer thirds should be top thread. If they are all off, adjust the bobbin tension and reset. If some look good and some not so good, adjust the tensions on the not-so-good needles to match the ones that sew good.
We use 95% Madeira Rayon, the rest is certain colors we happen to like from Robison Anton. Every machine is different so what works well on our machines might not work so well on yours. Is the curly thread due to using small spools instead of large spools or just near the end of a spool?
Send me the design and I will look at it, I have been digitizing for over 10 years. This does not sound like a digitizing problem but it can't hurt to have someone look it over
Thank you for offering to look at the design for me, I haven't got access to the design right now. You say it doesn't sound like a digitizing problem, and to be honest, although i don't have much experience, i don't think it is either. Do you think i should ask the engineers for help (Again) ???
I have seen some strange things happen on embroidery machines over the years. Send me the design when you have access to it.
Thread type and tension is what I suspect is causing the issue. I use a variety of thread and the tension settings that work for one type may not work for another. I have also found that tension also needs to be adjusted by thread color.
The size of the letter, stitch density, and machine RPM can also cause this issue. When using small letters you need to decrease the stitch density, and slow down the machine's RPM.
If you're getting that many thread breaks and it is always in the same spot in the design - fix the design. Since you started out saying it is in the dot of an I, more than likely between the tie in, underlay, cover stitches and tie offs, you are pounding multiple needle strikes in the same location. If you don't have the ability to edit the design in-house, you need it done by someone. Just because the digitizer says it runs fine, doesn't mean a thing. Maybe they are running poly thread? Maybe they don't even have an embroidery machine? (A lot do not so don't laugh) I would also be happy to look at the design. I've been punching, well, since it was actually punching. (yes, that makes me old) If your machines run well on other designs and then along comes this one - don't be so quick to blame the machines. This one really sounds like a design problem.
Liberty is right some digitizers will not do a sew out. As a general rule I do not. It is a waste of time for me to do a sew out on my machine using my thread. Just because it will sew out on my brand machine and thread doesn't mean it will sew out on the customers.
Because you stated that changing the thread fixed the issue and this is only happening on 4 out of 5 of your machines I still do not think it is a digitizing issue but send me the design and will look at the dot on the i and make sure that the tie in and tie off is not bunching up and causing this.
When you say it is happening on the dot, is it happening in the middle of the dot or when it jump stitches back to the top of main portion of the "I"? Sometimes when machines make that jump you will get a thread break. I guess you could always have it actually stitch to go back to the main body of the letter. Just a thought.
Also, is the dot a satin or fill stitch? Could it be a "short stitch" problem? Just another thought.
Thank you all so much for all your advice and offering to look at the design for me. I still haven't got access to the job at the moment.
I did contact our digitizer yesterday before i posted on here for help, he said it was a 'split satin stitch'. What is a 'short stitch problem'. He did a bit of work on the design, i tried 3 more designs that he had sent through and although it was a huge improvement i still don't believe it is acceptable, (instead of breaking 5 or 6 times on the dot, it was breaking 1 or 2).
I have just had a thought though...... it does happen sometimes I can take the dot from one of our other designs that I know sew well. We have a few customers who have their website, so i'm sure i can find one. Will that work, or is that too simple???
Embroidery advice 
Anyways, we have this logo that we run quite often and it causes a lot of problems. There is an 'I' in the logo and the thread breaks continuously on the dot, the dot is about 6mm. We have the digitizing done outside and this particular logo has been re-digitized a few times because of the problems, but the company that does it says that it runs perfectly on his machines. I was running this logo today, we have five machines and it was running fine on one of the machines, no breakages at all but on the others it was really bad. All of the settings are the same, and the logo is the same. I've tried changing needles, checked the bobbins, checked the settings, material thickness etc. I put a different colour thread on the worst machine just to see if it would run and it was perfect. The thread I am using is Madeira, which I am told is one of the best. The person who normally does the embroidery seems to accept all of these breakages, he has the patience of a saint. On Saturday according to the analasis on the computer, i ran 185 polo shirts and had 172 breakages 
Please can anyone give me some advice before all my hair goes grey. 
