Vridar

Mrs. SewNSew, my opinion is you're motor will be fine. But, I wouldn't spray anything on the armature wires. They are coated with varnish, sometimes, shellac. Any solvent is not good. The grease on the wires is less a problem than dissolving the varnish. Electric spray is a solvent similar to all solvents but is very volatile meaning it evaporates very fast. So fast it is considered safe as an electrical solvent. It can be used on the commutator but like Joe says, 600 grit or finer emery cloth or sand paper is better. When the commutator, brushes, springs and caps are clean, the motor will be fine. Best of luck. Your 15-125 is very nice and sews as a 15 should, but looks prettier.

Mrs. SewNSew

Thank you Ron. At this point I am running a test. I have a pink White brand machine that had "gooey" wiring and the insulation inside the motor was breaking down. I initially tried to clean it with a Q-tip but eventually gave that up and figured it was a loss. I grabbed up that motor tonight as a test subject. I re-wired it, put a plug on it to test it worked and then unplugged and sprayed the insides with cleaner. I'll take a look in the morning and see how it looks and give a test run before I decide to use the cleaner on the Green 15. *Fingers crossed that the product is as good as it claims. It could possibly save the Pinky's motor.

Mrs. SewNSew

Pinky's motor was saved! I was happy with the electric motor cleaning product but also cleaned the commutator with an alcohol swab CAREFULLY.

I just detached the field core on my green 15 and TG it's not the worst case scenario! It looks pretty good inside, a little carbon dust, the wiring looks intact but dirty. Can I clean them up with rubbing alcohol or spray cleaner?

Mrs. SewNSew

Success with the motor. The wiring looked good and it's back together and running fine. I changed the plug end because the old one was broken, now I come to understand the old one was "modified".

Apparently those green terminals break often. This machine is missing the terminal and the terminal bracket. Instead it had a cord set from wall to foot controller with a dual socket that was screwed onto the machine in place of the bracket. The cord is just barely long enough to make the connection so he modified the plug. Now I am wondering what to do. Is his plug safe? Could I sand the edge smooth and use it? Can I even trade the plugs back without damaging tiny bits of the copper strands? Maybe I should just re-wire with white leaving a longer cord until I can locate green parts? Or maybe i could strip another machine and raid the bracket and terminal in black to keep using the green cord that is left and hope I find another green someday.

Or.. just thinking here..has anyone ever painted a terminal and bracket?

It sounds like we are both in the same boat!

amcatanzaro

That's the exact boat I'm in. I have a black 15-91 I could hijack the parts from with a new power cord I can share with my 201 but it's not the same!

I think the 185 has the same terminal color. I know there was a guy with a warehouse (something) full of machines for parts. I can't find him though. I'm trying to be patient!

Great job on your motor!

Mrs. SewNSew

Thank you! I agree with you. It's just not the same. Mine already has a lamp cord that's black so I guess if I decided to let go of the dream I would just re-wire in black.

I'm frustrated that the cord on mine is disastrously short but I think for now I am going to say yay! It's in decent shape and move on for awhile. I can put it back in it's plastic case and set the socket part next to the machine when I use it instead of re-attaching it. That will give me time to decide what I really want to do.

Yes the Singer 185 has the same exact color. I got one when I took in a bulk buy of machines. Maybe that needs to ride to the top of the list so I can see if it will live or become a donor lol! Still, the 185 isn't a potted motor. It doesn't have a terminal block to sacrifice. It has a back mounted motor and a bracket.

Christy

J Miller

If I had either of your machines I'd yank all that jury rigged wiring off of it and rewire it correctly.

Sew-Classic has the terminal block that attaches to the machine and the screw needed as well. They also have the correctly wired cord sets. All you need to correctly replace the wiring in these machines is on this page:
{ http://www.shop.sew-classic.com/Singer-Cords_c34.htm }

Mrs. SewNSew,

It looks to me like someone used a cord block set normally used on Japanese machines. This kind of jury rigging can work, but I don't like to use that kind of wiring.

Joe

Rodney

You can fix anything given enough time but finding the correct shade of wire anywhere but from another sewing machine will be difficult and there's a good chance the wire from the donor machine will be bad too. My gut feeling is it's going to take a while searching if you want an exact match. You may be better off just going with black.
Is this the terminal block you need?
http://shop.sew-classic.com/Terminal...-SCE192797.htm

Rodney

amcatanzaro

That is the terminal block yes. I already have a black one I could swap out. But I will probably hold out for a green one. That matters to me more than the cord. I think I'm going to go clear on the cord.

Mrs. SewNSew

Yes that is the terminal only the original was green to match the machine. I think Anastasia has the bracket on hers but mine also would need a bracket.