Wanabee Quiltin

I would clean it thoroughly. I have a newer Bernina and I have found out that Berninas don't like any dirt at all. Take the bobbin and the hook out, clean and oil. Maybe you have already done that, if so, then I have no idea what to do.

Traditional

Try cleaning brush lint out the feed dogs,oil, new needle take thread all the way out and re-thread.make sure you reset all settings to factory settings.
Give the previous owner a call. She may be able to help you.
Good luck.

jaciqltznok

yep this just happened to a friend at our retreat..she was so embarrassed...her BErnina all new and fancy..would not feed...she had just finished a flannel quilt and did not do any cleaning under there...what a mess....worked fine after a de-furring!

jaciqltznok

q-tips are not any better, you need a pipe cleaner or tiny stiff bristled paint brush

AliceQ

A good, thin, CLEAN mascara brush works well too. It has a handle! I need handles! LOL

SunlitenSmiles

also a soft watercolor brushbecause it pulls out lint like a magnet. i use it between quilting runs and the pipecleaner and stiff(oil painting) brush between bobbins and at the end of project......it really wears on a machine to have to fight lint... and my Bernina 1630 is a diva

my 301A has a square hole under the bobbin and drops the lint on the floor as it sews (cracks me up when i think about the design process there) You can quess where ihave a tiny trash can !!!

carolstickelmaier

I have a viking 870 with the same problem...Feed dogs would go up and down but not back and forth..If I turned off machine for a few min. it would work again until finally it worked only a few min., ea time. The repairman said it was probably the feed dog motor. Who knew there was a seperate motor for that. Later on I heard another sewer had the same problem...They still have my machine so don't know what they have done to fix..will have to wait and see. The store where I bought the machine gave me a new machine to use until mine is fixed. How wonderful is that!

EmilieLaFave

I see someone has told you already how you have to clean out the lint. This is usually the problem when my sewing machine starts to
"act up". Everyone should unscrew all the little screws, etc and remove the face plate, and take out what will come out, bobbin,
etc. and use a cleaning brush, which is long and can reach even
under things, and clean out all the lint, maybe about every two or three weeks. Well, if you're using a material that sheds a lot, even more often. Like fleece.

TheSevenYearStitch

Feed dogs are clean as a whistle. All the settings are where they ought to be. I took the bobbin case out and cleaned it all out. :( I think poor Matilda is going to have to go to the sewing machine doctor.

seweasy

Rebecca, sorry that your poor Matilda has to go to the doctor! Did the previous owner say whether the machine had sat unused for a while, sometimes if a machine hasn't been used in a while; it will work fine for a period of time then it just stopped. May need a tune up, just like us when we sit in one spot too long; its real hard to get going again!!!
Carol, hope your machine doesn't need the motor. Mine was still under warranty so I wasn't too concerned about repair cost. The biggest problem was the dealer would have had to order a new feeddog motor, luckily it was just lint!
I know I took off the bobbin cover and throat plate, checked out the bobbin area for any dust bunnies but never thought of lint collecting in the feeddogs and like the dealer said I would have had to turn the machine around to find the buildup; and she don't find it till one of her workers walked up to the machine at its backside and pointed out the collection of lint. She had never seen lint collect there and told me she had learned something new.
Just glad to get my machine home and working again. I sew too much to have my main machine in the shop. Have a traveling machine but its not the workhorse like the Emerald is.