I am going on 40 quilts now all machine quilted without servicing the machine.

I had my machine serviced after ten years. (May be that is a little bid to long to wait). :oops:

My manual says once a year, but it takes two weeks, so I haven't be able to part with "Emilee", so she has never been professionally serviced. I take her apart, clean her dust bunnies, lint, thread, and I always tell her how much I love her!

Once a year is usually the norm, but with the older vintage machines you can go a lifetime almost with out messing with a service if you oil it regularly. I do not recommend doing that but it has been done before. :lol:

Billy

My motto is "If is isn't broke, Don't fix it". I do try to have my embroidery machines serviced at least every two years though.

The manual tells me once a year, but I honestly only take it if I sense that it isn't operating quite correctly and I can't fix it. I am good about cleaning it out and oiling it.

I used to take mine in every year or so but they have messed it up so bad the last two times that it's been several years. I clean it thoroughly, have the tension set exactly as I want it and think I'll just be satisfied with that for now. My quilter isn't electronic so I keep it clean and oiled myself.

I took mine in after nine months and got it back the next day. (I arranged ahead of time to be able to do this - kinda like I got my baby an drs. appointment.) When I picked it up he showed me the lint and stuff they got out of areas that I could not reach in normal maintenance. He said that perhaps I should take it in every six months instead of nine. But, I use my baby just about every day and had already sewn and FMQ seven quilts on it before it went in.

When you quilt your quilt, either stitch in a ditch, FMQ or just plain straight lines, your needle is pulling the lint in from the quilt batting and that can build up inside your machine. That makes maintenance a more frequent necessity than if you were just sewing garments.

About every 1 to 2 years depending on how much sewing was done. I usually have it serviced in August or September, so it's ready for the busier sewing time during the winter months. I also clean and oil it between servicings and after each quilt that has been machine quilted.

Thank you Billy.

Usually once a year, even if it hasn't been used all that much. I worry about high humidity affecting moving parts.

I bought a new Viking sewing machine, & it has required more maintenance than any of the vintage Singers I own. The older Singers I own are 15-91, 221, 301, 401, 403, Touch n sew, Futura, Touchtronic 2000, & Touchtronic 2005. Other than the last 2 on my list, I service them myself. I watched the video "Those Fantastic Featherweights:The Complete How-to Video for Maintaining Your Featherweight 221 and 222" & the "Featherweight and I- illustrated repair and maintenance book"
By David R. McCallum. The video is 3.5 hours total. Once I saw this whole video, & understood all I needed to know about all of my old Singers. Everyone who has an older machine would benefit from it; much of it is general mechanical machine knowledge that a repair person would know. I treat my machines well now, but the first 20 years when I was young, I NEVER took them for service. I didn't know I needed to unless something was broken;) Back then, I also never changed a needle that wasn't broken LOL!

I have my dh clean & oil after every queensize quilt. In between I clean (brush out) bobbin area every time I change bobbin. I oil once or twice a week on visible easy to reach areas. My singers are 36 & 52 yrs young. DH unscrews all screws and gets inside to keep them clean & lubedricated. I live in the desert. My sewing machine doctor said machines dry up faster here then in more humid climates.

this is my fear. my machines tend to stay working well, so i don't take mine in that often. in 40 years, i've had two inexpensive dsm's. they have never been serviced. i did have to take my emb machine in for a new computer board, though.

I service my mechanical machines myself. Since about the only thing you can do with the computerized machines is keep the bobbin area clean, I do that faithfully after every project. I only take my machine in if I have a problem that I cannot solve. After 20 years I took my computerized Kenmore Elite in and the problem was I had worn out the plastic presser foot! I would have NEVER figured that one out on my own!!

A Kenmore bought in 1961 has not been serviced yet, A Janome that I jumped out of time was re-timed and my 5yr. old Bernina just last month dropped its hooker or something like that. They all work fine.

A Singer bought in the '80's...eh?

Tallulah, the Featherweight, seems to be fine. I just got her last year.

Serviced? I don't know about serviced?

My original viking from 1984 was only to shop twice. I think it is still going strong, my daughter now has it. My Viking Designer One has only been to shop twice since I got it maybe in 2000. I don't know about the newer models, I think they have changed manufacturing location. I keep my machines dusted with the air spray, but that's it. They don't use oil.