J Miller

sew wishful,

Easy way: Go to Sew-Classic { http://shop.sew-classic.com/ } and buy a replacement motor with bracket. It will bolt right on and plug right into the cord block.

Less easy way:

Go to a hardware store and buy some 18 ga SPT-1 wireing. If you get the SPT-2 you might have trouble fitting the wire through the motor. The SPT-1 or 2 refers to the thickness of the insulation. For a better tutorial on it, go to Sew-Classic and go to the section for bulk wire. She has a lot of information in there.

>Take the motor off of the machine, remove the bracket and pulley.
There will be a way to separate the motor halfs. Either screws from the outside going into a bracket or a long bolt with nuts on it or ????. You just have to look for them.
>Before you split the motor, remove the brush caps and the springs and brushes.
>Then since the wire is already bad, cut it off just outside the motor housing.
>Then split the housing and carefully take it apart.

>Once apart you'll find the main shaft with the commutator (where the brushes contact the armature) possibly some little thrust washers and lots of crud.

>Also follow the old wires to where they are soldered onto the outer wirings. These have to be un-soldered and the new wires soldered on.
That is the hardest part to this job.

>The second hardest part is cleaning the motor of all the crud.
> Clean the glaze off of the commutator, I use 600 grit sandpaper wrapped around a popsicle stick. I don't cut into the copper, I just clean it.
Clean the brush areas, make sure the springs are good. Clean the caps. They are probably Bakelite so will be fragile and brittle.

Now, once it's cleaned inside and out, and the new wires are soldered in you have to reassemble it.
The armature goes in first, one way or the other. Then depending on which end of the case the wires come out of you have to guide them out through the hole. Now, usually there is a knot tied in the wire to prevent it from being yanked out and damaging the connections inside. I'm horrible with knots but I do it as small as I can. If your lucky there might be a stress relief part passing through the hole around the wire. If that is there you'll see it when you're taking apart. Just put it back in the way it came out.
Finish assembling the motor making sure the wires don't get in the way of the armature on the insides and the brushes line up too.

The motor will need some oil so do that too. Don't flood it though.

Put the plug on it and plug it in. If you've done it right, it will run just fine. If not, well try again or refer to the easy way above.

This is basically what I do. I hope I haven't been to vague.

Joe

Crossstitcher

Julie, so glad you got your machine back. Hope to see what you have made real soon.

irishrose

It sounds like Universal cords have similar issues. Mine did and and I have read of another. My motor cord was bare, but the other cords are still good. I got it apart and decided it was beyond my capabilities - not the right tools for a confined area, so I took it to my large appliance repairman. He rewired and cleaned for his bench fee of $35 - maybe close to price of a new one, but I needed the bright turquoise housing. He had never done a SM, but felt that a motor is a motor and was quite willing to have at it.

J Miller

I have read that a lot of the old wiring has insulation made from latex. I have personally seen this stuff chemically deteriorate and melt while sitting in the case. My Hother motor did that.
The wiring in many of these old 40s and 50s machines is aluminum. AL is a good conductor of electricity but it expands and contracts due to heat when in use and it will corrode at the drop of the hat.

So replacing the old wiring is a good thing to do.

Joe

sew wishful

Thanks so much, Joe and Irishrose! I'm thinking this is beyond me, or at least beyond my toolbox. I'm going to carry the motor in to show her today, and let her decide. Anyone have an approximate price of a new motor from Sew-Classic? Since this machine is all so nice...no wear marks at all...all of the gold is pristine, I'm thinking that is exactly what happened, Joe...the wiring just disintegrated! My friend sewed with it the other night just to be sure it worked. I wouldn't have even plugged it in! I may ask the maintenance department to have a look and get an opinion from them. Pretty small motor for them, tho. LOL! Maybe I'll offer to buy the machine from my friend for what she paid and then do what I think should be done. New motor! Thank you again!

miriam

Maybe we can sweet talk Joe into doing a tutorial with LOTS of pictures - I bet your maintenance man wouldn't even blink. There are small motor repair shops still around maybe they would tackle it. Sew-classic does have a motor you can swap on there - probably not as heavy duty.

sew wishful

I checked the motors from sew classic and they aren't the same volts and watts. Does that matter? If her price is pretty much the normal, I'll just switch them out. That's pretty reasonable! Ya' know....I took a motor off the machine I turned into a handcrank...what did I do with it??? Off to the hunt!!

miriam

he he - nope size doesn't matter - that other motor should work if the wires, etc are ok

J Miller

The motors Sew-Classic sells are made by, or at least labeled by, Alphasew. They are generally .9 Amp motors and do run quite well. I have ....... oh five or six of them on my machines.
My HOTHER has one on it and I'm sewing through two layers of thick vinyl. All are 110-125 V US household electrical compatible.

The one you would need for your machine is:
http://shop.sew-classic.com/Motor-Ne...s-SCE35L09.htm
And Sew-Classic is selling those for $23.95 + shipping.

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I'll gladly do the motor re-wire pictorial, but it will have to wait until I find a donor motor and I get a few projects that are pending finished.

Joe

jljack

Hey Joe....I have an old motor that needs rewiring that you could use to do the tutorial. Would you consider doing it for me?