Originally Posted by irishrose
My 301 arrived 'serviced and ready to sew'. Uh, not with lint packed in the bobbin area and badly in need of oil. The seller had put a new cord and foot pedal on her, which was a plus. AnnieRose sewed a little noisily (remember I'm used to a Elna, so everything is noisy to me) and little sluggishly. Daily oiling and sewing for several days changed everything. She now is relatively quiet and the perfect speed with a very well balanced stitch - again not as perfect as the Elna, but I've never seen another machine that is.
At that price, I'd take a chance on it.
My 301 is still going "click click click" at the needle plate. I have taken the bobbin carrier out a couple of times to be sure it is in right, wiggled it around, still get the "click click". I'll try oiling it some more, and I do need to take out the whole bobbin assembly and clean it really well, because the tension keeps creeping tighter.