About machine belts ..........
 

I am working with a Singer 328K. It has an internal motor. The belt that was on it was one of those amber cogged belts. While the machine sat idle it disintegrated and gummed up around the pulleys at the same time. About all that was left was the cords.
I posted a pic of that in this thread: { http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...k-t217412.html }

I checked with Sew-Classic and her belt page listed the 193077 belt as fitting the 328. I ordered one and installed it. It adjusted about right with the adjusted all the way to the max. If the belt ever stretches there is no adjustment left.
I tried all the belts I had and found one that worked till I got the new one. Don't remember what number it was now but it was an old stretched out Singer factory belt.

OK, I called my LSMG and his books also said the 193077 was the correct one. I took the machine to him and he tried the one he had. Same loose fit as the one from Sew-Classic. We tried several other belts he had and the only one that fit properly was an amber cogged #1514.

~But~, even though that belt fits better, it slips badly. Even when adjusted out so tight you can feel the cogs as you turn the hand wheel, it still slips.
The hand wheel is metal, the motor pulley is plastic. No traction at all on the motor pulley at all.

So, I put the 193077 back on and it works fine, but with no more adjustment.

Does anyone here .... Mizkaki? ..... have an original Singer book that lists this machine's belt number?
There has to be a regular black sewing machine belt that fits this machine. I'll be spending more time on Sew-Classic's belt page, but I doubt I'll find the info I'm looking for.

TIA

Joe

Joe,

I went back to a catalog that was 30 years old and it called for the 193077 V belt, listed as a 15 1/2" belt. The new catalog list the 193077 as a 15 3/8 belt. I guess these belts have shrunk in the past 30 years. Seems like it should fit better.
I also took the belt off my 328 and it is labeled 193077.

Cathy

Just checked Sew-Classic's belt page again.

The 193077 is listed at 15 3/8", but is closer to 15 1/2".
The 1514 is listed at 15 1/4", but is closer to 14 7/8".

There is no regular black belt close to the size of the 1514.

I'm not happy about this. I think I'll go :( .


Joe

Joe,

The 196386 is listed as a 15" belt. However, I think it will be too small. I don't see any belts listed in between these two sizes.

Cathy

I have original Singer books here as well, and I can confirm like Cathy did, that it's a 193077. I had one here, it needed a belt (cracked, but still working), it was on its way, but the guy wanted the machine first. So I called him when the belt arrived, and he hasn't been back for it. It's been 6 months. Now I'm wondering if I even have the right belt sitting here for him.

I need a new belt for my Singer 66 (a 1905 with the old screw foot on the back) and the belt listed for it I ordered and it turned out to be to big (can't rememeber the # of the belt off hand) but couldn't get it not to slip. I'm wondering if the new belts are off on the size they are suppost to be?

Have been thinking of maybe I should go to a store like Farm N Fleet, bring in the old belt, along with a measurement of the distant from the pulley where it need to go and see if I can match up with one they have in the stores, seems like these types of stores have isles of belts to hopefully match up with.

Cathy and Tammi,
Well then it seems that I'll just have to hope that 193077 belt doesn't wear and slip. I don't think they've shrunk in actual size, Sew Classic mentions they are larger than the size listed. At any rate it is bigger enough than it should be to have no adjustment left so if it does wear out I'll just have to stick on another one.

caroloto,
What is the number of the belt you have? Does your machine have a spoked hand wheel?
The spoked hand wheels have a smaller pulley diameter than the solid hand wheels.
Sew-Classic does address this and Jenny can help you get the right belt.

Joe

Joe, I have a 193077 on my 328 and it fits fine. I am pretty sure I got it from Sew Classic. Maybe she has a "bad" batch of belts.....

Linda,

Could just be manufacturers tolerances coming into play too.

Joe

Joe, someone here on the board a long time ago suggested a leather shoelace cut and sewed together to make a belt exactly the correct length.

I had the same problem with my 99k. A cogged belt fit but I just don't like how they look. I finally got the round stretch belt. If you got the 15"-21" one it won't put a strain on the motor. If you were at the higher end if that spectrum (say you needed a 19" belt), I wouldn't recommend it though.

I luckily, was also at the lower end & the stretch belt works fine AND looks much nicer than the cogged one. It fit nicely without stretching & I have room for adjustment.

Jury rigging a shoe lace is OK for an emergency but not for a machine I'll use.

I have had more rubber band belts fail than regular belts. I won't use them unless I have to.

Joe

("caroloto,
What is the number of the belt you have? Does your machine have a spoked hand wheel?
The spoked hand wheels have a smaller pulley diameter than the solid hand wheels.
Sew-Classic does address this and Jenny can help you get the right belt.

Joe ")

Joe,
I just checked, it was/is the 193077 and my 66 has been changed before I got it into a hard wheel with motor. Way to large for it, the old one had stretched that is why I orderd the new one for it. What I ended up doing and it worked was I had one of those Singer general belts still in the package that are round not flat put it on there and it worked. Not sure how long that belt will work, but until the right size needed is localed it will have to do.
Carol

I had to buy 6 or 7 belts for my Singer 15 clone before I could get one that fit. I don't like the plastic cog belts, they are all I could get.

Phyllis,

The clones I've had no problem with. I've been able to find regular black V-belts for all of them. I had the same problem with the cogged belts on my HOTHER as I have with the 328K.

Joe

Just a note in passing here as I cruise our forum tonight waiting for DWTS to come on.....How do you pronounce HOTHER.....Hoth-er with the long accent on the O? Hother like mother? Hot-her? This from an English major in college. I never heard of that machine, and every time I have read anything about it, I walk around with that word in my head for three days, wondering......

JoAnn,

HOTHER ..... well, I don't know how the HOTHER people pronounce it, but I've always pronounced it HOTH with a soft o and ER on the end.

Since I started looking into that machine I've joined the Yahoo group for Japanese machines and gotten no information. Found NOTHING on the internet about it, and only seen two other HOTHER machines on GW auctions.
I've struck out.

All I know is this one was made by JUKI and is an excellent machine.

Joe

328K belt update.

In the almost year since this thread was started both my wife and I have used this machine a lot. Me I sew slow and steady, my wife sews pedal to the metal. She's made a bunch of her pet tents which requires the machine to sew through multiple layers of fabrics, and is currently working on a back pack.

We put it in a cabinet and have it set up as a go-to machine so it's getting a lot of use.

So far not one slip or trouble from the 193077 belt that I thought was too long. Apparently it's got more than enough traction on the pulleys.

Joe

Good to know. Thanks for the update. So many times threads peter out with no resolution.
Rodney

Joe, I could not imagine -- my son has changed out the belts on my 328K when required. I'm not sure of the number, but I searched my original manual, and it has NOTHING in there regarding the belt! I suspect Singer expected that we would take the machine in to have the belt changed! FAT CHANCE! I think the belt we have is a round stretchable belt and it has been on there a long time, presenting no problem! My machine is a solid hand/balance wheel! The belt I have is about the same thickness as the bobbin tire!

Wish I had more, but I don't! Glad your machine is working okay!

Jeanette

Jeanette,

I got soured on the rubber band belts decades ago when I used to go with my mom to the fabric store. Seems to me she was always buying those little blister packs that have a belt and a bobbin tire in it. These were used on the HOTHER ( < avatar pic ). I can't remember how many of those things I changed out for her.

Many of those belts that came on vintage machines I've purchased have been cracked, rotted, or gooey and almost immediately break.

So I just don't use them if I can possibly avoid it.

Joe

The stretch belts also require a lot more tension which can wear on the bushings.