Managed to ‘break’ another sewing machine :(
 

So my husband bought me a machine for Christmas - Brother FS100WT and I loved it. After 3 months the handwheel became so stiff it eventually stopped turning. Being under warranty Amazon immediately replaced it. I thought no more of it. Today the replacement has done exactly the same thing! Latest reviews of the machine show several complaints of it breaking after 3 months so it must be a bad batch. I will be contacting them tomorrow to see what can be done but what do you think would cause this and what can I do to stop it happening again? I have made sure that I kept it al clean and feee from lint etc and it rarely moves location (once for a class).

My thought is it’s a bad machine model. It happens with automobiles too. They get something wrong in the design and engineering.

It has sold in huge amounts and is listed on so many websites as top buy etc... It is only recently there seem to have been issues so I wonder if a part has changed manufacturer or something

They use a grease on the take-up, gears and shafts that's like wax, and it freezes-up. At the shop, we remove it with a solvent, sometimes we have to chisel it off with a screwdriver, and replace it with clear sewing machine oil or Tri-flow grease.

I could just be that the fault doesn't show up immediately. That happens with cars, too. My husband has one with a 90's Mustang 5.0 engine in it. There's a design flaw that only shows up after about 10 years of use. It happens with a lot of mechanical items.

Have you taken it to a repair shop to see what they say about it?

That’s interesting quilted sunshine. Can you stop the wax freezing up?

I haven’t taken it to a repair shop as it is still under warranty (only 3 months old) and I didn’t want to invalidate the warranty. I have spoken to Amazon who I really cannot fault. They are going to check that they have a different batch and will organise a replacement mid-week. Can’t really argue with that.

It is a great machine when it works...

I think I would ask to have the money applied to another brand or model. That kind of problem is inexcusable. I base that comment on the experience of 'quiltedsunshine'. I am impressed with the service you seem to be receiving from Amazon. Problems are more common when you take away face time from transactions.

Quilterpurpledog - they did offer a refund to be fair to them. However we bought the original on cyber Monday last year and got a significant discount so I would have to do some serious cash topping up which I would really rather not do at the moment as we are paying out for our kitchen to be redone. My mum bought hers in Feb (and it would have come from a different warehouse) and has had no problems at all.

When working it really is a great machine and ideal for me...

I think you are awesome "quiltedsunshine" for posting the fix for this machine!! Is this something owners can do for their selves or do you recommend a machine repair to do this?

If it's under warranty, have you contacted the company that holds the warranty?

Yes - Brother. Who have have been pretty useless so far. They have said that in the first 12 months of the warranty any issues go back to the retailer (it has a 3 year warranty). So let’s see!

How sad... sometimes it is better to purchase through a machine dealer... at least you have a person to go back to... Since that is their business they are usually very helpful when a machine needs to be repaired or replaced. I really hope that you get a great solution to your problem. Good luck!

My local Brother dealer did warranty work on a machine I bought from Amazon. They said as long as it's under Brother's warranty they will do the repair regardless of where it was purchased. Check the Brother dealer near you. They will probably make the repair since they also want your business for routine maintenance, etc.

Rob

Good to know. We don’t have as many dealers in the same way over here in the UK - we obviously do have some but I think that because quilting isn’t as big you don’t have a lot of choice. However a brand new machine is arriving today - so better than a repair. I am just going to have to stroke this one and be nice to it ����

Hope you get this resolved soon. How frustrating.

Well the new one is here, all set up and tested - so far so good! It will be around the 3 month mark I will be crossing my fingers!

good luck! I love vintage machines- esp the all metal Brothers and Kenmores. They just don't make them like they used to!