haylillan

i found a 401a after searching for 6 mths for one they said it had been tested and i believed them so i cleaned it up and oiled it good well it runs like a turtle makes a beautiful stitch after about 3min it started smoking which believe was the motor heating up good now my questions are #1 why would it run so slow there was a lot of oil on the inside no drip pan #2 would a motor from t and s 700 series work in a 401a and #3 where could i get instructions for putting it in 401a, i have 2 touch and sews thanks for any info you might have

foufymaus

I would check the belt tension on the motor pulley and the hand wheel. If it's too tight then it could slow the machine down and wear the motor. I noticed a difference when i was adjusting it for my Kenmore's. Once i had it too tight and the motor was having issues. Once i loosened it it worked better. So if you could adjust the tension of the belt, let it loose enough to where you can pinch down about a pinky finger's width then set it, that could help.

Mdaniels

There are many good threads on the 401 here, I received much good advice that got mine running from our members. Tri-flow worked wonders on my machine which ran exactly like a turtle. I put it on the feed dogs as well and that made a huge difference. Good luck, and give a search a go while you wait for some additional replies.

haylillan

i couldnt find a belt on 401a

tate_elliott

There is no belt on these, the motor's inside. If you turn the wheel by hand, does it feel tight? There may be somewhere that still needs oiling. Did you grease the gears underneath? If it turns by hand easily, it could be the motor or the foot controller. The best place to go for more info is a Yahoo group called Singer Slants.

http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/s...antsewing/info

If you didn't get a manual, they have one for downloading. You can search through their posts and find all kinds of info for getting your machine running. I have a 500 and some of the info is overwhelming, at first. But everyone there is patient and most of them started right where you are now.

You've got a great machine, you'll just have to give it a little loving care to get it where you want it.

Tate

miriam

First you will need to clean up excess oil and all dried up oil. Who knows what someone used on it - they probably sprayed it down with WD40 or something to get it unstuck and then sold it as a serviced machine. Just because it moves doesn't mean it has been serviced or that it works. It will need careful cleaning then re-oiling. I recommend Tri-Flow. Someone may have oiled the motor - that oil should burn off. The motor may run slow if there is dried up oil elsewhere. Try running the motor like you stole it - set like for bobbin winder and run and run - maybe it will quit smoking once the oil is burned off it. When you run it with no load is it still slow? If it is still slow it is the motor. If it zips along you have dried up oil somewhere. You can clean the motor and put in new brushes. There is no motor pulley. You may or may not be able to swap a T&S motor. All you can do is try - see if the bobbin winder works. If the bobbin winder doesn't work you may have to use a side winder. You may want to read everything you can on QB about those machines - there is a service manual link here somewhere - I could give it to you but I think it would serve you better if you search here.

J Miller

ester,

To review:
>The 401 does not use belts. The motor uses a direct gear drive to run the machine. This motor does not have oil holes and is not normally oiled. If the top bearing howls you can put a couple drops of 30 wt motor oil down on top of the bearing and it will soften the grease in the bearing and stop the howl.
If it smokes it is probably dirty or contaminated by excess oil poured down on the gears. The gears require grease, not oil.
>The 401 is an oil hog. Many, many, many places to oil and some to grease. Because of this they tend to gum up if they haven't been used in a long time, or someone used the wrong oil as Miriam said.
>The 401 runs better when it's clean under the hood and properly lubricated. The difference between dirty and covered with old oil and clean and properly lubed is astounding.
>The 401 has certain places that if the old oil gums up it will bring the cam selection, or the ZZ to a screeching halt.
>The 401 is not a machine for someone afraid to service their own machines.
>The 401 is not a machine suitable for a novice sewist.
>The 401 is a PITA to learn if you don't have the owners manual. It's the first thing a person new to the 401 needs to get.
>The 401 has been covered from top to bottom in many threads here as Miriam has said.
>The 401 really loves TRI-FLOW oil and grease. I strongly urge you to get some of each. I never believed in specialty oils until I tried the TRI-FLOW products. I am a believer now.

>The same things can be said about the 500 and some other Singer machines.

Joe

Macybaby

Also - the top bearing can be purchased online - we had one that howled horribly, and even after being cleaned and soaked in oil, it was still bad. So DH has one on order from Sew Classic, I think it was under $5. This is off a machine that we know had been "serviced" and then given to the DIL and DIL never used it, so it sat and everything hardened up over the next 10 years.

Not sure what the service guy used, but the machine has been one of the worst to clean as the grease/oil hardened up really bad.

BTW - my husband considers the 401 to be Singer's Ultimate design.

haylillan

i've worked in manufacturing building box fans from start 2 finish and i think i could still build a fan but these motors are set in machine i know about bushing and brushes and cant understand how a motor build over 50 yrs ago would still have grease or oil around the bushing we built motors that never had to bo oiled but then they were throw away fans
also ive been sewing for 57 yrs so i guess what i need to know do i leave the motor shaft in the machine and just take motor loose. i ve cleaned it up some and used t f and greased all gears i also have a manual .Miriam machine runs slow w/wo fabric,bobbin winder works ,where is top bearing ? fans and vita mix blenders we built only had one bearing or bushing , i got this @ thrift very cheap and i believe i can fix it im going to!and make it work

Macybaby

I'm pretty sure the shaft stays with the motor. The bearing rides on the shaft.

So far, just about every machine DH has dealt with has needed to have hardened grease/oil softened and cleaned out of there. Even in the older singer manuals, they state that a machine that has sat for a while will need to have the hardened oil softened and cleaned up before use.

Most of the problem with things not working is due to the hardened grease getting in the way. So that is why a lot of tri-flow works - it dissolves the old grease, but it make take many applications before it's all cleaned. That is also normal with sewing machines - if something is still sticking, assume you didn't get all the old gunk cleaned out yet.

This is really a problem with the 6000 series Viking machines. They were built with a "never lube" grease/oil and it only lasted about 25-30 years, and that it turns into a really hard, glue like substance. And since they not all metal, gears and knobs get broke as someone tries to force them to move when they are stuck.

Compared to them, the 401 is a walk in the park to work on. It may be more complicated than something like a 15 or 66, but by far it's not a hard machine to work on.