Yesterday when I was sewing with the 7 Jewel I "borrowed" the synthetic heat shield my wife bought for her iron. Some kind of rubber pad with bumps on it to set the iron on. I used it for the foot controller. It seemed to help since it didn't get near as hot as it did the day before.
I also did an experiment with the motor. The original motor is a 1.5 amp motor and gets hot when sewing a lot of slow stuff. So I switched it out for my spare motor witch is a .9 amp motor to see what would happen.
Well, with the .9 amp motor, the foot controller still got hot, and so did the motor.
So, this is what I have gleaned from my experiment:
>Sewing slow, using cams and decorative stitches, puts a heavier load on the motor and electrical system than straight stitching or normal zig-zagging. This makes the motor work harder and the foot controller works harder too. The carbon pile or resistor in the controller converts unused electricity to heat, so when going slow it creates a lot of heat.
>Normally you don't play touchie feelie with the motor or foot controller when you're sewing so you don't realize how much heat they produce.
> Until smoke and flames erupt from the electrical parts, or your foot starts smoking, don't worry about it.
I do try to remember to unplug the machines too. There's no real reason to leave them plugged in.
Joe
