sewbeadit

I think they use the excuse that the timing is off to get you to put your machine in for cleaning and repairs. Easy to do because most people don't know the difference. It is not that common to have a machine go off of timing. My dealer is expensive and they charged me 120.00 to clean and adjust my machine, I about died.

lalaland

I have gone to 3 different places in the last year for service on 2 sewing machines. I took the first machine to my favorite Sew Vac in CA, I took the second machine to a repair shop in AZ and to a Sew Vac type shop in WA. The average price was $90-100. So I think $179 is way too much.

It's really easy to check the timing yourself on a machine, I've done it a couple of times and both times there was nothing wrong. But it is kind of a pain to adjust it if it's off. Here's a visual tutorial. http://www.sewitworks.com/timing/

Check all the obvious stuff first. Most of the time it's something simple. The machine needs a good cleaning, oil in the bobbin race, a needle replaced, removal of thread that shredded, broke and jammed up inside the machine, bobbin tension needs to be adjusted.

Look at your spool of thread. If it doesn't look like it is wound smoothly on the bobbin, toss it. Pull the thread out about 8 inches. Is it relatively straight and smooth looking? That's good. Does it curl around and around and look really wavy? That's not good. It was not wound correctly and will wreck havoc with your machine. Toss it.

You say your top thread gets tight. Check your thread spool. If you use Coats and Clark thread, the new spools are nice because they don't have knicks in them like the old ones did BUT the new ones do have a raised area where the mold line was and your thread can get caught on it and cause a tight drag when you sew and wreck havoc. It won't generally throw a machine out of whack but it will affect your stitching. I check for these raised areas before I use the spool and smooth them out with a nail file. If you're using a spool that has a knick in it, make sure, when you put your spool on the machine, that the knick is on the bottom if you are using a top spool pin, or that the thread is mounted on a side spool with the knick facing away from the direction you are threading the machine.

Hope this helps.

eparys

That sounds high to me as well. I just brought in two of my machines here in New England for a tune up and The Pfaff cost me $89 and the Feather weight was $69 for complete tune ups and adjustments (including timing for the Pfaff)

ManiacQuilter2

Out here in So CA, the going rate for cleaning is around $100. That does around a little high but I find unless you know that a sewing machine/vacuum place is really honest, there are some who take advantage of you. Been there and had it done to me.

NIICHMOM

I have an old Singer (1970's) I needed an over-all job on it, when I decided to become a quilter. Had hubby take it up town to a elder gentleman who has been doing it forever... Will he did an overall while talking to hubby, When done he just said, cost was our conversation... And it has worked great since.

maminstl

General cleaning and maintenance about $85 or so here - more if they have to replace anything of course.

MarnieCat

Thank you all so much for sharing your expertise with me! I appreciate everyone's responses regarding the price and sharing your helpful tips with me! I will utilize them this weekend when I have some time to spend with my machine. This is a very helpful and knowledgable group!

sparkys_mom

I have one of those Walmart Brothers. I bought it for $179 almost six years ago. A month ago it started to go wacky. Too bad. I will just replace it with a new one. The technician where I take my Janome for service told me it wouldn't be worth the price to have him clean it and I agree.

quilterpurpledog

I noticed that an independent Bernina technician I have used has raised his price for 'tune-up' from $99 to $129. I have learned to be more careful about regular oiling of the hook race and cleaning out the bobbin area more frequently so I don't have to take it in to a major work-over as often. I still believe that it needs a professional work-over but I am spreading out the time because I only have a limited amount of money to spend. I have a hard time paying someone $129 for an hours work when my hourly income is a small fraction of that. I know he raised his prices because the Bernina dealership raised theirs to $169 for the same service. Of course, any parts are extra.

Lena1952

Wow, I only charge $50!! Guess I am underpaid:-) But then again, I don't do this for a living wage. We have no one with in a 2 hour drive (one way) and service machines for our quilt shop customer's convenience and my hobby. If it's making a stitch it's not a timing issue but to help rule out where the problem is: try using different colors on top and in bobbin. I wish machine manufacturers would stop telling people their machines don't need to be oiled. What they are trying to say if "YOu don't have to oil the machine". They want you to take it back to the store to be serviced. But they skipped that part of the message. Good luck!!