15-91 running intermittently
 

Hi everyone - new to the forum and vintage sewing machines...I have 3 vintage machines; a 1926 28K of my Grandmothers, a 1954 99K from a thrift store; both of which run and a 15-91.
I picked up the 15-91 yesterday - I tested it when I was looking it over it and it ran. I brought it home and cleaned it all up, oiled it etc. Then I plugged it in and pushed the foot pedal - nothing...I unplugged it and plugged it into another outlet and it ran - thought it was the outlet...then I tried it again a little while later and it wouldn't run...I pulled the brushes out of the motor - they seemed clean, no build up on the springs. I wiped the bit of dust off each of the brushes and reinstalled them. Still no luck...
Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks so much for any assistance!
Kelly

I recently had to replace my foot peddle because of this problem. It was a new electronic one that I purchased a few years ago. The machine ran fine after I installed the original peddle. Check the wiring for any loose connections or breaks. If the wiring is ok, the foot may need some adjustments. Look up Andy Tube on youtube. He has lots of instructional videos on repairing old sewing machines. Warning he loves to talk a lot!!!

Thanks - I'll have a look for Andy Tube!
I took the pedal apart also (should've mentined that) and it looked a bit grungy - however the wires seemed okay. I cleaned up the contact points and reattached everything. Also - the other thing I should've probably said was that there is power getting through the cord to the light.. So it seems the cord is okay...but maybe the pedal could be the issue.
Thanks again!
Kelly

here is a palce wehre WD-40 could be used one a VSM. You might try a little spray on teh contacts where the cord connects to tje ,achine. let it dry, then try.

Have you put grease up into the grease places you have to unscrew and squeeze grease up into them?

Thanks Barny - not sure where the grease places are...I'll see if they are mentioned in the manual. Thanks again!

WD-40 - okay I'll give that a whirl on the contacts too. Thanks Leonf!

You could have a break in the wires, perhaps in the cord for the pedal...where it connects to the terminal. The insulation could still look good.

If you find the grease things, fill them with vaseline. I think they are usually called "grease pots", but I'm not sure what the actual name is. They are kind under and behind the balance/hand wheel. There are 2 if them. They face down toward the bed and are kind of hard to get to. They just unscrew. Since they face down, you need some kind of tool to put the vaseline in them. I use an old hypodermic needle without the needle. (it's still messy.)

bkay

Sometimes you need to have the hand wheel off and check the gear behind there; it can be sluggish with dried up grease. Sometimes it can be anywhere on the machine, it once took me four days of oiling and test sewing to get a machine to run smoothly again.

If there isn't the slightest hum of motor or movement I would go through the wiring from end to end. Pedals can usually be sorted out, but if you have a second wroking pedal you could always try it.