i just got a call from my service man to tell me the "mother board' hs gone out on my brother pc6000 pacesetter.$400.00 for parts,etc.even tho it's only been used less than 2 yrs,it s still 12 yrs old,so hate to put that much money into it & still have a 12 yr old machine.hERE'S WHERE I NEED YOUR opinion...i can trade it up to a new one,but am sure i'll have to go WAY up.i have a brand new janome2010 that i LOVE for piecing,etc but would love to have a larger throat for quilting.also would like to have an embroidrey machione,but can't affod $1000 or more any suggestions ?i've been leaning toward viking or pfaff ,but don't want to jump into something i'll regret.even refurbwoud be fine .since i have a sewing machine i'm happy with [except for a longer throat] i'm really leaning toward an embroidery/only machine, HELP<HELP

You are not the first person to have their mother board go out. A friend had hers redone and it went out again. don't remember the machine but I don't think it was a Brother.

The new Janome Horizon has a great throat size, but I don't think it does emobroidery.

I'm glad you're not going to have yours fixed, because who knows what else might happen with an machine of that age.

I suggest plugging the machines into a power strip with SURGE SUPRESSION. these strips may cost a bit more but if the power is wonky in the house, or there's a lightning strike, it can save your electronics. Also, unplug the machine when not in use.

Interesting, isn't it, that there's very little debate about fixing an electronic, relatively new machine?! But, when it comes to old machines like the Featherweights and Treadles, there's no question - get it fixed, if you can! Makes one think, doesn't it?!

Although I admire the early engineering in old sewing machines I don't particularly want to own one so I understand your computerized sewing machine delimma. This isn't a mechanical vs. computerized issue. It is basically what is the most efficient, cost effective way to achieve your sewing wishes.

I think your decision comes down to several factors: is the replacement motherboard refurbished or new, is the motherboard the only electronic part (if so replacement might be acceptable), how much is the machine worth in working condition, how much would it cost to repair, how much a new machine costs... The engineer comes out in me when it comes down to things like this. I know this is a huge decision for most of us. I like to get the most versatility out of any machine I own.

Did your machine go down because of age or was it caused by something insurance covered? If it was something like a power surge or lightning your homeowners policy might cover it (mine does).

By the way, I love my Pfaff and think it is great. If you get something that emboiders make sure the software is still supported and is compatible with the newer computer operating systems (O/S) like Vista and Windows 7. A lot of places are selling machines very cheaply right now because the new O/S have made the software for those machines obsolete and you can't run it on computers with updated software. It is an easy trap and some dealers won't talk about it unless you pin them down.

A new motherboard will give you a 'new machine' which will last quite a few more years. I don't think sewing machines are quite like computers where cpu and other chips etc can fail but my daughter needed two replaced in her Janome 11000 within 2 months this year - shop owner said it was caused by "condensation from her evaporative air conditioning and not covered by warranty for second replacement - Fortunately for her, it was covered and she seems quite happy with it now.

Weigh up cost of total replacement with new machine - embroidery machines are fun - Brother do a Disney version of my Innovis 4000D and I like the quality of stitching.

Sorry, that was meant to be a 'smaller' version of my 4000D

the mother board went out on my long arm last year...boy did that cause some stress! especially since i was about 1/2 way through quilting a customer quilt...i called the company told them what happened...they told me what they believed the problem was...and had a 'reconditioned' mother board for $100 sent it to me in michigan from utah...i had it in about 4 days...
could you possibly get a refurbished one for your machine? or do you really just want a new machine? I have a viking designer one, and love it...

If you replace the motherboard, would the new one come with a warranty? If so, I'd be tempted to go that route.

Last year the motherboard went on my Viking 400. I was quoted at least $300 and no guarantee that they could get a new one. Only 30 day warranty on the repair. Since the machine was about 16 years old, I opted for a new machine.

It's tough decision these days. Everything seems to be designed to be thrown away rather than repaired.

Okay its no secret why I dont do modern machines but if I were you just take a look at a Singer 500A. To me this is a modern machine because you have to plug it in the wall......but its a vintage machine!

This was the top of the line machine in 1962 and the machine can hang with any of the new ones on the market in my opinion. It has a plethora of built in stitches and you can pick up the cams and have a huge selection of decorative stitches. You can have the needle set and the left, right or center position, if you have a hoop you can get the monogram letters and do your own monograming. It will do embroidery work but it is FM and you can run a twin needle on it.

The average price for one is around $200 to $300 depending on the amount of accessories and the cabinet, but you can not kill it and the parts are readily available. Also it can be used as a portable like the FW's.

Billy

OUCH I'm reallllly sorry to hear that your mother board went out...

especially because I have the Brother PC6000 also.

Did something happen, like other suggest, with electric current?

