Sewhere

I am a newbie as of today. I have checked out the QB threads before and found great information. I bought my 'new' 301A at a thrift store and cleaned her, new lube and oil. She will run well to start and then slows to a stop. I own a number of other vintage machines and they have been mostly just cleaning and oiling and good-to-go. I think this one may have more to it than I have the knowledge for. When I disengage the hand wheel the motor runs beautifully(a no lube one). Otherwise when I run it, she runs well to start then slows and will stop. If I wiggle the hand wheel back and forth I can feel something tight eventually release and then she goes again...to repeat... I would love to be able to fix it myself but need some guidance as to where to start, guidance if you will. Be gentle with me...

leonf

Welocme aboard. Good description of your problem. Is there noise or smoke? First places I woudl look would be for stray thread around the bobbin or maybe wrapped around the main shaft at teh handwheel. Checking the feed dog area for lint/felt would be good too.

Mickey2

I would not give up on first or even second attempt. My suggestion would be to keep on cleaning and oiling, checking the meshing gears and worm gare carefully when you turn the wheel by hand. Go over every oil point, a drop or two with oil, don't forget the needle bar. Take out the bobbin case and as many parts that's needed for the basic maintanace and oiling, take off the throat plate and inspect moving parts carefully. What you describe is quite common and with a bit of persistance you will get to the bottom of it; more oil to free gummed up parts, dry parts,... Further cleaning and poking might discover a tip of abroken needle stuck some where, a bit of thread,...

There are still some clever guys posting here on QB, quite a few have the 301 as their favorite and this site has lots of info on vitage Singers, user manuals, service manuals, hints and tips, and expert help when you post questions.

19cats

Check out Andytube on you tube as well. He has a whole series of videos on 301s.

Sewhere

Thanks. No smoke, and when I run it without the hand wheel the motor just runs great. There were some threads around the bobbin area and I think I got them all, plus quite a bit of lint under the throat plate. I may remove more of the bobbin assembly and have another look. I don't see any threads around the main shaft. But I think I will take more apart and do a better clean. I hope it isn't a part because my knowledge there is limited. An opportunity to learn!

Sewhere

Thank you, 19cats. I did find Andy Tube and that inspires me to be able to take more apart and do a better clean. This machine has not been cleaned for awhile or seen oil or lube for some time. I'm not sure when it was last used. You take your chances when you don't know where the machine has been.

Sewhere

Okay, note to self...check Everything! I was going to put it away, got other stuff to do, and when I was going to put the bobbin back in, I noticed the finger wasn't in the notch of the needle plate. When I got it back in place, the machine runs 'like a Deere'!! Wow. I can't believe it. Thanks, peeps.

WIChix

Here's another tip: The finger on the 301 bobbin case nests into a slot on the underside of the needle plate. Ask me how many times I've taken the plate off to do a thorough cleaning, and forgotten that wee bit of info. Intermittent thread snarls, poor starting, hours of "what is going on with this? It never acts up unless something is wrong."

Sewjourner

These are great machines, just get in the habit of always holding the threads when you first start, as they like to pull down and make trouble if you don’t.

Little Lulu

I am so glad that you got it working. You will truly enjoy it. I have had a 301A for over 40 years, and it is my go to machine. I love to piece on it, and it is the machine I take to retreats and classes. It truly is a workhorse.