BoJangles

Well, Rod wired in a regular Pfaff foot pedal to the knee control wire/plug. The sewing repair guy from A-1 was right. The motor was running all the time, doesn't shut off. So he was right about the right side being the speed control, and Candace was right that the right side is for the foot pedal. I talked to my sewing guy here and he said there is a bridge between both sides of the plug for the knee control - that is why the knee control works without the rest of the plug. The modern foot pedal is configured different enough that it won't work correctly without both sides of the cord plugged in. DH is going to have to re-wire the old knee control back on with a longer cord! I am holding my breath that it will work like it did before he took it apart and put on a different foot pedal!!!!

If all goes well, I will just order the cord Miriam first pointed out to me and let it go! This whole thing has given me a headache!

Nancy

BoJangles

Dan I don't think many here re-lacquer their machines, but we are very curious to see how you do it and how it turns out on your 201. We have a tute here on cleaning up the shellac on the old machines, but not putting on lacquer.

Nancy

BoJangles

Jenn, what a score for $5! Very nice looking little machine too!

Nancy

BoJangles

How fun, a joint effort! I want to see photos of those quilt blocks when done!

Nancy

BoJangles

Miriam, I totally agree with you - I think the knee control was bridged in just to make it go in a cabinet easier. You know how short that knee control cord is - I had to test it using hand pressure while it sat next to me on the counter! I hope now Rod can put that knee control back together with a longer cord; and, it runs without the wonky side of the plug!

I said this has given me a headache! Well it is a good headache as we all learn from these type situations - where something 'different' comes up! Pretty interesting, but baffling too!

Nancy

miriam

I had a Bernina with a stupid knee control - got rid of it - we never did figure out how something or other worked - we got frustrated with how ever it was set up - wish I could have put it up here for questions - we could have pooled our ignorance and maybe come up with something. At least yours works. I have another Bernina somewhere - I think it might be good for parts at this point - or a door stop - I can't even remember what its issues were. I do remember that the bobbin goes in the back of the machine - PITB. I seem to remember it made some nice stitches - maybe ok for sewing... I'm not real sold on those machines. Too hard to get info to work on them. I kind of get the idea they want to work on it and tell you to buy a new one because it might be cheaper than paying for repairs or something. Not my epoch. Someday when my shop is all cleaned up and I have nothing better to do I might dig the stupid thing out and see if I have learned a thing or two since I looked at it when ever - I lent it to somebody a few years ago and they gave it back... I don't blame them. They moved to Idaho. Sometimes I wonder if it is genius or stupid engineering on some of those machines - DH says there is a circle of intelligence 11 o'clock is genius and 1 o'clock is moron... some engineers seem to operate in the 12 o'clock area...

jpete523

Thank you, Charlee! I can see where that would work very well. Are you using hide or carpenter's glue? I appreciate you sharing your experience!
Jan

Candace

Well, Nancy, it looks like you'll get it working and that's all that counts. I suspect there was a misconnect to your sewing machine repair guy via email. I would think he just didn't understand the question or what exactly had been done to the wiring. I read a post or two on the vintage Pfaff group that a few others have discovered a Pfaff wired differently, like yours. So, the cabinet suppliers or someone else in the food chain adapted them for the cabinets they were in. Finding just a cord will be very expensive. It's probably more cost effective to buy another machine. Maybe the 360 etc. with the original cord and then share between the two. Just make sure the outlet/cord on the 360 is the same. Some aren't. So, not to enable you, but that's the route I'd go if I just had to have the original cord:>

Claudiak2

Thank you Candace. I was thinking maybe foot petal, but am new at these problems.
Claudia

chris_quilts

I am working on a 66 from 1947. I fixed the bobbin winder issue, cleaned it up, oiled it up and attempted to use it. Made sure the needle was in correctly and threaded right and attempted to sew. It would sew for roughly an inch and then the top thread broke. It did that like twice and the next time there was a thunk and the thread broke. I took it apart, checked the bobbin area, saw nothing out of the ordinary so put it back together again and tried to sew again. This time, there was a loud thunk, thread broke nd now it is stuck. Needle doesn't move, can turn the hand wheel with difficulty and the bobbin area doesn't move at all unless minutely counts for movement.
I am stuck and am in need of advice/help. Thanks in advance.
Chris