Mrs. SewNSew

Zigs were not zagging, needle position was frozen, the motor had thread wrapped around the pulley, the cam shaft gear is cracked and the lever on the right up top wasn't clicking into place.

It's been cleaned up and oiled and now the fun begins! I have been using penetrant and heat to work on some problem areas. The upper lever is now clicking into place. I now have the zig-zagging. The needle position dial is frozen in the center still and I have questions about that. The knob wants to move the jagged piece back and forth but there is a tiny silver nub that is stopping that from happening. When I look into the little slot in the metal that houses that nub, I think I see a spring. So my thought is that the nub is supposed to ride in and out of the slot allowing the ragged piece to move. Can anyone confirm that?

The other question is..I have accessed the motor hoping to check the brushes and clean it up but haven't found my way in. Do you think I take these tiny copper leads off and remove the gold colored pieces? The brush cases are in there. Or should this thing pull apart if I add some muscle?

J Miller

I would say yes to the detent plunger moving in and out to follow the notches.

That is a neat looking motor. Never touched one, I'd do it proceeding with caution. I have no idea how it comes apart. Candace has done a bunch of Berninas, she'd probably know.
It's super clean though, don't usually see them like that.

Tri-Flow oil will, patience, and time will be the trick on this one.

Joe

Cecilia S.

Mrs Sew and Sew, That is CLEAN and BEAUTIFUL!!!!

The motor looks so pristine, I doubt there is so much as a speck of carbon missing from the brushes.

Auntie Candace is the Bernina Momma. She will know the answers to your questions.

I am so impressed with your patience and go-to-it-ness! You just started collecting such a short time ago and you have really dived in head first. You are an inspiration to me.

You will not be wanting to re-home that 730, by the way :-)

Mrs. SewNSew

I am amazed that things look so clean. I do tend to clean as I go, so the machine can't take all the credit lol! I've decided to take the base completely off today. It looks like it had a foam pad inside on the bottom and it has dried to a crumbly gross mess. I dropped a q-tip through the top and when I was finally able to retrieve it, it pulled out with brown gunky crumbles and spider legs attached. Ewww. I'm pretty sure this machine was stored in the barn for awhile.

I wonder if I can replace the old foam with a felt like on my 301? I guess we'll just have to see when I get there.

Candace

I've never had to replace the foam. If you felt inclined you could probably use felt. The spring inside the silver plunger often becomes clogged with dried goop. You can use Triflow and a hair dryer to get it moving. The motor is not fun to disassemble, just take photos as you go. And replacing the gear is not for faint of heart. Most Berninas I've ever worked on look just like the photos-very clean. Do not put any grease on the nylon gears. They didn't use grease on them at the factory and they shouldn't be greased now.

Mrs. SewNSew

The silver plunger is really stuck. I am using PB Blaster and a hairdryer and a little tapping several times I day with my fingers crossed.

Candace, do you have any info on how to go about taking the motor apart? The manual says to replace the brushes if need be but even that doesn't give a clue as to how to do it.

The gear should come early next week. I am planning on diving in. No faintness of heart here!

J Miller

Christy,

I know this has nothing to do with your motor, but I have a theory on motors. I hope you don't mind me saying it.

If they:
>Are clean
>have good wiring
>run good and strong

I leave 'em alone.

Considering how that motor looks, I wouldn't take it apart until after the gear was replaced and I'd test run the machine.

That's just me I guess.

Joe

ceblakeney

Mrs. SewNSew, I am having a very similar problem, except for my mechanism is stuck in the rightmost notch, in zig-zag. I can move the needle with the stitch width selector but not the needle position selector. It looks like it is trying to work the notched bar when I look inside of the machine, but it just turns until it gets really tight (that is where I can see it nudging the notched bar), and then breaks free to turn again. I have been oiling everything and will try the hairdryer in a little bit, but I am afraid the stitch width selector and the needle position selector are out of sync, if that's possible.

Mrs. SewNSew

I am not sure if I am following you 100%, but it sounds lie you have the same problem which is the frozen detent that rests against that notched bar. I am going to use penetrant and heat daily and hope it eventually budges but so far..nothing.

Joe, in most of my machines I prefer to clean them up a bit to know they are running at peak performance and I am weird that way. I find they smell less like old trains when the old carbon dust is cleaned out and I like a clean commutator. In this case I am likely to do as you say and not go poking around where it's not really needed.

Candace

Not just you Joe, me too.