I have had my Janome 6600 for 7 years and it has been serviced once(only because I thought it died...needed two new fuses). The guy who did the maintenance on it said "Not to oil it, he had only put 1 drop on the wick. He also said, as long as we continue to clean out the bobbin area(even beneath the racer), that that was the only maintenance we should have to do, as they will check the oil needs when doing the service job. But like I said, 7 years later and 1 drop of oil. What a great machine!!!!