Singer Sewing and Embroidery Machine

SINGER FUTURA XL-550 PROBLEMS AND FIXES. I purchased my Singer Futura XL-550 in September 2014, but only after doing a great deal of research by reading 100’s of pro’s and con’s on the XL-400 and XL-550. The biggest complaint about the Futura was thread problems & breaking needles which I figured was operator error, that they made a mistake and blamed it on the machine. But I started having these problems right away; in the first 10 minutes I had 5 or 6 bird’s nests and that happened while I was just trying out the Futura as a sewing machine. And while trying to embroider something I broke my first needle within 2 minutes and 5 more needles in the first hour. I also had problems with the large hoop. It just would not hold the fabric in place and I was not able to embroider a simple pattern that came with the machine. Also, I would get this error message “wrong size hoop installed” about a minute after I started an embroidery project. After all the research I did, to say I was pissed is putting it mildly. I was ready to take an ax to this “machine” (I won’t write down what I really said about this machine). It turns out that my first assumption about it being operator error was wrong, and I want to APOLOGIZE to everyone that post their problems; the ones that I did not believe. I was feeling like an idiot for buying this piece of junk and that old saying of “if it’s too good to be true” is right, this Singer Futura is a real problem. Singer at one time stood for QUALITY, but lately Singer’s quality SUCKS. By making their machines oversea in places like Vietnam and others, the new owners of Singer Company appear not care about their quality control because it is not there. And YES, there is a learning curve to all new equipment, but it’s hard to learn how to use the machine when it has so many problems that are clearly out of the operator’s control. The Futura XL-550 sewing abilities are okay, but the embroidery part has problems, and I bought this machine to do embroidery. If the manufacture had tighter quality controls, people would not be having these problems. After trying to get my Futura to work, I found a number of problems with it. And in time I came up with some modifications that I used to repair my Futura. I took each problem one at a time and broke it down, and I was able to find the reason for each problem and then I worked out a solution for each problem. I found that my Futura was having 5 major problems that had to be worked out if I was ever going to be able to embroider anything. Here are the 5 problems I was having: 1. Birds nest in the bobbin case, 2. Breaking needles, 3. Large hoop problem, 4. Wrong size hoop, and 5. Machine would stop over and over on a new project. These are the problems I was having with my Singer Futura XL-550, now for the modification. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS The modification I made to my Singer Futura XL-550 has improved its abilities by eliminating the birds nest in the bobbin holder area and stopped the needles from breaking. And what I had to do to fix the problem with the large hoop. I had to deal with these problems and here is the list of problems and the modifications I made to fix them: 1. Problem #1, Birds nest in the bobbin case: Every time I started a project within minutes I would have a mess of thread twisted up under the cover plate of the bobbin holder, what a headache. But after digging out all the thread and removing the bobbin holder I found the problem, a nick in the bobbin holder; it was made when the needle nicked the outer edge of the bobbin holder, the black plastic edge. The thread would snag on the nick every time I tried to use the machine. Solution: I filed off about 1/32 to 1/16 of an inch to remove the nick, and I have not had that major bird’s nest problem since then. If you don’t have a file you can use an emery board, the plastic is not that hard. Update to Problem #1: I had to replace the bobbin holder, the plastic does not hold up; it would last longer if it was made from a stronger, harder plastic or maybe some sort of metal. 2. Problem #2, Breaking needles: Within 1 hour of using the Futura XL-550 embroidery part I broke 6 needles, the first needle was in the first two minutes. What I found was the needle was hitting the edge of the bobbin cover plate. The needle was hitting the edge about 1/32 to 1/16 of an inch above and below the needle slot. Solution: What I did was to file a small notch into the bobbin cover plate right to the point of impacted. The small notch is only 1/32 to 1/16 of an inch on both sides of the needle slot. After I filed the notches into the cover plate I have not broken one needle. You will need a very small round file to notch the cover plate and it will take a little time to do the job. Follow up: The notch I filed into the cover plate was not the reason for the nick on the bobbin holder. The nick in the bobbin holder happened within minutes while trying to use the sewing machine setup. 3. Problem #3, Large hoop problem: The large hoop was not holding the material while I was running an embroidery design. And believe me I tried everything to get the hoop to hold the material, I even hand stitched the material in the hoop to help the hoop hold the material, but it didn’t work. I used the Futura customer help website to get some help with the large hoop. After waiting on hold for over and hour the person in Customer support gave me the "RUN AROUND" about “are you making sure that the hoop is tight and the material makes a drum sound. Is the notch & grove lined up“ and stuff like that. I told them the hoop was to thin and to flexible to hold the material and that I wanted it replaced. And that only happened after I sent them a picture of the hoop with the material hand stitched into the hoop. They also told me that the hoop replacement they will be sending me is the same as the one that came with my Futura XL-550. Well, after three weeks of waiting the replacement hoop finally showed up. This replacement hoop was not the same, so they lied to me about the replacement hoop. That replacement hoop was about a half an inch longer on the long side and overall was about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch thicker