Good news...it was an $8 capacitor that burned out. (I don't know if it would have caught fire or if the smoke was just a brief part of it burning out. I forgot to ask the repair guy.) Since they had the part in stock and were pretty much caught up with their repair work, I was able to take it home with me yesterday. What a blessing, since it's an hour away. Just had a good excuse to spend a couple of hours at a nearby Joanne's while I waited. It needed a cleaning anyway, (I was planning to take it in March). So for the price of a cleaning plus the $8 part, I feel like I have a new machine. He said that capacitor often burns out at about 25 yrs. and mine is 28 yrs. old. He also said that Bernina 930 is the best machine ever made. I love my little workhorse! She sews through anything I ask her to and never skips a stitch. :-)