Bobbin or Uptake Issues? Check your Flyer Magnet!

If your wheel suddenly seems to not be spinning at it’s best the first place you may want to investigate is the bobbin/ flyer area. By diagnosing the problem yourself you can either fix the problem or have an easier time explaining your issues to our customer help department. Either way we aim to get you back to happily spinning.

At first glance it may be hard to tell if you’re having a problem with your bobbin or the flyer head since the two work so closely together.

First step would be check for the most common problem which luckily is also the most easily fixed. Due to the strength of the magnets which are used on our flyer rods to secure the bobbin, occasionally they may get stuck in the back of your bobbin and come off when you remove it without you noticing. Then if you replace that bobbin with the magnet stuck inside with a different bobbin there will be no magnet to hold it in place for secure spinning. If this is the problem you can easily take a pare of needle nose plies and pull the magnet out of the bobbin away from the metal ring in the middle and then simply re-glue the magnet to the flyer rod. We have a video with further explanation.

If your magnet is still attached to the flyer rod properly but the bobbin is not getting a secure connection to the flyer head, it may be that you need to replace your magnet with a new one. You can purchase replacement magnets from our parts shop here. Having extra magnets and bands is always a safe bet to keep in your spinning parts box.

If your bobbin seems to be locking into place with a strong click and the magnet is attached to the flyer rod and you’re still having uptake issues it may be time to investigate your flyer head.

If the yarn is not being wrapped onto the bobbin and is becoming overly twisted around the orifice you may need to adjust the tension block so that there is a stronger uptake. If you have increased the tension and it’s still not pulling in correctly then you may need to replace the felt on the tension block as seen in this video.

However if there seems to be damage to your flyer head or a mechanical problem please take a picture or video and email it to help@spinolution.com

Troubleshooting Tips

Yarn is not taking up on the bobbin

●  Increase the tension by 1⁄4 turns clockwise until yarn takes up.

●  Make sure the bobbin is locked into the magnet at the back of the flyer.

●  Make sure the orifice bar is locked to the magnets on the flyer bars.

●  As the bobbin fills, you will find draw-in decreases – this is standard behavior in scotch tension wheels; increase the brake tension and continue filling your bobbin.

● Check if your yarn has jumped off the pegs, it could wrap around the flyer spindle between the bobbin and orifice arm. Remove the orifice arm, unwrap this yarn, and then restart spinning.

● Check if your fiber is wrapped around the hook or pegs.