Sewing Machine Maintenance?
 

How often do you send in your machine for maintenance? My 875Q Husky recommends every year, do I really have to do this? I vacuum out areas pretty regularly, and the $100+ cost will really cut into my fabric budget. What do you all do?

I also have Vikings. I ususally take them in every 18 to 24 months.

I am hanging my head in shame :o I have had my Janome for 5 1/2 years and I have only taken it in once and that is because it was making a rattling noise. Turns out it was one of the set screws on the bottom of the machine that had come loose which is something I could have fixed myself. I keep it clean and dusted and I have never had any other issues with it ( I also sew on it 3-4 days a week)(hope I don't jinx myself!) The dealer accused me of opening the bottom of the machine because apparently set screws aren't supposed to "just come loose". I absolutely detest the Janome dealer that I purchased it from. They soured me within the first month of buying it from them so I refuse to give them any of my money. I won't even purchase fabric from them. We are planning an out of state move within the next 3 years so I will wait to purchase a new sewing machine until then. If something happens to my Janome, I have 3 vintage machines I can use and a Singer Quantum so I'm not worried!

Vintage machines for me here on out. I can maintain them and keep sewing.

I clean my Bernina out regularly and will take it in for maintenance only if I see lots of stuff in there that I can't get at (or if the machine starts malfunctioning, which it has never done the 15 years or so I have had it). Initially I did take it in every year, but I honestly do not think this is necessary unless you are sewing 8 hours a day 5 days a week.

I've never taken my Janome in for maintenance or repair. But I found a good excuse to
buy a new machine...so that I can have a spare. Don't want to be without one even if I
don't sew everyday. I need my baby here with me. ;):p:D:thumbup:
On the other hand I try to take good care of it and clean it very often and put a drop
of oil when I think it needs it.

My H/V 870 goes in as needed -- am very lucky that my LQS has a "SMA" -- service maintenance agreement -- that covers "bumper to bumper" including parts for a fee for three years, very reasonable considering the cost of yearly service and parts added in. Mine is averaging a service every 8-9 months, for one thing or another (needle threader, etc.) Have been pleased with this arrangment....

Don't you think servicing a sewing machine should be covered the same as a car. When the car goes in for an annual service or even work done on it you have the option of a loan car. We shouLd be able to have a loan service for our sewing machines as well. A car will go in for a few hours or a few days which the dealer informs us before it goes in. Sewing machine repairs are take it in will ring when it is done, which could be weeks or even months. Some of our machines cost more than cars so why don't we have the option to a loan machine?
Also when a car goes in you have an idea on how much it will cost, when a sewing machine goes in you frequently have no idea until you have the phone call it is ready.
Also extra thought, if the car is not serviced correctly you can complain to different places, my friend had her machine serviced, when she came to class she was having problems so I went to help. I took the bobbin cover off to find it was thick in fluff it had not been cleaned out at all, how do you service a machine without cleaning her. I got a thank you he got about £50.
Sorry about the rant but it does frustrate me the lack of care some dealers provide.

I take in my Bernina 640 yearly even though I tend to sew mainly on our vintage machines. I depend on it for binding and other things. I want it to last for the rest of my life. It has just the features I need without too many extras. My LQS gives discounts to those who do, so at least there is a little offset. We change the oil and get lube jobs on our cars don't we? I have no desire for a fancier machine in the future. I'd rather maintain this one properly.

When I bought my pfaff almost twenty years ago I asked the dealer if I should bring it in once a year for service.
"Ah madam": he replied, "when we give it a service we blow it to clean and put some oil in it....you can save money by doing that yourself."
So I did, and still do, my machine has never been back to the dealer.
And the dealer was one of the two bestknown for good service in the area.
But with the machines of today?? Don't know if I should do the same, they're not all the workhorses the old ones used to be , I hear people say

I've had my Pfaff since 2002 and have never had it serviced... I clean out the lint and do a drop of oil a few times a week. Once my new Juki's are up and running I'm going to take her in just for my own piece of mind... She deserves a "spa" treatment after all the work I've put her through!

I take my Bernina 440 in annually for a 'tune-up' because it's worth it. She was expensive and I can't afford a new one right now. As my one and only (except for her cousin - my Bernina serger) I depend on her a lot. I'd rather spend money getting her tuned up each year and have a little less for fabric than have a bunch of fabric and a broken machine.

I purchased a Service Maintenance Agreement with my Bernina 440, and when that expired I purchased another one. It covers anything that goes wrong, service and parts, and is well worth the money. Because it doesn't cost me anything additional, I take the machine in whenever we're going out of town for a week or more, usually about twice a year. The machine gets checked out, completely cleaned (I am diligent about regular cleaning but I can't get to everything), and any electronic updates are loaded into it. The dealer where I purchased it has an excellent reputation, and they give me a good estimate of how long the repair shop will have the machine.

I do have several backup machines, and they don't get the same treatment. However, they're from another era and don't expect to be pampered.

I take my Bernina in every year to be serviced. Other machines that I've had over the years never were serviced and always sewed fine. I clean my featherweight myself.

When I first bought my Bernina I took it in regularly, because of my warranty, but now, I won't take it in unless Im having a problem with it, which so far I have'nt. If you have a warranty and don't get them serviced, it voids the warranty.

My Viking Sapphire starts to be a little more noisy when it needs service.
The problem is I moved to the mountains and there is no place to take it unless I drive 3 hours to Phx. Then would have to go pick it up.

I do every year, but my dealer sells service protection plans, which cut down the cost of servicing the machine and you can bring it in whenever you want as much as you want and if something breaks parts are covered like motherboards which we all know can be expensive. I damaged my bobbin case walked right in and got handed a brand new one, It was that simple.its like 3-600 dollars for 4 years depending on your machine model. I am about to renew mine because my service plan for my espire transfered over to my new machine but I only have a year left, and I know embroidery machines can be very sensitive especially the tension diskc so I really want to renew it

I used to do yearly. Now I do by how much I have used it or if there is a problem.

I have a 30 yr. old Kenmore when they were all metal. Hubby oils it regularly and I clean it and use a small vacuum attachment on it regularly. Only had it to a shop once and that was recently when it was having trouble feeding fabric smoothly (couldn't chain piece). I'm not about to give up on this workhorse!

I have had my Elna sewing machine serviced twice since buying it in 1973. The first time was when my children were very young and they saw me oiling the machine, only problem was when they did it there was no more oil in the bottle so they filled it with water and "oiled" away. The second time was when it went in to have the cam stacker replaced. It has never skipped a beat in all that time.

Please don't judge the quality of the machine on the quality of the service (or lack of) that you received at your local shop. Janomes are excellent machines (well, I have had great service from my machine which is about twenty years old), The people that I purchased the machine from bent over backwards to see that I had great service. Even retired, they will ask me how my machine is holding up. When I have little problems, I will bring it to the shop where I purchased it, and the owners will call him. He picks up the machines and services it. I have had no major problems with the machine. But I do have it checked and cleaned, etc. periodically (but not yearly). IMHO, you just happened to get a bummer of a service person. Good luck on your move and your choice of a new machine shop.