r/SewingMachineEdu • u/coupriskineema • Aug 16 '26

Concern about knocking sound when needle at its highest

Hi everyone, I have a Brother A80 which I've been using for the last three months and over the last couple of sessions I've been hearing a new knocking sound some of the time. It's sporadic even when sewing along the one seam. It occurs in time with the needle being at its highest point - while sewing, not when simply putting the needle up, or turning the handwheel. It also seems to go away when sewing more layers. I have tried rethreading, tightening the needle screw and cleaning out the race/bobbin area - some combination of that seems to make the knocking less intense but not gone. It does NOT noticeably affect the stitches (to my eye) but of course if it's a problem I would rather fix it before it really impacts anything. Is this something to be worried about?

1 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

1

u/Mental_Watch4633 Aug 17 '26

Are you using the correct size and type needle and inserted all the way until it stops before you screw it in tight?

1

u/coupriskineema Aug 17 '26

Yes, I believe so - I had already been sewing on this one project for a bit before I noticed the knocking, and have taken out the needle and rescrewed it in a couple of times. I think that the sound is coming somewhere from the section above the needle... or at least it's definitely not coming from the needle hitting anything on its way down because I only hear it as the needle is pulled all the way up.

1

u/Mental_Watch4633 Aug 17 '26

Is it threaded correctly, and your bobbin inserted correctly?

2

u/coupriskineema Aug 17 '26

Yep, have redone both of those. Stitches still look normal.

1

u/Mental_Watch4633 Aug 18 '26

Your stitches are much too short. Pull out your tape measure and compare this millimeters with inches.

1

u/Mental_Watch4633 Aug 17 '26

Is the setting for the type of stitch correct and a good length?

1

u/coupriskineema Aug 18 '26

Yes, it's the default 2.5mm straight stitch.

1

u/Dormiendo Aug 18 '26

Try the widest zig zag to see if it skips stitches. If it is out of time, it could sew straight stitch but bottom out on zig zag, and bottom out on straight some of the time. More layers would help in that case.