It is soooooooo good to see an Elna entry on this board. I have owned Elnas since my first one in 1959 or 60. I traded in a Morse that I had won in a contest while I was in college on an Elna Supermatic, tan, free-arm (the first one I had ever heard of) with the carrying case side that fit over the free-arm to make it a flat surface to sew on if you didn't like the free arm. The DD owns that one now and uses it for mending..... DH bought me a brand new one in a cabinet--an ex-DIL owns it now because in 1985 or so the DH went wild in Austin and bought me the complete works from a friend of ours who owned the Elna dealership--Elnita Lock serger, ironer, TOL Elna in a TOL cabinet that is to this day my very favorite sewing machine. Never seen the inside of a repair shop, but I am very conscious of cleaning, threading just right, using only the Elna bobbin s, all the right things to do to a sewing machine. It is still whisper quiet--the standard by which all my other machines have to live by--and mostly used ONLY BY ME. I have lots of other machines that I let friends and kin use; and am happy that they mostly prefer Singers because I have a lot of old black Singers.
My advice to the person who has recently acquired the Elna, when you load your bobbin, be sure the holes are up; and when you insert it into the bobbin holder, and pull the thread around, be sure to listen for that little "click" which tells you that it is correctly inserted.