then the one that came with the machine. But even with these differences in size the replacement hoop still did not hold the material tight enough; it would slip out just enough to mess up the design. Solution: The modification I came up with strengthened the inner hoop a great deal. What I did was to epoxy a thin aluminum plate to the bottom of the inner hoop. The plate has to be cut to fit and filed and sanded smooth. Now I have the tools to fabricate this sort of thing and I know not everyone can do this. I'm sorry, but this is the only solution I was able to come up with to strengthen the hoop, I also had to add some anti-slip strips to the inside edge of the hoop (you can get the anti-slip strips at any hardware store, it looks like sandpaper with an adhesive backing) and this helps to hold the material from slipping. Update to Problem #3: After I made these modifications I still have to keep an eye on the fabric to make sure it does not slip. If the manufacture would place a small steel rod inside the plastic of the inner hoop that would stiffen up the inner hoop and would help to solve this problem. 4. Problem #4, Wrong size hoop: This problem would come up just after I started to embroider. And it would happen every time; I would turn off the machine and restart it. I would remove the hoop and put it back in, nothing worked. The problem is between the hoop and the switch that the hoop touches when it is installed. Solution: The problem happens when the hoop is installed, the switch that the hoop touches is not placed at the right spot or the hoop’s small knob that touches the switch is not the right size. I fixed it by placing a piece of duck tape on the hoop’s knob, it was just enough to fix this problem. Update to Problems #4: The tape is only a quick fix, I have tried some epoxy on the knob to build it up but it did not hold. For now the tape will have to remain as the fix but I will keep trying. 5. Problem #5, The Machine would stop over and over on a new project: I found that the software is somewhat old and has some problems, but you can work around them. When I made a modification to a project and send it to the machine it would not embroider. It would start up for 10 or 15 seconds then just stop and no matter what I did it would stop over and over. Solution: Before you try to embroider that project you just modified, you have to save it (use a new name for that modified project). After you have saved it turn off the Futura XL-550 and close down the software. After you do that, restart the Futura machine and the software, you have to do this to clear out any software problems. You can re-open your saved project and send it to the machine. I know it’s a problem to do that every time you make a modification to a design, but it’s the only way I have found to get around this problem. MY STAR RATING The Futura XL-550 “OUT OF THE BOX” gets an overall rating of 1 stars, that's only because Amazon will not let you give a zero star rating. The sewing machine part is okay and gets 3 stars, but the sewing machine is not why I bought this machine in the first place; I bought this Futura for its embroidering abilities and that part gets a minus 1 stars. I know that many of you are having problems with your Futura and YES “OUT OF THE BOX” it should work without any problems. Don’t give up, most of these machine can be fixed with a little work (and YES, Singer should pay for all the shipping to get it fixed), but they won’t do that. But, after I made the modification to my XL-550 I have enjoyed embroidering custom patches for my Karate Studio and making gifts for friends and family. So, after ALL the modifications to my Futura “My Modified Singer Futura XL-550” gets an overall 4 stars, I reduced the score by a half stars because it is a very noisy machine and another half star because you have to watch the Futura throughout the embroidery project. I came up with these fixes to solve the problems I was having, and I hope this helps you. UPDATE: I found a service manual for my XL-550 online, and believe me you need this service manual. I use my Futura a great deal, so every 3 or 4 months I clean and lubricate it and adjust the X-Y axis points on the embroidery arm and also reset the needle depth point. If you use your machine like I do, you really need to do this servicing. I am not going to waste my time and money to ship my Futura to someone that might fix it. If their quality control is not there (AND IT‘S NOT), can you really trust them to service your machine? I hope the modification I came up with helps you. I have been using my XL-550 for more then 3.5 years now and I have made many custom patches for the students at the Karate studio and for friends and family. I even embroider the student’s karate belts with their name and belt number along with the studio name. I searched the internet for a belt hoop for my Futura XL-550 but no luck, so I fabricated a belt hoop for my Futura and it works great. TO THE SINGER COMPANY I have one thing to say to the people that own the Singer Company now. If you want people to keep buying your products you need to upgrade your quality control from nothing (which is what you have right now), and make "QUALITY" the companies most important thing you can offer. Bring back the “SINGER QUALITY“, stand by your product; and if a customer that just bought your product is having problems with it "FIX IT FOR FREE". Pay for the shipping (both ways to a repair center) because your company sold that customer a defective product, and STOP giving your customers the old "RUN AROUND". One last thing for anyone that is thinking about buying a Futura XL-550, you must understand what I'm saying. I use my machine a great deal but there are some things you just can not do with THIS MACHINE. You can not walk away from your machine; "YOU MUST STAY WITH YOUR MACHINE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PROJECT". This machine must be watched at all times, you just can't set up your project start up the machine and come back an hour or two and find a finished project. You have to sit with your machine throughout your project from the every beginning to end. So, if you are looking for a machine that you can set up and then just walk away, "DON'T GET THIS MACHINE".