Tajima troubleshooting

Likely causes: tension too tight, poor or old thread, needle turned or bent, dry or dirty rotary hook, many tiny stitches in the design, fabric flagging, burr on the thread path

1. Rethread the needle from the cone, following every guide, and make sure the thread is seated between the tension discs.
2. Change the needle. Make sure the eye faces straight forward or a hair to the right, and that it is pushed fully up.
3. Check tension with a gauge: Tajima's TMBR/TMBP manual gives roughly 120 to 140 g for upper thread and 20 to 30 g for bobbin thread.
4. Clean and oil the rotary hook (raceway and oil hole). Run the machine idle a moment so oil spreads.
5. Try a better quality thread; a silicone thread lubricant helps metallic and old thread.
6. Look at where it breaks. If it is always the same spot in the design, remove stitches shorter than about 0.5 mm (Cleanup function or your software).
7. Hoop so the fabric just touches the needle plate. Lifted, bouncing fabric breaks thread.
8. Polish any burr you find on the needle plate hole, presser foot or hook point with fine abrasive, or replace the part.

Call a technician if: breaks continue after all of the above, or you suspect hook timing, needle depth (lower dead point) or play in the needle bar case.

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Likely causes: detection set too sensitive, thread not wrapped on the detector, dirty detector disc, faulty tension base / TC sensor card

1. Check the thread is wrapped correctly around the thread detection roller on the tension base.
2. Clean the detector disc and its slot of lint and wax.
3. Open the Thread Detection setting and raise the number of consecutive detections for the upper thread (1 is most sensitive, 4 least). Use the per-needle "N" setting if only one needle misbehaves.
4. On older multi-heads, if one head's tension base card has failed, the manual explains how to cut that head out of control so the others keep sewing.

Call a technician if: a 291 keeps showing "TC sensor card error" or the needle bar moves even with the tension base switch at the bottom position.

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Likely causes: bobbin tension wrong, uneven winding, lint in bobbin case, deformed bobbin

1. Replace the bobbin with a fresh, evenly wound one.
2. Blow lint out of the bobbin case and hook area every day.
3. Check bobbin tension (about 20 to 30 g per the TMBR/TMBP manual) and adjust the case spring screw in small steps.
4. Throw away any bobbin that is bent; it can touch the needle and break it.
5. If 293 stops the machine with thread left, adjust the under-thread detection count and sensitivity in Thread Detection.

Call a technician if: the bobbin case or hook shows wear grooves.

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Likely causes: upper thread out of the tension discs, thread not caught by the take-up lever, thread not held at start, flagging fabric

1. Stop the machine, cut the nest away from underneath, and remove the needle plate if needed to clear the hook.
2. Rethread the upper thread fully, including the take-up lever.
3. Check the thread is held properly after each trim (thread holder / upper thread lock).
4. Re-hoop tighter and add stabilizer so the fabric does not bounce.
5. Turn the main shaft by hand to confirm nothing is jammed before restarting.

Call a technician if: the shaft does not turn freely after clearing (you may get 311 or 211).

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Likely causes: thick or hard material, very dense design, wrong needle for the job, bent bobbin, hoop strike, vibration

1. Use a needle size and point that suits the fabric and thread.
2. Reduce density or remove unneeded underlay in the design.
3. Check the design fits the hoop with margin; set a software frame limit so the needle bar cannot hit the frame.
4. Replace any bent bobbin.
5. Level the machine and stand so it does not rock.
6. After a needle break, check the hook point and needle plate for burrs before sewing again.

Call a technician if: the hook's needle guard is worn or the needle hits the hook.

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Likely causes: design too big for the frame, wrong frame type selected, start point off center, software frame limit too tight

1. Press E, move the frame back inside the field with the jog keys.
2. Trace the design before sewing to confirm it fits.
3. Make sure the frame type set on the panel matches the frame on the machine (and the cap rotation is set when you change to caps).
4. Use Software Frame Limit so the machine stops before the needle bar reaches the frame.

Call a technician if: the frame hits a limit when it is clearly inside the field (possible origin or sensor fault).

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Likely causes: lint and thread packed in the ATH, blunt knife, knife not returning to home, wrong ATH start timing

1. Power off, remove the needle plate and blow out the ATH area. Tajima lists this as a daily job.
2. Pull out any thread wrapped around the movable knife.
3. If thread tails pull out of the needle at the next start, adjust ATH start timing or picker-off timing (older panels) to leave a longer tail.
4. Clear 3A6 only after the knife moves freely back to its home.

Call a technician if: the knife needs replacing or re-timing.

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Likely causes: needle case jammed by thread or debris, needle count set wrong, needle position sensor fault

1. Power off and clear anything that blocks the needle case from sliding.
2. Turn the color change by hand to a needle so the panel display matches the real needle.
3. Check the number of needles in setup matches the machine.

Call a technician if: 382, 383 or 387 return after clearing.

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Likely causes: thread jam at the hook, loose or worn belt, encoder or sensor fault

1. Power off and turn the main shaft by hand. Clear any thread jam at the hook.
2. Return the shaft to its stop position and restart.
3. If it turns stiffly, do not force it.

Call a technician if: the code returns, the belt is worn, or the shaft will not turn freely.

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Likely causes: bad or full USB stick, file not in a format the machine reads, network settings wrong

1. Try a different, small, freshly formatted USB stick.
2. Save the design as DST (or TBF from Tajima software) and keep the file name short.
3. For network loading, check the cable, then the IP settings file on the machine and the PC software settings.

Call a technician if: every stick fails (3DE) or the network code returns after checking settings.

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Likely causes: tension off, density wrong for the fabric, loose hooping, needle/thread/needle plate not matched, rpm too high

1. Set tension first (see above).
2. Re-hoop with the right backing.
3. Lower the rpm for small lettering and dense fills.
4. Use Satin Stitch or Backlash adjustments only after the physical setup is right.

Call a technician if: take-up lever timing or drive belt tension is suspect.

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Likely causes: frame type not changed on panel, design not rotated 180 degrees, design too tall for the cap field

1. When you mount the cap driver, change the frame type on the panel; this also handles the 180-degree design rotation.
2. Keep cap designs inside the cap field and trace before sewing.
3. Lower the rpm for caps.

Call a technician if: the cap driver binds or makes noise.

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