I don't think mine is 12 years old and it would be a tough decision if I had to make one but I think I'd just get a new machine for the $400. I'm betting there are a lot of machines on the market NOW that are similar to the PC6000 for about the $400...which is no where near what I paid for it new!

I'll hug my machine and talk nice when I sew the next time! LOL

General rule of thumb is, if the repair is half the cost of a new machine, better off to buy new. That being said, you have to take into consideration how well built older machines can be compared to new ones. I have a Viking D1 that I bought used and I love it. Good luck with your decision.

I have a Singer 328 K with the cams that will do all the above. I've put many a mile on it before upgrading to newer machines. I still have it and it works great. I bought it new in 1962 or 1963.

Computerized vs. mechanical...the big debate. A hotly contested one on this board. I've killed a mechanical machine so nothing is impossible. There are goods and bads with everything you decide to sew on. I "own" an electrical engineer and DD married a soon-to-be one. Electronic and computerized are not bad words in my home. We've repaired many machines (mechanical and computerized) and its a toss-up.

Everyone has a bias and will tell you their opinion. When it comes down to it, you are the one who has to decide. I like free-motion embroidery because I can't sit still long enough to let the machine do the work for me. Yes, the machine's embroidery is more perfect but to me that is a drawback.

I prefer my machine for many reasons and really don't like a fully mechanical machine. Old mechanical machines have advantages, my nephews and I disassemble them and scavenge them for robot parts at times (yes, we put them back...mostly) but I have to admit I don't like sewing on them.

I have a Singer Futura 250, it does embroidery and I do piecing on it but the throat is not that big. I recently bought a Flynn Quilting Frame and set it up and was able to quilt using that I haven't done anything big on it yet...I believe that Singer made some improvements on the Futura line there is a 350 version. They run under a $1000.00. The upside is that you hook up your sewing machine to your computer for the embroidery functions, i.e. there's no mother board in your sewing machine to go out. I have been pleased with it, I got it as an early Christmas present last year and made all kinds of things for Christmas.

This is funny, Pam (Pam1966) and I were talking about me servicing her computerized machine and I told her that they sorta intimidate me. which is really silly in a way because I can work on vintage sewing machines and the computer that my wife is on right now I built 3 years ago and there is still not a computer on the market that can compete with it.

But you put the two together it just messes me up LOL!!!:lol: :lol: :lol:

Billy

Billy, I really think it has more to with what we used to call "form and function" in those design, tech and engineering courses. Some people are just purists and there is nothing wrong with that. There are also some integrated systems where you scratch your head and go "what were they thinking?" That happens a LOT. We've built several of our home computers but often don't bother. It really depends on what we want to do with them. The really "custom" one somehow went to college. I hope it graduates someday.

Whatever you decide, get yourself a really good surge protector and a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) unit. They are fantastic for anything computerised or surge sensitive. Also if you are in a humid environment a dehumidifier is not a bad idea either.

Here's my two cents about embroidery-only machines: You are working from a tiny screen on the machine, which isn't easy to see. If you have the option of an embroidery module attachment, which generally requires the use of a laptop computer, it's less convenient to have to use the laptop, but much easier on the eyes because you have a larger screen to work with, and better control with a larger keyboard. I hope I'm understanding your question.

I love your beautiful cat!!!! :thumbup: :XD: :wink: :lol: :lol:

Yes, new motherboard would come with warranty in!!

in regards to the being obsolete due the new win 7 or vista, at least where Bernina is concerned, they have downloads to take that problem away. In speaking with Pfaff dealership here locally, she can really use sall the machines, but to ask her a question pertaining to the downloads or something in that nature.. she actually couldn't answer me. Which I thought was surprising. But went on line to pfaff.com and was able to get infor I needed. so before writing something off as obsolete (unless your really looking for a legitamite reason to buy a new one) double check on the company's website first. There are a lot of downloads and up grades that are avilable for no cost. Now if I could just program a spell check into the boards messaging system.... back to the old dictionary for me I guess..

Blue

Shouldn't that come under the 25 year warranty.

Definitely check out the Horizon. I participated in a "test drive" at the local dealer in May and am trading in my MC9700 for it. It has a bed space about twice the size of the standard domestic and tons of decorative stitches. Built in accu-feed instead of a walking foot attachment. Give it a test run; you'll love it.

Try this, it can't hurt. Just in case the motherboard is ok....

Reset the new home janome

Use the plastic cover on a ball point pen…..plastic only.

Turn machine off, unplug foot.

Push all the 3 buttons by the needle at once and hold, while turning machine on..

An x will appear on the screen. Press x with plastic tip, keep pressing x until it disappears. A red light will come on , on the decorative stitch side. Press with plastic tip, x will again appear on screen. Keep pressing x again until it disappears. Shut machine off.

Do this three times and turn machine off, then on again. Machine is factory aligned again

So sorry you're having trouble with your mother board. I bought an embroidery machine, used, a few years ago. i have put lots of $$$$ (more than $1000) on classes and software so I could get to the point of doing embroidery projects on my own. Not sure I would chose to do this again knowing the amount of money I would continue to spend. Take a look at embroidery software just for starters, to get an idea of what I am talking about. Hope you let us know what you final choice is. :-D :-D

You may want to call and check out HSN shopping channel. 1-800-284-7171 It's a Singer SES2000 with 3900 in extra embroidery designs incled the item # is 951-720 it sells for 799.99 with 3900 in free extra embroidery designs, computorized and on 5 payments. read my next entries for specifics.

the price is 799.99 with payment split of 5 payments for 159.99 has also serger feature and quilting I beleive

july is free shipping only this month but you will pay sales tax for state your in on first payment. They said this machine is always available . They have deal with singer

I really really want this machine but will have to put off for a few months, before I can order. Then b/f said I may order be my christmas present and he will pay shipping. I priced same machine is over 2000.00 with out all the extras. 3900 extra desingns included on those disks whatever and is computor whatever. Sorry mind fogged but sure you know what I mean.

OK Billy I'm with you on the old ones being as good as any newer ones that I have seen. I have an Singer Touch N Sew that I bought about 30 years ago second hand for $100 and it has sewed every thing from simple bags to expensive wedding gowns.

I bought a Viking 2 years ago because I thought the machine embroidery was going to be so much fun because it was computerized but let me just say this, I would NEVER buy another computerized machine for so much money and have nothing but PLASTIC parts in it. That is so lame as far as I'm concerned. When you spend $4000 or more for a machine and all you get is plastic then you are not going to get the miles on it as you would the older machines.
They are not built to last, they are build to break so you have to spend more money and the company stays in business.

I have used this new machine a total of 30 times, sewing embroidery designs and yes it did do a good job most of the time (sometimes, it would jam up the threads and I had to start all over, never could figure out why it did that) but the feel of the machine is so flimsy that I would be afraid to sew with it like I can on the old Singer.

The other thing I don't like about the Viking is that every thing (like attachments and all) you buy for this cost $50 or more. Even a simple hoop cost $75 and if I remember right that was for a medium sized one.

So if you don't want to go broke buying a sewing machine with all the parts you might need for quilting, then stay clear of the Viking.

Singer also has down loads for there futura machines, just for information for anyone that has one, mine is an older model, so when my friend bought me a lap top for my birthday last year, I called singer, and they walked me through the process of changing it to fit the vista. God bless. Penny

what will you get toward an upgrade? i wouldn't put a lot of money into a machine of that age. that mother board is an indication of the beginning of the end. i'm curious. why have you only been using it for 2 years? did you purchase it as a refurb?

imo, a dual function machine is not the best way to get the best of either function.
just what i've read.

don't know HOW it happened, but all my equipment is plugged into surge protectors. just lucky ,i guess !

Seek another opinion. I have several friends who have never had trouble with their machines (Brothers), but found much more reasonable repair people when needed. Try a local college campus for computer tech students or even an instructor. Computers are computers after all.

Cheapest part of embroidery sewing machines is the initial purchase price; designs and tools, hoops etc cost much more but expensive software is not needed unless you want to learn digitizing; Buzz Xplore, Edit and Size are excellent programmes for the average sewer and now there is a Buzz2 package with basic automatic digitizing. I have used Janome and Generations Digitizing programmes but found they're not absolutely necessary.

I cannot tell you how glad I am to see these posts about motherboard problems. I have a Janome 11000 (two years old) and an SE11000 (one year old) about four months ago the first mb went in my SE, within two weeks the one in my 11000 went. I took them both in to my dealer and both were replaced under warranty. When I got the machines back one would no longer bobbin wind and the other always thought the bobbin was empty, inconvenient. Then just a couple of months after that, the SE blew another motherboard. They are refusing to cover the second mb under warranty stating that it must be a problem with the wiring/power in my house. I have all of my machines on surge suppressors, and I have two sergers, a Janome HD machine, and a computer in that same room on the same surge supressors, none of them experiencing any problems. The cost to replace this motherboard again is $800!!! For a machine that was one year old in February and that has so far, now, spent four months in the service shop. Thank you for giving me information to go back to the dealer with to hopefully fight to have this fixed properly!

I'd get the MB replaced on the Pfaff 2170. I dislike the newer top feed bobbin machines. The 2170 is a vertical bobbin. I happen to use Babylock Software and bought a separate computer with XP just for crafts, etc. The computer has no internet connection, so I don't have to worry about botnets or malware. I just download updates, etc. thru Ubuntu which has an AV especially for checking these files.