themadpatter

Yep. lol. It's the next one after the 301A, which only needs a lube job. I have to do the quilting on the T-shirt quilt for my friends in Germany, then I'll post pictures adn all. Oh, and I got a White treadle that I'm picking up tomorrow, and then I swear no more till I get rid of some, lol. Oh, and the screw probably fell out when I brought it home, as we had to put it on the car upside down, lol.

leonf

Good for you. I was given this Toyota. Looked good after some cleaning. I plugged it in and it wouldn't buzz, humm or turn. Oh well. I oiled it up anyway. tried again. Nope. 2 days later I plugged it in again Stitching nicely. Silly things.
I hope you get so lucky. keep us updated on all 3 please.[ATTACH=CONFIG]585686[/ATTACH]

themadpatter

Today's update: brought the White rotary home, and its great. Found some cool stuff in the drawers, yes, pix to come, lol. The Resident Engineer (who could also be called the resident Carpenter, as he's built houses *and* chairs) was inveigled into gluing the drawers, which were cracked around the bottom on one side. Both of the drawers on the right side were cracked on the right side. Must have been from the way it was situated.

Question on the 401: it has obvious varnishing issues inside the top. Can I just spray it liberally with PB Blaster, or do I have to be careful of something? It seems like the worm gear is glued up, as well as other possible parts. And it has a pretty advanced case of "felt pad" under the feed dogs (plate also won't let go all the way.) Thanks for the help!

themadpatter

Forgot to add- the White is a rotary, and came with 4 bobbins that match my mystery bobbin, so I know what that goes to now. Also, it has about 8" of harp space, so squeeee! I might be doing fmq on a treadle., woop! woop!

Stitchnripper

i posted a link up above to my journey with my 401 and all the recommendations and products suggested and what worked. There are even some pictures. I hope you will get some help from it. Most of the posters on that thread have left this board. We still have some great help but you might find just that one hint that will help. Good luck!!

Mickey2

You can spray rather liberally, but be carefull not to get the thin spray can stuff into the motor (it's set vertically under there). In theory you should get the same result with basic sewing machine oil, or Triflow, but the spray can stuff speeds things up. For areas that are greased it needs to be cleaned off before regreasing. The worm gear is greased to begin with, and likely needs a clean up and new applied. It's not often it's gummed up totally, and I would clean everywhere, double check for dust, threads and lint before I sprayed and oiled any further. Spray can stuff seeps in every where.

themadpatter

Have to go to work, and y computer is being a doorstop, but if you go to my facebook page, Patti Edson, there are some public pictures and a video. Wasn't sure if I could post a video here,and didn't have time to shrink the pix. Wow!

Stefan

"But, the motor doesn't do anything when I step on the pedal."

Plug the motor plug directly into a wall outlet after removing the needle and raising the presser foot. If it runs the problem is in the foot control and wires. If it doesn't run, the motor needs to be tested and repaired.

90% of motors that are thrown away are good. Usually they need oil, like straight weight 30 SAE, non-detergent type car motor oil.

Only add two drops of oil to any oiling holes in the end covers. Work the oil in by turning the motor by hand.

Foot controls are not that complicated. If they are the wound NICHROME wire type, you can measure the resistance of the wire. The resistance of the entire length of the wound wire is usually about 90-100 ohms total using a VOM. If it's infinity, the Nichrome spiral wire is broken or a contact is bad at some point. Make sure you have 125VAC power across the two lamp cord wires from the wall outlet or check the wire continuity.

Make sure the wiper arm inside makes contact with any rivet taps along the wound wire using a good Volt-Ohm-Meter, VOM.
Check that the motor/light box inside to see if a spot welded copper wire on a bent blade is detached. If detached, cut a slot with a Dremel tool cutoff blade and put the wire in that slot. Then solder it in place.
Check the lampcord wall plug for loose or broken wires.
You can test the motor outlet and light outlet with a light bulb. Press on the foot control and the bulb in the motor outlet should be dim and get brighter as you press harder.

You could have bad motor brushes also. If they are bad, get new ones at a sewing supplier.

If you don't know how to test electronics, get someone that can do it like a Ham Radio Operator in your neighborhood. Look for a radio antenna tower. Ring the door bell. Ask for help.

Reasons a motor won't work.
1. The motor winding is cooked and looks blackened. Terminal or unsafe.
2. Bearings are full of oxidized oil that is now sticky. Oil it. Try liquid wrench on the bearing and shaft, not in the oiling holes.
3. Brushes are oxidized and/or don't make contact.
4. Armature is very loose end-to-end, or is loose up and down. It needs new bronze sleeve or ball bearings.

CAUTION!!! If the motor is seized, pressing the foot control or plugging it directly into a wall outlet will send the current through the winding to infinity and that's not good. A stalled motor is a dead short, electrically. During any quick plug-in power test, a stall and buzz means disconnect NOW!
Heavy current will bake the motor winding brown or black. Copper color with shellac is fine but black is not good.

Stefan

Quilterman

The 401 is one of the best machines Singer ever made. Stick with it you can fix anything on it. Sounds like it is varnished
up. Remove the motor the soak everything with wd-40 and work things lose. You can test motor while removed.
Foot peddle won't lock things up.

leonf

I always test motorw with power strips with breankers and switches on them. Stay safe.