Originally Posted by Candace
Originally Posted by BoJangles
Originally Posted by Candace
I got this last week:> It's a 185K. I've cleaned it up, it needed it. and it looks all nice and shiny. This is the photo taken at the sellers place, but I jumped on it when I saw it listed on CL. It looks better now, but I don't have a new photo. I sewed all day on it last week and it does a nice straight stitch. Another fun one to play with. It came with the carrying case that needed a good cleaning too, but it works perfect.
Candace how does the 185K sound when you sew on it? Is it loud, groany sounding? There is a gal that comes to our Girl's Night Out with a 185K that sounds terrible, but sews really nice. By the way, really nice machine. I love the way those 185's look!
Nancy
Nancy, no my 185K machine doesn't make any groaning. It sounds like your friend's machine needs to be cleaned and oiled. Or maybe the belt is going bad. I cleaned and oiled mine and no noises that strike me as odd, or loud. My recent 301A acquisition(not yet posted a photo), had this exact groaning problem. It took me a while but I oiled and greased it then oiled and greased it some more and the groaning went away. So, to me, in any vintage model it sounds like the groaning is the machine's way of telling the owner it's very 'thirsty'. Hope this helps!
I had the same thing with my 301a when I got it....it was groaning and clanking away!! As soon as I oiled and oiled and oiled, then let it sit for a day, then ran it, all the strange moanings and clankings were gone.