Originally Posted by Candace
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!
Well, deep cleaning and oiling is what I'd do, but the machine does not belong to me. The gal that owns it said she has oiled and oiled the machine, but it sounds terrible - a sound that I would not be able to tolerate long - it would bug me too much. I just wanted to make sure there was no quirk with the 185 that makes that groaning sound.
Thank you for answering me.
Nancy