401 smoking? Help please.
 

Help! I just inherited my grandmother's 401. It has been sitting for probably 20 years or so. I oiled it last night with triflow, and greased the gears. This morning I plugged it in for the first time, and sewed a few straight lines. The stitch was beautiful, but I noticed a small amount of smoke rising up from the machine:( I took the top off, and watched it while sewing. The smoke seems to be rising up from middle hole of the cam stack. I didn't notice much of a smell.

I took the bottom cover off, removed the black metal guard, and looked at the wiring that was visible. It seems okay. The wiring that I could see at the top looks alright too.

I am scared to sew with it anymore, until I can get this figured out. Does anyone have any suggestions?

that happened with my Kenmore....I called Guy Baker to ask about a new motor, he reassured me that it was NOT going to catch fire, that if the motor was going to burn out it would simply smoke til the motor stopped working and said it was most likely dust that was burning out of the motor. Told me to keep sewing with it until the motor quit and refused to sell me a new one until it did. I did, it didn't take long for the smoke to quit, and I have a wonderful machine with a strong motor. :)
I'm guessing that if you're not seeing "melt" of any kind that you too, are burning off dust....especially if it's been sitting for 20 years!

Charlee, you always give such helpful and good information, this will help me with my old machines. Thank You!

Have you tried the patch? sorry couldn't help myself.
If it's an electrical problem that is causing the smoke there is a very distinct odor to electrical fire. I'd bet Charlee is right.

I would suspect that smoke coming up in that location may be associated with the light bulb.

CD in Oklahoma

As usual, I agree with Charlee. Have experienced this myself a few times.:shock:

Pat

I was wondering the same thing about my 401, which had also been sitting for years before I got it. I haven't tried running it for awhile, and this has encouraged me to try it again soon.

Charlee, I love you! You are always so helpful. I sewed it for a few more minutes after you posted, and the smoke started clearing in about a minute. It got less and less, and then just stopped. So that issue is gone.

But, now that I have had a chance to play with it more, I have discovered other problems. She skips stitches and does not sew the special stitches. Straight stitch does the best, with only a skipped stitch in maybe 25 stitches. Zig zag is awful with skips, and the decorative stitches just appear as zig zag.

Another thing, which I have never seen before with any machine, is the needle thread is continuously stripped. By that I mean that I will notice the thread going through the needle hole suddenly appears as a tiny thread, and further up the thread there will be thread bunched up. I hope I am explaining this right, I don't have the manual with me right now to say the official name of things.

I tried changing the needle, the thread, the fabric, the tension, and still the same problems. I also took out the bobbin holder (case?) and cleaned under it. I am confident that I replaced it correctly, but maybe I am wrong.

I had cleaned the cam stack and removed a bunch of crud, and also taken apart the tension unit before I discovered all these problems. I did notice on the tension unit that the little round circle with the finger thing sticking out was turned so that the finger was pointing towards the machine. In the 301 I have it points away from the machine, so I assumed it was on there wrong and turned it when I replaced it. Was I wrong?

I resisted having this machine serviced by a professional, but now I wonder if I am over my head with this. I want to learn how to fix my own machines, but I guess I need help and guidance right now :( My grandmother was a meticulous person in every way, so I know this machine was not abused. It was a one owner machine.

I'll put in my 2 bits worth.

I've had the thread strip and bunch up like you described. It only happened with new Coats thread. I thought it might be the needle so I changed that and didn't have that happen again until yesterday. Different machine, but Coats thread, a different spool of coats thread.
I'd suggest trying a different brand of thread, not just a different roll.

The bobbin carrier will only go in one way. So if it's in and not bound up, you're good to go.

When we got our 401A it was FILTHY. Inside and out.
The gears in the machine and the cam stack and it's mechanism were coated with what looked like chassis grease.
Heavy brown gungy stuff. I had to clean it and clean it and clean it and clean it some more. I poured I don't know how much oil in and around the all the moving parts to the cam controls. They just did not want to move. When they finally began to move they'd bind up at the least effort. But I kept working them.

According to the owners manual that you can download for free from Singer http://www.singerco.com/ you only use grease, lubricant as Singer calls it on the gears and only the gears. Everything else gets oil.

