Originally Posted by
nw693
Had some free time to look into it today and figured it out. There was a hidden set screw on the needle position gear. Once you remove that, the knob pulls out. Then the bushing and the rest of the stitch length selector dial can be removed.
What causes the bushing to spin is from oil. The bushing is press fit into the housing and should not be lubricated but if it's oiled then oil will work its way in between the housing and bushing, causing the bushing to spin, which causes the white dot/square to move.
I've been reading that the fix is to drill into the housing and install a set screw to permanently hold the bushing in place. I didn't want metal shavings falling down inside near the motor so I just ended up using Red Loctite on the outside of the bushing which is just as good of a fix IMO. Just make sure to remove any oil residue on the bushing and housing with acetone or isopropyl alcohol before applying it. Once cured, it aint coming off unless you stick a torch to it. Make sure the notch at the end of the bushing is perfectly vertical before you press/tap it in because it bonds quickly. I messed up the first time and had to really crank on it with vice grips to remove it.
This was a fairly easy fix. I was expecting to take the entire machine apart based on the several people mentioning that this was a "huge job" but it took me maybe 30 minutes. And this fix will also work hook bushings that seizes onto the shaft and spins inside the housings.
nw693 I wanted to thank you for this post.
My machine is a 1222e and I had to remove the bell crank and cam stack housing to get to the screw (youtube). Once the housing was removed I took out the set screw and removed the knob. I then removed the portion of the dial with the white square (the portion of the dial moving when it should be stationary). It pulls toward you, just get something behind it. You can then access a snap ring or gently pry the bushing (rod) from the housing. Mine was fairly difficult to pull out but I did so by working a screwdriver around the back of the stitch selector and the body of the machine. It worked for me but idealy id remove the snap ring if doing it again. My bushing was plenty tight in the housing although it was spinning when turning the stitch selector but it was very difficult to turn. My problem was the bushing or rod was completely frozen in the round bushing of the stitch selector. I tapped it out from the back and the rod came out with the snap ring attached. I removed the snap ring. I cleaned the rod and gummed up bushing and reassembled with the selector and snap ring. Their is also a plus shaped spring that sits inside of the selector between the selector and the snap ring. I tapped the rod back into the housing, making sure to lift the little pawls that ride on the nylon section of the selector as one unit. I did use a little silicone spray on the portion of the rod that the selector sit on. I then used the knob to make sure the hole for the screw lined up for proper depth. Make sure to get the orientation correct so the dial with the white square is in the 12 oclock position as it is notched to fit the end of the rod. Install the dial with the square and then the knob and secure the screw.
Now it turns super smooth and the white dot stays where it is supposed to be.
I hope this post helps someone like nw693's post helped me. Not much good info out there on how to correct this. Everyone was saying to pay someone because it was too difficult or that it was now a parts machine. Nothing was broken or damaged in the machine and just needed to be disassembled, cleaned and reassembled. I didnt even have to use locktite or install a set screw on mine. I had more trouble removing and installing the bell crank and cam stack housing that fixing the stitch selector. Probably took me a bit over an hour for the whole thing taking my time.