Originally Posted by
QuilterMomma
Oh SewExtreme, that looks wild and crazy. Being a homegrown Montana, looks like something we would do to a machine not realizing it might be a bit less attractive. That is the RedNeck way ya know.
Ok, now for asking a question on an old machine I have. I received my grandmother's Singer 2404. It is not a vintage perse, but is from the 40s or 50s. I need to know what is wrong with it. It has a nice stitch, got that part figured out, but when you use it for a short duration of time, it starts to slow way down and does not have any speed to it. Not sure what is the problem. If you plug it into the light switch part, the machine zooms so i do nto think is sewing machine but is the foot pedal. How does one take it apart to fix it? or do I have to buy a new foot pedal and if so, how do I go about getting/finding one?
QM,
I don't know what a Singer 2404 looks like, but most of the foot controllers up until the 70s were carbon pile or resistance wire type controllers. The backs will either screw off, pop off, or slide off.
Most of them can be cleaned and adjusted. And all can be rewired if needed. There is said to be a tutorial on adjusting them somewhere. Several have mentioned it, but none put in a link to it. Or if they did I missed it.
Make sure the motor is lubed if it can be. And plugging it into the wall isn't much of a way to test it. The outlet will hit the motor with more juice than it normally gets through the controller.
Do you have another foot controller to try on it? That would be the easy way? I'd almost bet though that the machine has sat unused for a long while and the motor is gummed up. My local SMG said in those cases he takes the belt off and runs them wide open till they free up. He even says sometimes he hoses the brush area out with lighter fluid and runs it till dry. ( Caution that can ignite, keep back if you do this.)
Joe