The little finger on the washer in the tensioner points outward if it's curved. If straight or curved it usually points upwards as it prevents the numbered washer from going past "0".

When I started sewing with it it would skip stitches in both straight and zig-zag. But since it hadn't been used in who knows how long I just kept working it. Pop the top off of it and oil everything again. Look at the chart under the trap door and put both knows into each and every position. Look for the fingers inside that actually ride on the cams. There is two of them. If they do not contact the cams oil 'em till they free up.

That machine has sat for a long time and do you really know how much your grandmother used the extra stitches?

Joe

janeite, you may want join the Vintage Singer group on Yahoo. There's lots of info there on slant machines. It's run by an "old sewing machine guy." Another good Yahoo group is the Slant Singer group.

Both groups have plenty of posts with all kinds of problems (and solutions) you can search. They both also have many files online with manuals and helpful suggestions.

Tate

Joe thanks for the comments.

I took apart the tension unit again, and turned the tension disks around. Both sides of them look the same, except for some small writing, but I figured what the heck, I'll change it anyway. The first time I put it back together I think I may not have had the spring correct, because when I looked at it a second time it didn't seem right. Anyway, I put it back together and now the straight stitch and the zig zag work without skipping. Plus, the thread doesn't bunch up anymore!

However the decorative stitches don't work like they should. The cam stack isn't sparkly clean, but I have cleaned the majority of the gunk off. It's definitely oiled up, but I will inspect the arms in each position and see if they are not engaging fully.

My grandmother definitely used the decorative stitches on the machine. My mother has told me about all of the beautiful things she used to make, so I know the machine was well used, and loved. My mom did tell me that my grandmother had the machine serviced by a guy who did a house visit, I imagine he was the one who put the washer in the tensioner in backwords. I don't think my grandmother is the kind of person who would have tried to service her own machine. It makes me wonder if he did anything else incorrectly. When she had it serviced the last time, she was getting older and didn't sew anymore, so if it wasn't working correctly she wouldn't have known.

Tate, I would love to be able to have access to all that knowledge, but for some reason yahoo groups and me do not mix well. I prefer a forum so much more. I have joined a few, but the same things always happen, I get tired off all the emails, make a folder for them and forget to check it, or am scared to post because there are always so many rules. Eventually I always get kicked out because I never post.

janeite,

Glad you got the tensioner squared away.

I got interupted in my previous response so forgot to put something in. Ours skipped stitches when we first started sewing with it too.
I did the same things as you did, cleaning and lubing everything. New needle, making sure it was in correctly. But what really got it going was to just use it.

We have accumulated 21 different cams for it so I sat down and using white thread and black felt squares we bought at the fabric store I sewed a strip with each setting on the stitch chart under the trap door. Then from there I went to the cams and sewed with each of them. Put in two needles and sewed with them.

At the end of this that machine had quit skipping and had quieted down tremendously. There are so many moving pieces in there that can gum up, sometimes you just gotta oil 'em and use 'em.

Joe

Joe, I have noticed too that a vintage machine will get better with constant use. It happened with my 301.

Could my cam stack need to be retimed? I sewed with the special stitches chosen, alternating letters and giving each one a good amount of time. Sometimes it does a slight pattern, never quite correct, but usually it just does a zig zag. I have a copy of the Singer repair manual for the slant needles, and it gives instructions for this.

janeite,

I doubt the cam stack is out of time. It would take major damage or a 3 year old grand son to mess it up that bad.
Here is a pic of the cam stack:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...01camstack.jpg
Notice the slots in the vertical shaft the arrow is pointing to. Each of these slots correspond to a cam. There are two of these shafts, one front and one rear. Each has a sliding part that is raised and lowered by the round nobs. At each position a lock tab snaps into a slot. If the locking tab does not snap into the slot the cam follower is not on the cam right.
These two areas must be free to move as the nobs are turned. Concentrate there.

Here is what my 401A did just yesterday:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...amplefeltL.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...amplefeltR.jpg
The far left is 7 rows of straight stitches reducing the stitch length one number at a time.

