J Miller

I do not oil the top tensions on my machines. The oil can gum up the works in short order. However I have only one 3/4 size case and two Singer 99Ks to share it. Rusty the hand crank, and Godiva the naked Singer I refurbed and put back to life.

I haven't used Rusty in a while so I put Godiva back in the case and got her all set up to use. As I was threading the machine I noticed the top tension was wet with oil. Hmmmmm ?????? says I.
I don't want to take it apart since I have too many things going on right now, so I'm gonna clean it with break cleaner today. (( I'll wrap up the rest of the machine first though. ))

The only thing I can come up with is the oil from the needle bar area seeps into the tension from the inside.
Since I do not oil the tension, that's all I can come up with.


What are your thoughts on this?

Joe

Tartan

I oil everything else on my old treadle but the tension discs. Your explanation about the oils traveling is probably correct. Wipe all the areas oiled with a soft rag and then clean the tension discs.

miriam

oil has a way of going its own path. That's why I pull a tension apart and clean it thoroughly. It eliminates a lot of problems and doesn't take all that long.

ArchaicArcane

besides, it's amazing how much crap can collect in the tensioners with all that oil helping out that pulling a pin or dental floss through -doesn't- get.

I almost didn't clean this one because the pin kept coming out clean:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]470922[/ATTACH]

miriam

Tammi, I'm getting old or something - I quit assuming...

ArchaicArcane

You know it's funny, up until that machine I'd always taken them all apart, but I think I was feeling lazy that day and was going to make an exception...