Has your machine's foot pedal ever worn out?
 

My sewing machine is a Kenmore from the mid 1980s. After many years of excellent service the original foot pedal wore out (I had rigged it to be a knee-operated pedal, and that may have hastened its demise). It didn't just quit, but the machine would run more and more slowly until it would probably have been faster to hand sew! I got a replacement pedal and the same thing happened within a couple of years. Replacement Number Two is now almost unuseable after a little over a year. Granted, I have been doing a lot of sewing....but this still seems ridiculous! The two replacements have been generic pedals, purchased through my sewing machine repair technician, and they worked beautifully at first.

Has this happened to anyone else? Any suggestions on what I can do so I am not buying replacements every year or so?

Alison

Sure have, in fact a couple of them. Both on my first Bernina. In fact I even wore out the machine. I had it for 40 years, but am using the same cabinet today.

Yep, had it happen on 3 of my machines, 2 regular machines and a serger...still using the serger but wore out both the other machines, good thing I had about 14 at the time...down to 10 now....oh poor,poor me...LOL!!!!!

I wore out the foot pedal of my Janome 6600. Now I'm using my Kenmore foot pedal on the Janome :)

This year, I replaced the foot pedal on my 1952 Featherweight. I use that machine constantly.

I haven't personally worn one out, but I have heard of them wearing out. It seems to be a fairly common occurrence, and I've read that the replacements usually wear out quicker. Perhaps that's because there's something wrong in the machine itself (electrical problem?) that's causing the foot controller problem.

Now that's an interesting idea! I was contemplating ordering a brand name replacement this time (much more expensive, of course) but I've been hesitating because this is really just a switch - we're not talking high tech stuff - so it seemed odd that a brand name would really make much difference...but if the fault is within the machine I would just be throwing good money after bad. Methinks it is time to talk to the technician!

Alison

Yes. I have really good older machines that parts are not available. The dealer has even said, "if you ever find a foot peddle, buy it."

My Janome 6600 foot pedal "died" after six and a half years - but consistent daily use so I don't consider that too bad.