Ms Grace

Are the motors supposed to feel very warm when sewing?
Almost hot...

Mickey2

I have a 201 and a 99 with much the same belt driven motor. I think the specs are the same as the Featherweight's, but the standard motor is a bit larger. Either of the motors never get more than slightly warm, never close to hot like the light bulb can become. I've sewn on machines that later turned out to have bone dry grease wicks and motor axle, they never generated much heat even with decades of neglected service. However they ran smoother when cleaned and greased. I'm sure owner of Featherweights will post more specific experiences on their machines. Hot weather is a factor when running a machine for long, but I sew for hours some times, often with a short brake when the bobbin needs to be wound.

Macybaby

Never noticed the motor getting hot - foot pedal, most definitely!

Mickey2

My foot pedal never gets hot, it's something to do with ajustments, ArchaicArcane has a blog post on it. I've been using my 201 today, not very long continuously, but there is not trace of heat at all in the motor.

Ms Grace

Wow!
now I'm concerned. Yep, foot pedal gets hot too.
after about 15 minutes or so, I noticed the motor is hot to the touch. I would say more than warm.
in fact, after I used it a few days ago, it took a good half hour for it to cool down.
I have lubricated the motor, and it's still the same issue.

Cari-in-Oly

Have you had it serviced? The motor could need to be serviced. And/or the belt might be a little too tight making the motor work harder. The motor shouldn't get hot. Sewing slow for long periods can make the controller get hot, it's the nature of how the older ones were built. If the controller isn't run flat out speed racer, the extra energy it isn't using turns to heat.

Cari

Mickey2

Today I have sewn for a bit over an hour continusously, with some starts and stops. The motor is hot, not burning hot, but when I put my hand on top of it, it's noticeable. I just had this odd thing regarding the light too, it's very hot. It's like something happened to the bulb, it suddenly started to shine swice as bright and equally hot. Maybe it's about to burn out? The pedal isn't even slighly warm.

DonnaMiller

You may like one of those new LED lights. They never get hot and give 4 times more light than the old bulbs. Sew-Classic.com has them and the solid state controllers that also don't heat like the old ones. Best money I ever spent.

Mickey2

Yes, I will get one of those LED bulbs. I now they can sometimes be a must for the featherweight, but for my 201 and 99 I have never had any problem before. I think there's something odd with this bulb in particular.

iadhikari

I'll keep an eye on the motor on the FW I'm using right now, and report back. I'm about to do some sewing. However, the motor on my 1951 gets a little warm when I've been using it for an hour or so. I do try to take breaks. I've switched to a 1938 machine and I'll let you know how it does.
In general, though, I don't think the motor should be hot.
Ila