Singer 66 tension trouble--perfect going slow, loops fast
10-26-2021, 12:00 PM
#11
Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Posts: 76
I'm having a similar tension release problem on my 1916 Singer 66-1 and would love some help please, because I haven't been able to solve it except by making a longer pin. The original pin is 1" long and slips through the stud like greased lightning. (I took the whole tension assembly out and apart and cleaned and polished it.)
If I put the tension release disc on the stud the wrong way round it works (that is, the "bar" is closer to the machine, and the convex side faces towards the beehive spring) but then it is very hard to get the top tension loose enough without starting to wind the nut off the stud.
If I put the check spring regulator further into the machine enough to make the tension release work then the set screw is well proud of the machine (over a thread clear), it doesn't seat in the "flat channel" on the regulator and the spring will check down on the first stitch and then get stuck because the tension discs are free to press up against the machine head.
I made a short video to show the problem because I cannot figure out what it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUvIYHNixTE
Annoyingly I had exactly the same problem on a 1950s Singer 99 I spruced up for a friend - it was the only thing on the machine I couldn't solve and I had to use the same solution. So 100% of the 66s and 99s I've looked at had this problem. :-)
Thanks heaps... Megan
If I put the tension release disc on the stud the wrong way round it works (that is, the "bar" is closer to the machine, and the convex side faces towards the beehive spring) but then it is very hard to get the top tension loose enough without starting to wind the nut off the stud.
If I put the check spring regulator further into the machine enough to make the tension release work then the set screw is well proud of the machine (over a thread clear), it doesn't seat in the "flat channel" on the regulator and the spring will check down on the first stitch and then get stuck because the tension discs are free to press up against the machine head.
I made a short video to show the problem because I cannot figure out what it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUvIYHNixTE
Annoyingly I had exactly the same problem on a 1950s Singer 99 I spruced up for a friend - it was the only thing on the machine I couldn't solve and I had to use the same solution. So 100% of the 66s and 99s I've looked at had this problem. :-)
Thanks heaps... Megan
10-26-2021, 12:17 PM
#12
Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Posts: 76
Hi Thread Theory!
One thing that changes dramatically as you increase speed is the effect on the thread spool and whether it is stack-wound and tall or cross-wound of any height. The greater the speed the more they wobble and jerk around, giving all-over-place tension delivery.
Make sure you have a thread felt of some sort under the spool of thread and if you have a taller stack-wound spool (a lot of modern thread spools are much taller than the old ones) try "extending" your spool pin by placing a straw over it and cutting it just a bit longer than your thread spool - or anything else that will do the same job for you.
If you have a cross-wound spool of thread they're not designed to pull off the side at all so they can wobble and jerk wickedly at higher speeds and even end up with thread wrapped around the spool pin under the thread spool resulting in top thread breaks. These are designed to pull straight up off the top of the spool (or off the end when mounted horizontally). You can get a "horizontal conversion" for cross-wound spools that sits on the normal spool pin (I got mine from The Featherweight Shop). They also have a thread stand for use in the 221 and 222 machines. I don't know if that would work in a 66 (I know the horizontal one does) but if you look I'm sure you can adapt something to work with yours that uses the same principle.
I hope that helps (and if not now, maybe for troubleshooting another day)... Megan
One thing that changes dramatically as you increase speed is the effect on the thread spool and whether it is stack-wound and tall or cross-wound of any height. The greater the speed the more they wobble and jerk around, giving all-over-place tension delivery.
Make sure you have a thread felt of some sort under the spool of thread and if you have a taller stack-wound spool (a lot of modern thread spools are much taller than the old ones) try "extending" your spool pin by placing a straw over it and cutting it just a bit longer than your thread spool - or anything else that will do the same job for you.
If you have a cross-wound spool of thread they're not designed to pull off the side at all so they can wobble and jerk wickedly at higher speeds and even end up with thread wrapped around the spool pin under the thread spool resulting in top thread breaks. These are designed to pull straight up off the top of the spool (or off the end when mounted horizontally). You can get a "horizontal conversion" for cross-wound spools that sits on the normal spool pin (I got mine from The Featherweight Shop). They also have a thread stand for use in the 221 and 222 machines. I don't know if that would work in a 66 (I know the horizontal one does) but if you look I'm sure you can adapt something to work with yours that uses the same principle.
I hope that helps (and if not now, maybe for troubleshooting another day)... Megan
10-26-2021, 12:33 PM
#13
Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Posts: 76
Oops - I meant to say "concave" side faces towards the beehive spring, not "convex" in my post about the tension pin problem I'm having too - but more than 20 minutes passed before I noticed it so I couldn't edit it. Sorry. The Adminstrator might edit it if I'm lucky.
Last edited by MeganMills; 10-26-2021 at 12:35 PM. Reason: Used That instead of The.
