I have been cleaning up and oiling this vintage machine, and it was sewing pretty decently. There was still a catch somewhere, so I was pretty liberal with the oil, trying to locate where it was sticking. But after loosening off the clutch now the wheel is slipping and not turning consistently. It stops, I turn the wheel by hand to get it going, and then it stops again. I wondered if getting oil on the belts might be a problem, so I cleaned those, but that didn't help. Can anyone help me understand why this might be happening?
Thank you!
This is the incident of a little to much oil. It is making your belt, shimmy and vibrate causing your machine to slip/spin without connection. Perhaps you could clean it up a little. Also the belt can not have oil on it. It will keep spinning until it is dry enough and oil free for traction on the wheel!
When a sewing machine is sticking and not sewing correctly it is not the belt or the motor that is the issue. The issue is in the bobbin case and getting it all cleaned out and oiled correctly. Adding oil all over the machine is bad for the machine and will cause the issues you are experiencing now. You are going to need to really clean up the mess and get rid of as much oil as you possibly can. Then open the bobbin on the machine and remove the casing. Do a really deep cleaning in here and get rid of all the dust and buildup that is in this area.
Clean the oil off the belt as well as the motor shaft and where the belt goes on your hand wheel. Also remove any thread or lint on those same spots. Once you have it all cleaned, it should be okay.
I have a really old Kenmore sewing machine and I have it all threaded right. But when I went to start sewing, I noticed that it was set to bobbin winding.
I tried to change it but it won't let me. No matter what I try and set it to, it just beeps at me.On older sewing machines there are normally 2 ways to wind a bobbin. The first way is to disengage the wheel by turning the inside knob. This will allow the machine to wind the bobbin. When you have wound the bobbin then you tighten the inside knob back up and then can sew. The second way is to engage the bobbin winding by placing the bobbin on the spindle and pushing it towards the rubber wheel or stop that is on the machine. I am not sure of the model number of your sewing machine or if it winds the bobbin in one of these two ways.
Has it been some time since you used your machine or were you sewing recently and had to wind your bobbin?
I'm not sure but it seems that maybe you have not used it for a while and it's possible something got 'bumped' to cause this or perhaps someone else has used your machine.
Sometimes it is difficult to follow printed directions/suggestions because we may not have a good 'starting' point.
For these reasons you may want to talk to a machine technician who will know what questions to ask and get you started on the right path.
Since your machine is Kenmore you may want to ask a tech at a Sears Service Center for help. They may want you to take it in for servicing (and it may need it but still expensive) but you can ask questions and not take it in. They should be able to tell you the model number to your machine as well as the year it was made. They can also tell you what 'brand' it is as Kenmore is just the name Sears uses. If they cannot give you any further help then you may need to go to one or more of the sewing forums and ask for help. Please try Sears first as you need the model for reference.
This is an excellent forum but you will have to join. It is free and I have had no problems after joining. The members are very helpful so ask your question and let them help you as this take several steps to get your machine on tract.
www.quiltingboard.com/
The spool pin on my Kenmore 24-stitch (I think it might be a 385, though I'm not sure) fell into the machine. I can't use the machine without thread, and I can't use the thread without the spool pin. How do I go about getting it out?
By Kelly M.
I'm afraid there is no safe way for you to use the machine until that spool pin is fetched out of the machine, and there is no safe way for you to remove it at home - you need to take your machine to a qualified sewing machine repair tech, the retrieval will cost you around £20GBP or $30+USD. Splash out for a servicing which will jump the price to mid-high double digits but is well worth it to keep your machine running well, and to inspect for any damage the dropping pin may have caused.
If the machine is under warranty you need to use the Sears authorised repair service techs - either telephone your local Sears, use the 'Net to find their local-to-you service centre, or carefully check all adverts for wording indicating the tech is an authorised service provider or you will void your warranty.
I have been using my great-grandmother's sewing machine for years, and it is just now giving me a problem. When I begin sewing by pushing the foot pedal, it will sometimes start and it will sometimes not. If it does, I have to have the pedal to the floor to keep it going, so I can only sew very fast. If I let it slow down, the machine gets stuck.
When it is stuck, turning the hand wheel toward me while pushing the foot pedal gets it going again. When I turn the hand wheel or when it does stop on me, it is always stiff or stuck in the same spot in its rotation. Every time I push the pedal, the motor does run, but I can't always get the needle to move.I have tried everything from cleaning it, disassembling what I can to check for problems, oiling it, and more. Am I most likely looking at a problem with the foot pedal, the motor, an internal belt or gear, or a timing issue?
By Jessica B.
It does sound like a problem with the foot pedal (timing problems usually show up as the needle hitting the plate or bobbin-you'll hear a little clunk every time the needle goes down into the bobbin area).
It could be as simple as a worn wire in the pedal, or it could be something more serious. You can try opening the foot pedal housing and giving the interior a look over-take clear photos first and be sure to check the photos before you disassemble anything-you may see the trouble straight off.
If you can't see any obvious problems, put the housing back on, check the voltage (should be printed on the bottom of the pedal), and try a different foot pedal in the same voltage to see if that sorts the problem. Foot pedals do go bad over time so that may be the problem.
You can find a replacement either at the Sears parts site:
searspartsdirect.com
You can also check eBay for vintage Kenmore parts.
There is a pressure plate right below the knob that u twist to unlock to wind your bobbin, this is your problem. U can get more life out of your machine without spending money. That that small plate and slighly bend it so it won't sit on there flush and it will work. I spent 285 $ fo get mine fixed
I recently acquired a vintage Kenmore sewing machine, model 1251. It looks like new, and hasn't been used much. I cleaned and oiled it, and it sews like a dream! However, the clutch knob is stuck, so I can't disengage the needle arm for winding bobbins.
Even when loosening the screw on the knob, it won't budge. Please help! Thanks!I just found a beautiful Kenmore 158.523 machine, but the button on the machine bed will not turn to lower the feed dogs. Any idea how I can get this to turn?
The stitch selector dial of my Kenmore sewing machine 15358 will not turn in any direction. Kindly help.
Bought a Kenmore 385.16324 sewing machine new 16 yrs ago. It has been a work horse. I use it all the time. The tension is now a problem, see photos: #1 is top and #2 is bottom. I have cleaned the bobbin case, feed dogs, replaced the needle, rethreaded it numerous times, and worked on tension settings after each sample row.
I am still getting the weird stitches on the back side. Any suggestion what to do next?I have an old Kenmore and this happens to me all the time.
My troubleshooting steps are to:
1. Clean out the bobbin casing--my machine is a dust magnet and I take an old toothbrush and work away from the machine to clean it all out.
2. Does your machine have a screw in the casing for the bobbin? Mine does and if I play with that screw tension, usually it is too loose, then it fixes the tension issue
3. make sure my thread is new. I have a huge collection of thread and if I use an old thread, that is usually the first reason I get this issue. Sometimes it works if I use a different thread for the bobbin and the old thread for the top, but sometimes that makes the top stitches wonky.
4. If the thread is new, I will unwind the thread on to a new spool so not to waste it and unthread and rewind a new bobbin...preferably with new thread...but sometimes a slow rewind with the old thread (a second try) fixes the problem.
Post back how it goes!