I purchased my Elna 7300 Quilting Queen Pro almost two years ago. All of the machines that I have owned prior to the 7300 have been easy to clean and to access the innards. I have not taken her in for an annual exam. But I do remove the bobbin case and clean the hook area after every project, sometimes more if I am working on a linty project. The machine is "self lubricating" so that is not needed. Soooo, the question is: does she need an annual exam or just wait till she starts to malfunction :?:

i take reasonable care, as you have described, with my machines. i have never taken them in for a general checkup. i've only had one machine that needed repair.

I just do the maintenance that is listed in the manual and clean after or during every project. I figure, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I don't take my machine in every year for "maintenance". I just clean it regularly. If your needle plate comes off, I would take that off once in awhile and clean away the lint that gathers around the feed dogs. I don't clean that as often as I do the bobbin area.

I have my machines services every 2 years. In between I do my own cleaning in between projects. Your machine will tell you when it needs service. Just listen to it. Be sure to change needles and remove lint. I use a small paint bush with a wee bit of oil.

Don't fix it if it ain't broke. Sometimes they come back worse than when they went in.

I have the Elna 7200 and I put a drop of oil on the wick under the bobbin case as well as clean the area out after every project. I've had it for 6 years, I think and it has only been in for service once when it sucked a lint ball up into the tension disks and I couldn't get it out.

I take mine in when it gets noisy and oiling doesn't fix it. Don't turn the hand wheel backwards, always forward, towards you, messes up the gears and messes up the timing. I have one that is noisy, probably why, now I know what not to do.