How to tell if Singer 15-91 needs to be rewired?
 

I have a singer 15-91 that I wanted to try and clean up to use as an alternate machine. I'm trying to decide if the wiring really does look okay, or if it's just wishful thinking, and I was hoping someone might have advice for me. It seems to be very flexible and is not cracked at all. I unscrewed the terminal, but I didn't know how to get at the motor. I'll put up some pictures as well (not very good ones, I'm afraid), but if anyone wouldn't mind giving me any tips or opinions I'd be very grateful.

It -looks- good to me... if I didn't know any better, I'd say someone already redid the wiring at some point. The type of shielding that's on the wires looks different than I usually see on the older machines. Do you know the history of the machine at all? Is there writing on the wires?

You see how the two wires have molded covering that looks like two wires glued together? Usually, the old machines have a "tube" of sorts to put the wires through, sort of like shrink tubing, but rubbery.

You mention that nothing feels crackly, and there's nothing missing, Does the wire shielding have any "gooey" spots? That's the other reason that the wiring needs to be replaced. It comes from oil getting on it and digesting it.

If you look here:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...r-t205360.html

and then follow to the link that Joe gives there to Rain's site, you'll see some examples of bad wiring. Joe's is (was) the worst I've seen yet.

That said, please don't just take my word for it. If you're concerned, take it to someone who would have a good idea. This could even be someone you know who's handy with electrical stuff, a handyman even. They should know what the wires should feel like.

From your photos I've got to agree with Tammi. It's been rewired. The wiring looks good to me, but then I can't touch, feel and see it either.

One tell tale test is to plug it in and run the back of your hand across some of the shiny plated parts. If you get a buzz, have it checked out. If not I would give it a try.

Joe

I bend and examinine all the seperate wires (motor, light, controller, and power) and look for cracking when unplugged besides obvious exposed wiring. I'll second that your wiring has been replaced at some time.

Jon

Thank you everyone! I took another look this evening and the the wiring really is in excellent shape. No gooeyness, no cracking. It looks like at some point the previous owner replaced the plain needle plate with a marked one, perhaps they had the machine rewired at the same time. I just expected the machine to be in horrid shape because the cabinet is really rough, but I guess I lucked out. Thank you all very much for your help!

Maybe it's like with cars. Some people have great looking cars that run like garbage, and some have "garbage" looking cars, but they're reliable as can be.

If I had to pick one or the other for a machine I wasn't going to do a lot of restoration work on, I'll take a rough looking cabinet or machine that's safe and runs well any day vs the other way around!

Enjoy! That's one of the best machines Singer ever made, which is why it's often copied, and Singer made it for more than 100 years.