jackiequilts4fun

ARGH.

I hoped to take it out of the box & begin sewing right away!
I bought the tan Featherweight, 221.
I will say the seller did a fine job packing the machine.
Beautiful.

And the machine is beautiful.
Just some minimal scratches to the paint, with a chip here & there,
but otherwise it has a beautiful appearance.

Ok….
I can stitch manually, without the foot pedal, by turning the hand wheel.
Everything else seems to be "just fine;"
it's getting the foot pedal to work in sync with the belt, the wheel, & getting the machine to sew.
Can you help?

When I push on the pedal, I really get nothing … but then the motor will begin to run & the bottom knob on the motor by the machine belt begins to turn.
But the top hand wheel does not turn; and therefore, the belt does not turn.
I am trying to be as explicit as possible so that you will understand what I am trying to say.

I read in the manual and from an online search to turn the screw (to adjust);
but that isn't seeming to help.
Also, when I turn that screw it seems to loosen the motor, and that motor feels quite heavy to me.
I wonder if in shipping the motor did come loose a bit bc it was sort of loose dangly … not "hanging there" but loose.
I loosened it …. I tightened it …. that motor is quite heavy.

The guy who shipped it to me is still being very nice!
I believe he is not trying to pull a fast one on me.
When the machine came it did have fabric in it that was sewn on.
'Course he could have turned the wheel by hand himself, though he says that the motor & hand wheel was turning the belt.

Do you have some advice for me?
The belt looks GOOD.

I also have noticed that I cannot loosen the wheel for the bobbin.

Thanks for any help that you can offer!!
I'm very grateful.
I can take it to the shop but dog gone … I just paid a bundle for this,
and am hoping that it is an easy fix.

oldsewnsew

To me it sounds like you need to adjust the slack out of the belt. You're saying the motor pulley is turning. Loosed the screw to allow the motor to drop, then retighten. If the hand wheel turned freely it should be able to go, give the hand wheel a little help by pulling it down toward you while you depress the foot feed, if necessary. But before doing all this, I'd say make sure it is oiled and the bobbin case and needle plate don't have any thread jams lurking.
If this doesn't get you running, verify that the belt isn't the wrong one, or stretched,...turn the motor pulley by hand and see if the handwheel turns. Hope this is of some help, my explanations are sometimes too wordy and not the clearest...

jackiequilts4fun

Thank you, Jim. Very good advice. I've sort of tried that, but I didn't actually do it to "loosen" the motor from the machine. Is it ok for it to be "sort of" dangling … not tight against the machine?

Macybaby

you loosen it, slide the motor up/down on the bracket and tighten it back up. You most certainly don't leave it loose.
if the motor is already all the way down, then your belt may be too long. Mine is adjusted so it's almost at the top of the bracket, and I have a new belt on it.

barny

Sounds like someone loosened the little wheel that works the bobbin winder. Tighten it up! and get a wrench and tighten the motor. The belt is not supposed to be really tight is it gang?

mlmack

The OP said that she couldn't loosen the clutch knob.

The belt isn't supposed to be really tight, but it is supposed to be tight enough so that the motor pulley turns it.

nwm50

Is the foot pedal wire to it undone anywhere? Never turn hand wheel backwards...just trying to sort out any possible ideas based on my experience.Maybe have seller pay for expert repairman in your area to take a look?
Motor should not be loose at all. Sorry, I'm at a loss of help to you. But hope it gets resolved soon so u can use it

ThayerRags

"I wonder if in shipping the motor did come loose a bit bc it was sort of loose dangly … not "hanging there" but loose."

Sounds like a broken motor mount.

CD in Oklahoma

ArchaicArcane

Can you post some pictures of the motor where it's mounted? It seems like we're all getting very different images. At the very least, I would say that your belt is too loose.

vmaniqui

belt is slipping - that's for sure but we all have to guess. yes, some pics will be helpful. or better yet, if you have smartphone you can take video and upload in youtube and we can go from there. does this forum allow videos uploading ? one thing i can tell you is that should be an easy fix and experts in this forum can surely help you. and they will save you a bunch.