quilt938

well a friend turned down this deal but hooked me up so now I've added a singer 319w to the herd. it's nice but I'm having trouble with it. last night I managed to wind enough bobbin thread to try a straight stitch and it's nice - sews a nice straight stitch. unfortunately it doesnt have a zigzag foot with it so couldn't try anything else.

anyways, it's not acting right bobbin-winding. I disengage whatever that thing is called on the handwheel so the needle isn't supposed to turn - mine turns regardless. also the bobbin won't wind- I can see stuff moving but the thread quit going on the bobbin. I re-read that part of the book and thought maybe I didn't have that little notch snapped into the bobbin so figured I'd doublecheck tonight. tried again and decided maybe the tire needed replacing and yep it broke in pieces when I pulled it off..grabbed the ugly black tire from my 401 that was handy and struggled to get it on (saw an ebay auction that listed bobbin tire for 319 and in the longer description 401 was mentioned so figured they took the same one...) anyways got it on finally and struggled to pop that lever in place then the wheel wouldn't spin at all. just made a noise.

I read somewhere that when the handwheel is taken off it might have something backwards but not sure if I should mess with this or if maybe there's a simple solution I'm just not seeing? is there a different size bobbin tire I need to get?

also will a short shank zigzag work for this machine?

ThayerRags

Many of the newer black bobbin winder tires of number 15287A are a little larger than the original Singer tires 15287. When replacing an original Singer tire with an aftermarket tire, you sometimes need to adjust the bobbin winder to maintain the proper pressure on the hand wheel to allow free movement without slippage.

If the needle moves with the stop motion clutch disengaged, the contact area between the wheel and the shaft may need cleaned and lubed. Sometimes, a belt that is too tight can cause the same unwanted needle movement.

CD in Oklahoma

quilt938

thank you CD! I need to replace that belt as well- I noticed a piece sticking out - little bitty piece but figure that's a sing that I may as well replace it. I saw 'stretch belts' -shop put 2 on 2 other machines but haven't tried them out yet for sewing. wondering if one would work on this - seems a lot easier to get on! thanks for the info on the bobbin tire - would like to find a white one like it had since it looks better - though it looked sorta tannish colored but think it was probably white since the machine is the greenish color. the belt may be a little tight too- I dont recall it doing it at first - the first itme I tried winding the bobbin then the more I kept trying is when I noticed it started moving the needle slowly then it took off moving. seems like the books says the bobbin can be would while sewing so should've just been sewing at the same time but I need more bobbins

Rodney

I won't speak for everyone but I'm not a fan of stretch belts. I used one for a while and slow speed control suffered. My machine had an almost slingshot like effect. The belt would stretch a bit on startup then sort of snap forward. I don't have that problem with regular belts.
Rodney

quilt938

thanks Rodney- I just now saw the post. I ended up going to the local shop where I've bought several machines and ended up with a stretch belt - so far it seems to be doing ok - at least this has me sewing. it's not a tight fit- she said a too tight fit would harm the machine but this one seems to fit perfect. I may still get a regular belt if I find myself using the machine a lot.
but I got my bobbin wound and was doing some sewing including trying out the decorative stitches that are built in and one of the cams that came with it it's a fun machine and not so intimidating once I read the book and fiddled with it a bit. changing the bobbin tire didn't work but once I put on the new belt that sucker took off winding like crazy!
the onlly thing I'm noticing is slow stopping - I'm not used to the knee control so that may be the problem but I ease off and it keeps sewing for a few more stitches. I like the machine though- had thought to make my way around to some other machines tonight but hasn't happened yet

manicmike

Since discovering that the original types are still available I won't touch them either. As Rodney said, performance will suffer by using them.

J Miller

Stretch belts also put too much constant load on the motor bearings. And they do no last near as long as a real belt.

Joe