http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-142428-1.htm#3856739

I have found this to work beautiful on my old singers with no speed conrtol other then my "lead foot".
It is great for so many reasons..

I wonder if this might work for those wanting slower speed for children learning to quilt? Sounds perfect to me.

This may not be "good" for your machine. I ruined a radio or two using an outlet that had a high/low setting. The electronics store said it destroyed the radio. I don't know how but I would be cautious with this. maybe email the manufacturer and ask if this would damage your machine.

I don't understand the mechanics as to why it happened. I just would hate to have you damage your machine. I honestly don't know if it would or not

I bought a special cord at my local Sew & Vac [LQS and more] that has a foot pedal for speed variation. I plug my LA bobbin winder by Alphasew into this cord and then plug this special cord into my surge protector. I can now adjust for speed when winding my bobbins. I love it. Especially since the newer LA [and other] bobbin winders with built in speed control are so expensive.

Not sure how this would work with sewing machines ... but??? It didn't cost all t hat much as it is great for this use.

ali

We had the same issue with a ceiling fan. Previous owner put a dimmer switch at the fan switch on the wall. It ruined the motor in the fan. Didn't happen right away, so I'd definitely do a little research before I hooked it up to my machine.

That was my immediate thought when I read the post!

My techie guys at work here (they fix machinery inluding electronics) say not to do it on a sewing machine.

this is not being used on the new machines.. i am using this on an old singer with no speed control other then foot power.. and i am not using it all the time.. i am using it for fmq control and letting the kids learn to sew.
when talking to our electrician they said they see no harm whats so ever..
i am simply sharing something that we did..

dimmers should not be used on ceiling fans.. because they are variable speeds..
my old singer is one speed.. low to high in 1 sec..lol.
this just helps to regulate the speed to make it more manageable...

Good Morning,
I contacted my LQS sewing machine repairman, whom in turn contacted the school where they instruct in sewing machines. The following is the instructors response...

"You are right! She can add the dimmer to any non-electronic machine and it will work just fine. I would recommend using plugs to the foot control cord only that way the light is not affected. As it says in the post, on older machines with a carbon foot control, the foot control is the equivalent of a dimmer.
this was posted by another board member.. not me... but hope it helps..
You may want to check her Janome foot control to be sure it is working well and offers a full range of speed from starting to full (quite often the carbon will wear and the machine will jump to full speed from half speed)

Hope this helps,"