I have a wonderful 70's era Bernina that has never given me any trouble, but I'm worried today. I whipped through a lap quilt that I need for a gift for a birthday party tonight, and I'm FMQing it with a quick vengeance. But my foot pedal has overheated so badly it's burning the bottom of my foot! I know I need to take some breaks to let it cool down, but I have a deadline goshdarnit!

Does anybody have any input on this?

I would call a dealer and ask if they have ever seen this happen.

There might be some loose wires in it.

Wow, I would have that checked out. Mine never heats up that much.

I've seen foot pedals for sale on the Yahoo group SewItsForSale and on eBay. That won't help your deadline,but might help you in the future.

My featherweight foot pedal did that once. it really scared me.

Mine do that when in constant use. Wear shoes or slippers. It has something to do with how they are constructed, allowing the electricity to flow thru at different rates to make different speeds.

my 1970 penncrest machine did that about 15 years ago so i had the peddle replaced. about a year ago it started to happen again. it would get burning hot and smelled like smoke. i haven't used it for fear of a fire, my cousins house burned to the ground from a faulty expension cord and my cousins 10 yo son perished. i won't play around with hot anything involving wires.

I would get this checked. Could cause a fire. Something isn't right

Mine was doing that one day ... I got down there and checked it ... it had slid over a little and was barely wedged under something that was sticking out of a box and was staying pressed "just a smidge" but enough to keep it "on" ... I moved it and all is fine. Actually I soon rearranged the whole room! LOL :lol: :lol: