Check yard sales and thrift stores for a vintage machine to be used as a backup. I have three such "backup" machines. :)

Hoping it will be a minor fix:)

I hope your machine is too sick :) In November my machine stopped working and I was in a panic. I called the dealer and he told me the same thing you were told... I thought "a circuit board I can't afford a circuit board!!" When I took the machine in it was actually only a $10 fuse... whew!! I ended up buying a 2nd machine while I was there so they didn't even charge me for the fuse.

I have 2 but thinking of getting another. The only vintage (?) is a 401 about 1959. I keep checking the estate sales but may go to one of the other stores just for an inexpensive backup. Things around here always go out in 2s.

Girl after my own heart, 7 sewing machines and 2 serger's, now what I need is room. I would check paper and Craigs list for an older all metal used, here in FL we find a lot of them.

Yep, I have about 7 back ups, one never knows....LOL

What kind of machine do you have. Some Janomes are bad about the foot pedal going out....then most of time, you can take it apart and clean dust bunnies out and it will work fine....just be sure the spring does zoom across the room when taking it apart...foot pedals are about $80-100 dollars, so clean first, if you find out that is what it is. But don't turn your machine over to the tech until you check the foot pedal as suggest in previous post.

I have 3 machines but all are electric. I need to get my treadle in working order for any power failure I might have.

Yep, as my DH says, "there is no redundancy in tools". When I managed to throw out the time on my Bernina 440 recently, I pulled out the Bernina 910 and finished the project that evening. Current machine count:14

1 Bernina computerized, 1 Bernina Electronic, Bernina Serger, Bernette mechanical, 70s Viking, 70s Elna, 70s Kenmore, 2 Featherweights, 3 Singer 301s, Singer 66-6, Singer IF treadle

I have three vintage machines and enjoy them from time to time-just for fun. I also have a treadle that come in handy recently when we had a power outage for 26 hours. I did have to replace a mother board in my Bernina 1130 and it was expensive-I don't want to do that again. I hope your repair is not too expensive. I would ask to have the problem diagnosed in your presence so you can make a good decision. Also, for your future sanity invest in a back-up machine. I would recommend a vintage type machine because the are inexpensive, are reliable and fun to use.