Does anyone have a "squeaky" Janome?
 

My Janome (Memory Craft 5700) has the most irritating squeak, that is almost constant when I'm doing fancy stitches, the ones that cause the tension arm to move. It gives me a headache and ruins my sewing experience.

We already checked the belts and they are like new. Hubby took them off and to the sewing machine store and the tech agreed they were fine.

We thought maybe it was the plastic cog that turns back and forth on the tension arm since the noise seems to originate from the top middle of the machine, he put more of the friction grease on there (the same as was on it orignally) and that did not fix it.

Does anyone have other ideas?

It is a 10 year old machine but was new in a sealed box when I bought it, and I've only been sewing sporadically for about 2 years, so I don't think any major part could be worn out yet.

I've searched online and youtube for info about the machine, and this issue, but it's slim pickings.

I've searched the Janome web site also, again, slim pickings. I wish I could at least find a breakdown of the interior of the machine.

Yep, my year old Janome has a squeak. Took it to the dealer for annual cleaning and mentioned it. They cleaned it and checked it out and it is still squeaking. Have an appointment to take in again next week. Hope we can fix our machines:)

Mine doesn't squeak but it does hum. After a while, it gets too annoying so I turn off the machine!

Does it get worse the longer you use it?

I returned my first 7700 because it had an annoying squeak. No questioned asked, I got a new one in the box. I was told that Janome guarantees satisfaction. There are times when I think my new machine squeaks in the same way. I could almost become obsessed with it, so I turn up the music and pretend I don't hear it. I can't pinpoint the origin of the noise.

Yes, I do not like it. I have no dealer, bought mine on ebay. The local store charges $160 for a tune-up. I think my DH can do better than that if we can just figure it out.

My Babylock Espire had a squeaky, humming noise towards the end of last year, finally took it to be serviced in June and mentioned it to them, and it did need oil! Glad I stopped using it for six months or else he said I would of needed a new part. So maybe yours need oil?

I think I would have to put earplugs in to continue sewing. Then I can't listen to Pandora!

My 9000 had a bad squeak. I had to take it back twice. They used a heavy duty lubricant and it stopped. But, I was warned it could be a sign of my needle bar going. So far, so good and the squeak is gone. But, yes, it was very irritating.

Do you know where they lubed it? Where is the needle bar? This squeak will drive me nuts, it's loud, and I'm worried if something could break. I'm hoping not to have to take it to a tech, can't really afford it. Funny, my hubby is an automotive tech, works on extremely complicated machines worth thousands -- he should be able to help. He probably can if he takes the time to do it. My machine will not run unless there is thread in it, and he doesn't sew. That is part of the issue. I have to be there to rethread it and "sew-check" it.

The no oil machines still need oil. There are on oil holes so it has to be open to oil the parts with a lube product made for the non metal parts. You need to find out where the squeak is, that part needs attention. Like when your car brakes start squeaking. Something is touching something.

Do you have a warranty left on your machine? If so, letting your husband play with the machine, will void it. The needlebar squeaking on my machine was inside the head where the needlebar met the shaft. But, that may not be your issue at all.

It does not have warranty. It's 10 yrs. old, but new out of the box for 2 yrs.

I have to find a schematic to see where the tech would oil it. The book says to never oil it.

The user manuals may tell the consumer not to oil it, but service manuals for technicians are different things. Typically, if the machine does need lubrication, it's in areas they don't want you opening up. That's why most manufacturers recommend yearly servicing as they don't want just anyone with a screwdriver opening the guts of the machine and possibly ruining the electronic components and voiding the warranty. If you have no warranty and you feel comfortable with your husband doing this, then he should probably be able to narrow down the squeak.

If my squeak ever came back, I'd probably try to fix it myself too as my machine is now over 13 years old and also has no warranty left for that kind of issue.

I won't be oiling mine!
 

My tech told me never to oil my machine as it gums it up. He told me the oil would do more damage then good.

My husband fixed my machine up like new! He opened it up and cleaned all the dust and lint out (there wasn't much since we had both done that before) and oiled everywhere there was an oil port with sewing machine oil (sewing machine oil does not gum up). He cleaned the old grease off the gears and put new lithium grease on them. He's an auto tech so I guess he knows what the gears and spots to oil look like without a schematic although we did look for one for a month before he messed around with it.

He found the squeak that was driving me nuts!! The big belt that goes up to the hand-wheel was too close to the wheel and it was rubbing on the back of it. He loosened the set screws on the lower shaft and pushed the pulley in a smidgen to adjust the shaft so the belt wouldn't rub at the top.

If you take the belts off to exchange them make sure to use a permanent marker to mark a line across the end of the shaft and pulley so you can align the marks when you put the belt back on. I didn't have to replace my belts, they are like new. Hubby wan't sure so he took them to the sewing tech to buy new ones. The tech said they were like new and didn't need to be replaced. So, back home, after a bit of adjusting to set the timing right DH marked the shafts. Now we're set for next time.

Remove the bobbin, put a tiny drop of machine oil or lubercent in small opening at the bottom of the bobbin case. My dealer did that for my 11000 that was making a noise.

My MC 6600 was squeaking too, I did the same thing as naosew, put a drop of oil on the wick in the bottom of the bobbin case and it stopped immediately.

Someone told me about oiling the wick below the bobbin before, and I did that. My squeak was coming from the top, I'm so happy he found it and fixed it!