Thumbs

Ha yes, thanks. It was still hanging on the thread so it was easy to remove it. The problem existed before the needle broke. In your exp. when I take the bobbin out should I be able to see any thread in there without having to take the entire thing apart? I will also take the plate off just for good measure.
Man I hope you guys are right.

Thumbs

Well apparently I DID NOT break my Spartan. You guys made the difference, thanks,,,
That's basically the long and the short of what I have to say. The rest of what I just wrote is just what I did and what I found out how I proceeded to try to fix the problem. Really not that necessary to read so if you want to stop you can stop here. The long and the short is the spartan lives once again!!!

Before I talked to you guys I thought a piece of metal must have broken off and would occasionally drift around and jamming to some part freezing the machine. I really couldn't determine exactly where the problem was coming from even though I was trying to find where the rubbing was but couldn't. You guys lead me to the bobbin area. As I was turning the machine I noticed that after I took the bobbin out I could see a little vibration movement as I turned the hand wheel. I took a brush and cleaned it well, and also clean the underside. I've been took my air compressor and blew the devil out of everything in that area. I then started point by point oiling and checking to see if what I had just made any difference. I apparently found the place where the needle goes down there's a very close tolerance I don't know if it's called the shuttle or not but in that area. I put a drop of oil on there and moved it by hand but it still had that rough spot although it was better. I then blew the area out again plug the machine in and ran it for a few seconds. I checked it again and it seem to be gone! I took a piece of scrap and did a few stitches well actually more than a few but enough that I could think that it was at least on the way to recovery. It seems to be fine now just the Way singer intended.

Thanks for your help guys. I really expected to have to take this thing to a professional to figure out what was going on. I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that it's completely fixed, I haven't done enough testing with it and to be able to make that statement but what I can say is all the roughness is gone and it did come from the bobbin area.

This begs the question as to how often should I clean and lube the old Spartan? I know the answer is when it needs it however in general how often do you guys clean? Is it every time you use the machine or every couple of hours? I know there's a lot of questions here as to what kind of material what thread and all of that but just in general. I really don't want to get to the same point I allowed this to get to before cleaning. I don't like rough spots.lol

And again thank you for your help.
Gary

leonf

Way to go Gary. Isn't it fun to get it rolling again ? a question for you. Did you take the faceplate off and oil there too? and all the linkage to the feed dogs.? Machines that have set for a while need more than just the oil holes. Your ear ( once trained) can tell you when it needs oil, but for now don't worry about over oiling it. It should be able to go for a couple of 8 hour sewing days without any new oil.

Thumbs

Yes as a matter of fact the problem was under the face plate. I started by brushing and blowing out each area going from one oil point to the next, underneath, and rotating the wheel to see if I could hear or feel a difference. Mostly because I really didn't know where the hang up was. I then took off the face plate but payed particular attention the the bobbin area and noticed a little vibration as I rotated the wheel. I oiled what area then moved to the "shuttle" area and finally found that the shuttle near just behind and to the left of where the needle goes through the plate looked like it could be a problem so I oiled that. Turned the wheel a few times and it got much better. Put another drop or two in that area and ran the machine to distribute the lube and it went away. I then took a piece of scrap and sewed all over it to put a bit of load on the areas and so far it is working. I think, maybe the guy that serviced the machine just a week or so ago may have missed this area. He replaced the felt oiler but for some reason it was missing down the the level of the spring. He probably just pushed it in and didn't screw it in. I may try to replace it but for now I'll just put a drop on that area every once in a while.
Yes I am very happy she is up and running. The symptoms of the problem were a lot worse that the actual problem.
Thanks again for your help guys.

cashs_mom

I'm glad you got it running again. I tend to use my machines in streaks and rotate machines (I have 5 set up to use. A few more in cases ) so when I'm going to use a machine, I clean and oil it and put in a new needle. It saves me a lot of headaches. When I was using one machine for all my sewing (back in the pre-vintage sewing machine mania days), I would clean the bobbin area every time I put a new bobbin in and clean the rest before every project.

Thumbs

Sounds like a plan. I have no problem with preventive maintenance. I guess after it was professionally serviced I my have put a couple of hours on the machine. It was interesting that that area had a problem and it only took a bit of oil to get it back in shape. It may have been the tec. missed that area. They told me they see these old machines once in a while but I guess maybe not enough to really know what they need. I do know when I brought it through the door they took particular interest in it. LOL

1.41

In terms of "preventative" maintenance, here's what I do:

1. A drop of oil in each oiling hole every 8 or so hours of use.
2. Change the needle every 8 hours of sewing.
3. A drop of oil in the hook assembly ever two bobbins.
4. A drop of oil in the spindle behind the hook, ie, on the shaft whether or not that is indicated in the manual
5. A very tiny drop of oil in the oiling holes in the motor if there are oiling holes. There may not be. (Kenmore motors had oiling holes, Singer's generally didn't from what I can tell.) If there are grease wicks, then the wicks likely need to be refurbished and electric motor grease from the Featherweight shop on the wicks, or pure petroleum jelly once every 6 months. Don't use any other type of grease in the motor, it won't work.
6. Vacuum or brush all lint out of the hook area regularly.
7. I may be wrong, but I believe that there are at least two different versions of the Spartan and I believe that the later one at least had gears. If so, a very little but a very light coating of grease on the gears is needed.

FWIW, I use SuperLube Synthetic grease and as for oil, sewing machine oil or TriFlow synthetic oil.

Farmhousesewer

1.41...great idea, but if I did all of that, I would do nothing else in life with the number of machines I have.

1.41

Right. In that case only change the needle every 10 hours of sewing.