When embroidering, works great for a couple of minutes and then the machine thinks the thread is broken, but neither top or bobbin thread is broken. I can pull the top thread until taught and then the machine will continue with no problems for another 3-5 minutes. Tried different bobbins, thread & needles to no avail.

Try enterng this in the google search block; "bernina 440 qe maintenance" it comes up with a lot of informaton and even videos.

Your tension on top can be loosened. If this causes your stitch to be too loose then tighten your bobbin tension. Just think of the top and bottom tensions as a tug of war. They must be even to get the stitch in the middle of the material.

One of the things they don't really tell you about embroidering with the singer machines is that you really do need to use the same color in both the bobbin and the top. No matter how much you adjust the tension, you will still end up with some of the thread from both showing through on the other side, unlike with most other machines.

I found this out from a Singer technician about 3 years ago when I had the same problem with my CE 150 and was going nuts! He worked with both Singers, Vikings and Huskvarna's. and saved my sanity after demonstrating a lot of technical stuff that basically showed me why Singers did this.

Save your sanity-just bite the bullet and use the same thread in the bobbin as you do in the top.

There are a few problems this could be. Your top thread could be broken or about to break; your bobbin thread could be broken, about to break or empty/about to become empty and is loose around the bobbin; you could have a birds' nest (a mass of thread just under the fabric/presser foot and/or within the feed dog and bobbin) forming and causing a jam; or it could be your Futura having a little bit of a hissy fit. Obviously, if you've checked for broken thread you need to move on. Check for a birds' nest by removing the fabric and clip your threads. If you find one, clear it, rethread your bobbin and begin sewing again. If there's no birds' nest, then place the fabric back in and try sewing/embroidering again. If the machine acts up again, I recommend removing the fabric/hoop, rethreading your top and bobbin threads, replacing fabric/hoop and resuming where you left off. If the machine still gives you trouble, try hitting the start button for a couple of times and seeing if the problem doesn't simply resolve itself. When you're embroidering areas that have a few small, short stitches only, the machine seems to act up a little and then behaves fine once you bypass the area. Be sure to take all of the other steps first, though, because a birds' nest will RUIN a beautiful seam or embroidery.

With the embroidering, some of the bobbin thread is SUPPOSED to show on the top of your embroidery-the machine isn't doing anything incorrectly. You'll need to thread your bobbin with the same thread as you are using with the top. I had the same "problem" when I first got the machine and took it to a wonderful local technician whose helped me with a lot of things who informed me that this is perfectly normal on embroidery machines.

This annoys the heck out of me, cause it happens a lot more than it should. There can be some valid reasons as to why it happens, though.

Your top thread could be broken or about to break; your bobbin thread could be broken, about to break or empty/about to become empty and is loose around the bobbin; you could have a birds' nest (a mass of thread just under the fabric/presser foot and/or within the feed dog and bobbin) forming and causing a jam; or it could be your Futura having a little bit of a hissy fit. Obviously, if you've checked for broken thread you need to move on. Check for a birds' nest by removing the fabric and clip your threads. If you find one, clear it, rethread your bobbin and begin sewing again. If there's no birds' nest, then place the fabric back in and try sewing/embroidering again. If the machine acts up again, I recommend removing the fabric/hoop, rethreading your top and bobbin threads, replacing fabric/hoop and resuming where you left off. If the machine still gives you trouble, try hitting the start button for a couple of times and seeing if the problem doesn't simply resolve itself. When you're embroidering areas that have a few small, short stitches only, the machine seems to act up a little and then behaves fine once you bypass the area. Be sure to take all of the other steps first, though, because a birds' nest will RUIN a beautiful seam or embroidery.

Just an FYI-the bobbin thread needs to match your top thread. The majority of the thread that appears in the top of your embroidery actually IS the bobbin thread. The machine is working correctly. Don't use a bobbin full of white thread-instead, thread a bobbin with the color your doing the embroidery work in to match and you will have a perfectly beautiful embroidery.

Did you engage the feed dogs for sewing?

brothers frame is much smaller I think 4 x 4. I have futura 200. found this to happen at first but now now. Make sure when threading that you floss the thread through the top part, it has plastic over it. The thread must fit properly in this part. (flossing means to run back and forth a couple of times holding thread tightly). Also, hold the 2 thread ends when you first start to embroider. Hope this helps