I'm pretty good at spotting 15's, the tension out there on the nose is a dead giveaway.

I THINK I have been telling 201's & 66's apart correctly, but now I'm second-guessing myself! I really like trying to ID Singers I see "in the wild" - it's a little game I play with myself. :)

I cleaned and oiled my new 201-2 and it is sewing like a charm, I am very happy. I did have problems getting grease into the tubes. So how does one do that when they don't have the old grease tubes? I just put all I could in there and added some more and put the thumb screw in, will that get up into where it is supposed to go? It says to put your tube in there and squeeze it up into the cups, well my tube won't fit, it is the new singer stuff.

I am taking my computer in to see if it needs repairs as there are things I can't do on it and this site won't let me put pictures up on it. Always could before, so think it is computer.

My 201 has the external motor and belt drive. I have tried various types of grease on the meshing gears but have returned to oil. The machine runs nicer with oil. I use a light synthetic oil with teflon. The only issue might be you have to unscrew the two black cups that covers the gears to inspect now and then. You can reach them with oil from the bobbin case and a hole closer to the base under the stitch length lever. I'm not sure if you can use oil in connection with the worm gear close to the potted motor on the 201-2, if there's any chance oil could seep into the motor grease would be a must. The 201-2 has internal wiring a bit different to the others, so I would stick to the manual regarding lubrication. The older 201 manuals actually recommend oil everwhere, exception is the 201-2. For some reason the manual with the later production 201 recommends grease on the meshing gears.

The two cups under the base of the machine have tree screws that needs to be unscrewed and they the corkscrew meshing gears are open to be cleaned and greased. I'm not sure how you reach the gears behind the potted motor, you might have to take off the hand wheel.

Mickey2, I read the book and did all that they said but when it came to greasing the motor it is different. There are two grease cups up under the hand wheel and you are supposed to put the old grease tube up in there and squeeze it into the two cups and then put the thumb screws back in, well with the new grease tubes you can't reach it, so I packed it in there best I could and replaced the thumb screws, which are big screws, this is after cleaning out what was left of the yucky grease. I just don't know if it will get up to where it is supposed to be because it wasn't injected up in there like they said from the old tube. The only way to get into there easier would be to take off the light and cord plug in which looks to me like would be a pain, or if it could even be done. Taking off the hand wheel would'nt help at all. I hope I explained that well enough.

About the plate on the spool pin, I looked on google and there are tons of them with and without, so still doesn't tell me if some of these came without those darn plates! Thank you for your help.

Lynn,
You did the best you could without removing the motor and doing a complete servicing. It's the same thing I did because I can't get the motor off of my 201-2. Just crammed as much up there as I could. My machine is running nice and smooth and quiet so it must have been enough. Regarding the spool pin plate, yes, some came with them and some didn't.

Mickey,as to oiling the lower gear, yes the old manual calls for it to be oiled because the greases available in the day would just get hard. It's been accepted and often recommended for several years all over the internet that a good synthetic grease like Tri Flow can be used. To sort of quote a widely known Singer expert, "If Tri Flow grease had been available back when these machines were being produced it would have been the recommended lube for that gear." It should not, however, be used in the grease tubes that lube the upper gear on a 201-2. Singer lube or vaseline are the recommendations there.

Cari

I have used Triflow grease, Finish Line Ceramic grease, Singer lubrication in a blue tube. I don't like the wite greases with gritty feel, often with lithium or silicone, teflon on the other hand is nice, though. As I said, I have a 201 with an external fitted motor and belt drive, and I don't have to worry about the potted motor or internal wiring. The only advantage I find with grease is you don't have to oil that often. I don't mind checking the gears now and then, I use Triflow Superior Lubricant in a bottle or Finish Line Ceramic wet lube. I give the meshed gears a drop of oil when the other parts get a drop of oil and I have a lighter more smooth running machine. I don't know exactly why I get a better result with the oils when others swear by the fancy synthetic greases; maybe they prefer the slightly lower maintanance?

There are ways about it; I use the grease gun for Finish Line tubes, I couldn't find one for TriFlow, but found a converter nossle to fit the threads in the TriFlow tube. They are available in various sizes and from different makers. There might be other clever ways to deliver grease into hard to reach places.



From a series of pictures in a blog post, it looked to me like the worm gear could be greased directly from behind the hand wheel.


Look at Cari-in-Oly's machine: at the base of the spool pin there is a round metal washer like part. This part on my 201 is differently made, these metal like washers aren't there. When I take of the spool pin plate it's a flat part with three wholes, the one in the middle takes the spool pin the two on the sides are oil points. The base under the spool pin plate is formed like a tiny flat plain on a otherwise roundly shaped body. It's all black painted cast iron. If your's is like Cari's there is no place for the plate to fit on, and if it's flat like my machine, it can have one. This might help you to tell if there might have been a plate there, or never was intended in the first place.

Here I found a picture of one that might have had a plate at one point. (from this blog).
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MW22jRnOux.../0vsg20108.jpg

Mickey this machine does have the plate; it's just black instead of silver. You really need to get hold of a 201-2 to really grasp the difference between it and your 201. Or go back and read more of Rains' blog posts. I wish he was still actively blogging. He's got so much great info. He's got excellent tutorials about the potted motors.

Cari

I love all this new info, and all the great replies. I certainly get filled in with a lot of missing parts. You are probably right, it has a black plate, I've never seen it either. In the US the 201-2 is much more common than here. I get 201Ks in various disguises but the potted motor is like one every other year. Loads of the black and beige aluminum version from the 50s, the odler cast irons too, a few treadles and hand cranks. My heart went straight for the cast irion models :- ) I will grab the next 201K2 I see, the 201-2 I probably would have to buy from the US. I like those art nouveau chromed plates a lot.

You'd be lucky. I've never seen one and nearly all machines delivered here were Ks