From there each pattern corresponds to the basic chart under the trap door. The zig-zag is BL with the red lever at 5 and the stitch length at about 15. As I moved through each pattern as indicated on the chart I gradually tightened up the stitch length to about 25 or so. That is in the "fine" area. But for that you need a satin or special presser foot.

From the straight stitch three patterns to the right of the bold one the patterns are the cams. For those the red lever was set at 3 and the stitch length was still at 25.

You'll notice if the pics are clear enough on your monitor that it skipped a few stitches at first. Also I can't sew a straight line very well.

I'd clean that cam stack and all the moving parts that work with it and make sure they all work properly and smoothly before you mess with the stack timing.

Just for my info, where did you find the manual for timing the stack?

Joe

The manual is for all slant needles, but has parts near the end for specific models. Here is a link to the manual:

http://www.parts.singerco.com/IPsvcManuals/306W25.pdf

Your stitches are beautiful. Last night I spent a good amount of time with the top off of the machine, watching the locking tabs and the cam followers. The locking tabs are in the slots, and the cam followers are moving with the ridges on the cams. Now the problem is that the pattern as it is sewn is stretched out . For example, when choosing BR or HL, I can see that the stitch is in a pattern following the shape of these, but the stitches are far apart, more similar to a zig zag then say a embroidery or satin type stitch. This is an improvement from before, but still not right.

Do you think it would help to use some kerosene to clean the cam stack further? And did you take your cam stack out to clean it, or did you clean it in the machine?

janeite, I left the cam stack in the machine. I used cotton swabs, a small screwdriver and rags and a small tooth brush to get most of the crud off of it. My owners manual didn't say to put grease on it, just oil down the center of it. So that's what I did. If yours is still gunked up then some kerosene on a tooth brush might finish cleaning the stack. I won't take anything apart on these machines unless there is just no other way. I'm not that good with them yet. To tighten up the fancy stitches you just need to run the stitch length lever, the vertical one on the right, up above 20. That will really tighten them up. Look at the 5th and 7th pattern past the straight stitches on the top pic. I tightened the stitches up as I sewed the lines. You can see where they got closer together as I sew it. Thanks for the link I'll download it and add it to my manuals. Joe

You can set Yahoo groups emails for no email and read it from the website, that way your inbox doesn't get clogged with too much mail.

The 401 I brought home a little over a week ago was not doing very well on the decorative stitches either. Everything was just a little sticky and gummy. I oiled it, and gave my dd (she's 7) a basket of scraps to play with. After she stitched and played around with the stitches for an hour or so - it does a pretty good zig-zag, it still misses a zig here or there though. I haven't had her doing anything but straight stitches since - maybe today I'll see what happens if I try the decoratives. I know at some point I'm going to have to get in there and really clean everything - but until it warms up enough to do it outside...

janeite, I agree with Joe Miller, from what I've read you can't get the cam stack "out of time." And that you may need to shorten, or tighten, your stitches to make them look right.

There is one other place to oil that I don't think has been mentioned and I wish I had a photo to show it to you, but I'll try to describe it. If you open the left-side door and look in at the needle bar, there is a round-ish thing to the right of the needle bar (as you look at it from the front of the machine). It's called the plunger and it goes in and out as the needle bar swings right and left when doing zigzag stitches. Oil it and see if that helps.

Tate

Well I have got my machine going! With use I think she will only get better. Tate I know exactly what part of the machine you are talking about, I oiled that a few days into my adventure with the machine and I see how it would be important to the special stitches since it moves the needle back and forth.

I feel kind of silly, since maybe this is obvious to everyone else: the decorative stitches work best when I put the stitch length selector in the fine area. They work when I go down to larger stitches, but the pattern usually shows up as zig zag in a stretched out way that follows the basic pattern shape. Is this typical of the machines, or something that will change with time and more use?

It is typical to have to put the stitch length in the Fine area. That is what pulls the stitches together to make the nice pronounced patterns. That's why I said to do it that way.
Every machine that we have that is capable of decorative patterns needs to have the stitch control in or near the FINE area to make the best stitches.

Joe

Charlene, I am working on a 221 that smokes, I took the motor apart, cleaned everything, put it together. It works,light goes on but it still smokes.

How long did you run your machine smoking?