My 500 is giving me problems
 

I got this Singer 500 with my first teaching job!! It has been a wonderful machine all these years...But now it is acting up...I'll be sewing along just fine, then it will stop and knot up underneath. Right off I'd say it's catching on something, but I have had it into 2 different shops and nothing wrong...I was wondering if any of you great folks have run into something like this??? Thanks for any suggestions..

Bete,

Hello there, long time no hear from ... :D .

First I'd go with the basics. Clean it thoroughly. The problems you're having sound like top tension problems to me.
Before taking the tension off and taking it apart for cleaning I'd get a thin strip of fabric, maybe a 1/4", fold it and soak it in alcohol then run it around and between all the disks to make sure they are clean and free of oil, lint and fuzz.

Clean the bobbin area thoroughly as well. Then rethread it and try again. Also try a new bobbin. Those Sew-Classic sells are wonderful. A worn, bent or one with flaking plating can catch and mess up your tensions too.

Also Miriam has a thread here about tensions that should have lots of things to check: { http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...s-t170748.html }.

That's about all I can think of right now.

And .... Minerva says Hi.


Joe

I too have developed tension issues on my 500. It was sewing very well and then all of a sudden, the upper tension was practically none existent. If I continued sewing, it may or may not correct itself. Sometimes, all I needed to do was re-thread it, but then after a few minutes I would have the same problem. I finally took the tension apart and cleaned it. I could not see any dirt/dust that may have caused the issue. Spent the next 30 minutes sewing OK. We will see, now that it has 'rested' for a day. LOL
For the record, I am using Gutermann thread.

I'm piecing a quilt with my wife's 319K. It was sewing OK fine, then the top tension went loosy goosy. I looked at the top tension closely and noticed a lot of oil. That is when I took a piece of folded fabric and cleaned between the disks. That has corrected the problem so far. But eventually the top tension will need to be removed, cleaned and readjusted.
Oil that you can't see down between the disks can cause the thread to stick between them.

Joe

bd, I think I had the same problem for a while. When you say "knot up underneath" is thread catching in the bobbin area, around the 1:00 or 2:00 position? (Assuming the needle is noon.) I had to raise/remove the needle plate to see it. According to the Yahoo Slant group, Singer experimented with a lint pin, designed to prevent lint build up. It didn't work and they soon discontinued it. My Rocketeer did this on and off. I tried a "lint-pin-ectomy" that didn't help, thread still got caught in the same area. I don't think the pin was the problem, but something else (bad bobbins?) was throwing the thread path off and it was catching on the lint pin.

Eventually, it stopped doing this. I'm not really sure why. I did get some older bobbins, I found in a thrift store. And I tried Bobbin Genie washers. It still happens on rare occasions.

Maybe someone else on here can offer a more positive answer.

Tate

Tate. That sounds like the problem lam having...the thread catches on something and l have towork it loose. I haven,t added anything to it and I keep it clean all the time,.. I feel around down there and every thing is smooth. So I am lost as to what to do next

First off I haven't got one doing that so far. If you suspect the tension, take it apart. It isn't that hard to do. Get good instructions for putting it back together. The main thing with putting them back together is to get the parts going in the right direction and in the right order. I say take it apart because it could be dried oil somewhere in the system. I had one that had so much dried oil on the tiny little pin in the center post that it wouldn't engage the tension any more. The springs can have dried up oil on them and not be as flexible until it is cleaned. I use rubbing alcohol to clean the dis-assembled tensions. On the machine you may risk spots on the finish. Oh and I doubt if you need oil on the tension anyway.

There is also a spring that holds the bobbin holder in place - some times it cruds up with lint or dried oil and doesn't work right. I think I am fighting with one of those on a Singer 401. That machine sews ditches between zz stitches. I know it is not the tension because I traded it out with a different machine.

I would like to know about the lint pin, Tate. What does it look like?

maybe you need to use leaders and enders. especiall with a wide hole plate

Thanks Joe for that site for tensions problems..I wish I knew what my real problem is?!?! It's like what Tat talked about, something is catching around the bobbin area. But I don't know how to get to that area after I take the bobbin holder out.. Maybe I'm not saying the right thing to the repair man????? Oh well, guess I'll just get my old 99 out !!!! Thank you everyone for the suggestions...Bette

Bette,

I don't know anything about this "lint pin" thing either. I've got two 500a's so I'll take them down and see what I can see. If I can figure something out, I'll report back.
Both my 500s had to have the spring that holds the bobbin case in adjusted. There is a specification with tolerances in the service manual for it. One of mine was too loose, the other two tight. The tight one would sew along nicely then suddenly the thread would seem to catch on something and jam up wrapping itself around the bobbin assembly. After adjusting them to be within the specs I have no trouble with them.
I can't say that is the problem with your machine, but it's the only thing that I've had problems with in the 500 bobbin area.

Joe