Sewing Machine Woes

My sewing machine won tonight. I've pulled it out the last several nights, whipped something up, and climbed into bed feeling successful. Not tonight. I guess I'll need to come up with some other project to feel successful about.

However, does anyone have suggestions on when to service your machine? I have a Brother XL-2600 and have had it for about 5 years. I'm guessing it's time?? And where do you take it? And what does it usually put you out? I know there's a whole bunch of thread wrapped around the inside of my wheel.

The thread wheel story: (brace yourselves...it's going to be riveting) Once upon a time I was sewing. The kids were making noise, the machine was making its usual foot hammering, and I failed to notice the clicking of another spool of thread against the back of my machine. By the time I stopped to wonder what that other weird sound was, the spool of thread that had been sitting next to me, that somehow got itself wrapped around my wheel, was horrendously mangled around the inside of the wheel. There was no getting it undone. In the end I had to snip it off and hope my machine still worked. Whoever eventually gets my machine open will have fun times in there. Maybe that's my tension problem, too.

Does anyone have intense jiggling with their tension to get their machine to work right? Or if I do, does that just mean I have a $100 machine (which I do)?

Please enlighten me.