Maintenence/Clean-up question
 

When I cleaned up my first 201-2, I followed the user manual. I filled the grease cups on the motor and closed them up. Since then, I read somewhere that I should have cleaned out the cups, replaced the wicks and refilled them. I have another 201-2 and a 15-91 to do. Should I change the wicks? Should I go back and re-do the first 201-2? (These are keeper machines.)

bkay

I don't have any machines with potted motors, but if the motor and bearings are dependant on the wicking action on the oil I guess you should. How is the state of the wicks? If they are dried up and grimey, you might clean them out somehow, but less work replacing them. However, once the parts are greased they should last a good while even with out the wick.

I don't know how much grease that ever actually wicks, or if it acts more as a reservoir for oil; when the motor gets warm a slight amount of oil will seep from it. There are a few threads on this wicking problem. The black belt driven motors I have opened have had wicks, the newer beige ones (a guess would be late fifities and up) don't seem to have any.

The motor is dependent on the wicking action to get lubrication. That's the only source.

The motors run fine, so I don't intend to try to take them apart to grease them. I was just doing PM on them.

I'll check the previous threads for information.

Thanks,
bkay

Rain Noe's blog has info but it is a lot of work to do it his way. On my own machine, I cleaned it all out and put in Vaseline and new wicks. It wasn't a bad job thanks to good directions. Mine all have had a bit of hardened grease. I also take apart the tension and bobbin area and clean. There is plenty of info here and other on line searches. No need to be redundant.

Thanks, if what I've found online has been interpreted correctly, the motor has to be removed to replace the grease wicks. At least all references I've found included removing the motor. So, I'm not sure if the motor has to be removed or changing the grease wicks was just incidental to the larger process shown in the posts. My limited mechanical skills, patience and time are not a good match for removing and disassembling the motor.

Is replacing the wicks important enough to warrant a $125.00 minimum charge from the OSMG?

bkay

By now most of the wicks in these machines are hardened up with old grease so yes changing them is a good idea. The thing to be careful of is the little metal tab that you have to turn to release the old wick. If you break it, there's no new ones available.

Cari

If you can clean up and regrease the worm gear behind the hand wheel and gear part in the hand wheel, it should get you far. The basic Singer motor which needs grease only on each end of the motor axle quitets down noticebably when cleaned and regreased. On the other hand, they seem to run very well on little to no maintanace for decades, and I guess it's because the bearings in the motor housing is brass (or something similar), and the motor axle is steel.

Yes, it's worth having a 201 rewired, greased and everything checked, at least by someone who knows and care about this model. It's my favorite and the one I use the most. That said, it does cost and we don't always have the money ready for it; then it's DIY best you can, at least until you can hand it in some where.