201-2 rattling
 

I pulled out a 201-2 I've had for a couple of years. I don't remember whether I sewed with it when I bought it or not. Anyway, I cleaned it up, oiled and greased it and expected it to sing pretty like everyone I've messed with has.

Well, it didn't. It made a perfect stitch, but the bobbin area is really rattling at high speed. I removed the bobbin and needle and ran it that way to see what I could hear. It still rattled. As long as you sew slow, it doesn't rattle. It sounds like the rattle is under the feed dogs.

I cleaned it pretty well, but did not remove anything. What do I have to do?

bkay

You had the bobbin case out? There's pretty good access to parts, you don't have to take out the rotating parts under the case to clean and oil well.

No, I didn't take anything out. I just removed what I had to remove to do a thorough oil and grease job. I oiled the points in the bobbin area that the manual called for and didn't remove anything except the covers.

Do I have to remove the bobbin case and oil under it?

bkay

You likely have to take out the bobbin case and clean, I always get 201s jammed with dust and lint down there. It's always much smoother and quieter when it's cleaned. I would spend some time getting oil into the holes, joints, cam actions, etc under the base. Check if the oil point in the screw in center under the bobbin isn't clogged, poke a pin or tooth pick down there. If it's clean just oil the race, there is a sort of cut in the hook and race that turns under the bobbin case. I would give all the oil points both a second and third round of oiling.

Well, I finally got it done. Thanks, Mickey. It sounds like a 201 now. (It was really nasty under there.)

A step-DIL was here Christmas, and was saying how she just wanted a machine that would sew perfectly (she makes aprons and baby blankets for gifts) and not wasn't complicated. I said, "I have the just the machine for you." So, now I have to get it working right. I did a lot more cleaning than I had when I was just going to sell it.

Other than the obvious, is there anything special I should do? I didn't do anything inside the back side of the pillar; should I? The underside and behind the nose had lots of dried up oil. That's why I'm asking about the insides.

(My main interest has been the slant machines and you can get to and see everything. Not so with these old black ones.)

bkay

You probably should take off the hand wheel to clean and regrease. Any lubrication is most likely dried up; there is a worm gear there and it needs to be checked. Much the same for the motor bearings and grease wicks, on the potted motors it can be quite a bit of work. In theory you should get by with adding grease to the grease ports, but the wicks can be clogged with old dried up grease. There luckily lots of good advice on this, tutorials on blogs and even a few videos on youtube. I have two belt driven 201s, and maybe others here could add anything useful. The 201 is my favorite.

I took off the handwheel and cleaned out a lot of nasty old grease.

I just refilled the grease ports when I decided to sell it. Now, I think I'll tackle the replacing the wicks. Is it easier to just remove the motor assembly to do this? I have another 201-2 that I'm keeping, along with at least one 15-91 (maybe 2). So, I guess I need to learn how to do this.

Thanks, Mickey. I really appreciate your help.

bkay

I have a 201-2 that is one of my favorite machines and another one I just recently received. Both of them are going to get a spa day sometime this year. I plan on removing the motors and going completely through them, including putting new wicks in them. Should've done it to my favorite one when I first got it but I couldn't get the motor off of it so gave up and just cleaned everything as well as I could. This time around I'll be using extra muscle in the form of youngest DDs boyfriend.

Cari

I just watched a youtube video on just how to do that. You have to see it before you try again. It doesn't take strength. It just takes know how (which I didn't have). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGub1XiTNR8

I'm so glad the DIL wants the 201-2. I really hated to sell it, but I need to clean out that workspace and turn it into an apartment.

bkay

Thanks Bkay, I hadn't seen that video before.

Cari