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-   -   Motor lubricant for my Singer 201-2 (https://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage-antique-machine-enthusiasts-f22/motor-lubricant-my-singer-201-2-a-t305541.html)

Lee in Richmond 07-01-2019 07:13 AM

Motor lubricant for my Singer 201-2
 
My husband is working on cleaning up a Singer 201-2 that I got at auction. We are not sure what the proper product is to lubricate the bearings and gears in this potted motor. On-line sources seem full of confusion about the difference between oil and grease, and we want to be sure to use the right product.

Can anyone help clarify this for us?

Chasing Hawk 07-01-2019 08:22 AM

Oil is fluid, it flows, runs and drips.
Grease is semi solid and stays put.

I have packed bearing before on my father's old car, grease is messy. :) So protect the surface your working on.

As for a certain brand of grease I am curious to know as well. As for the oil or lubricant, I use CPL in a pen, which is a little thicker than 3 in 1 oil, so a little goes a long ways.

https://www.amazon.com/Break-Free-CL...gateway&sr=8-2

Lee in Richmond 07-01-2019 08:35 AM

What I meant by confusion online is how reviewing what came up as "Singer motor lubricant" products, the comments from buyers went back and forth between oil and grease and were nothing I could trust.

leonf 07-01-2019 08:42 AM

Lee, it is more complicated than your question is. Motors themselves can take either sewing machine oil or a grease.
The gearboxes on 201s take a grease. I am not the person to give you guidance on greases.

Lee in Richmond 07-01-2019 08:54 AM


Originally Posted by leonf (Post 8271969)
Lee, it is more complicated than your question is. Motors themselves can take either sewing machine oil or a grease.
The gearboxes on 201s take a grease. I am not the person to give you guidance on greases.

Thank you for the clarification -- we'll figure this out with all the experienced people who read this forum.

BonnieJP 07-01-2019 05:00 PM

I just picked up a new (to me) Singer 201 sewing machine I had serviced by my Singer dealer. I was curious about the proper "grease" to use, so I asked the technician and he told me to use Tri-Flow. I found it on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Tri-Flow-TF23004-Clear-Synthetic-Grease/dp/B000C15MUU/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2NFMIUM0G4KC8&keywords=clear+synth etic+grease&qid=1562029021&s=gateway&sprefix=clear +syn%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-1

-Bonnie

OurWorkbench 07-01-2019 05:55 PM

Tri-Flow grease is good for gears, however it is not recommended for the grease wicks as it does not wick nor melt like the original Singer Motor Lubricant that was sold with these vintage machines. The formula has changed from what it was.

I'm sure that the grease that Nova and April sell should work if you want to go that route for the wicks. Fortunately, I have some of the vintage tubes for the wicks, but I would not hesitate to use Petroleum Jelly.

I have been reading and researching about vintage and antique machines for several years and the consensus is that Petroleum Jelly is the modern day replacement for the vintage machines grease wicks lubricant.

A couple of web pages that I have found regarding this are https://archaicarcane.com/love-becom...ewing-machine/ and https://archaicarcane.com/greased-li...ube-in-canada/

I understand Lee's confusion. I am still not convinced one way or another about Tri-Flow grease - or for that matter - any grease for use on metal to non-metal gears.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

coffeegirl 07-02-2019 04:01 AM

I would recommend Nova Montgomery's website. She sells a motor lubricant that she and a chemist developed. She usually works with featherweights but you could ask if this would be appropriate for your machine. She is super knowledgeable and I would trust her opinion.

juliasb 07-02-2019 04:57 AM

I recently picked up and old Singer (1947 year). With the attachments was a tube of lubricant for the motor.I don't think the tube had been opened. So I decided to give it a try. Of course I checked it out for consistency and smell before anything else. It seemed ok so into the motor it went. The machine motor, even after several hours of use ran perfect, no lingering odors or grinding smells or noises. Of course I am hanging onto this tube of greasy lubricant. It also came with a small can of oil. It too seemed to be in good shape and so I used it too. Take the technician's advise and use the lubricant he suggested. You should be fine I would think.

bkay 07-02-2019 05:30 AM

A Singer 201-2 and a 15-91 have a potted motor (there is no belt). At the bottom of the motor are two "grease pots" that wick lubricant to the motor (they literally have cotton wicks in there). When the motor gets warm, the grease melts a little and passes through the wicks to the motor. For this particular application, Petroleum Jelly is generally used.

A Featherweight or other Singer machines may use some other lubricants, such as those developed by the Featherweight people. I don't have know about those applications. It is not the same application as the one for the 201-2 and 15-91. I don't believe they actually recommend their product for the potted motors.

But, of course, it's your machine and you can do whatever you think is best.

bkay

JoneB 07-02-2019 03:46 PM

I use the Sew-Retro lube from the Singer-Featherweight shop for my gears and pots, also their oil with the long, skinny brass tube for hard-to-reach places. For cleaning and more easily reached spots, I get the larger bottle of Singer Sewing Machine Oil. I have found that there are plenty of opinions out there, and I have two thoughts about that. Oiling and lubricating is the main thing, and probably most out there are just as good at that as any other. That said, these machines have been around a long time, my oldest is a Singer treadle from about 1879. Keep ‘em cleaned, oiled and lubed and they will be around for at least another 140+ years!

bkay 07-02-2019 05:36 PM


Originally Posted by JoneB (Post 8272563)
I use the Sew-Retro lube from the Singer-Featherweight shop for my gears and pots, also their oil with the long, skinny brass tube for hard-to-reach places. For cleaning and more easily reached spots, I get the larger bottle of Singer Sewing Machine Oil. I have found that there are plenty of opinions out there, and I have two thoughts about that. Oiling and lubricating is the main thing, and probably most out there are just as good at that as any other. That said, these machines have been around a long time, my oldest is a Singer treadle from about 1879. Keep ‘em cleaned, oiled and lubed and they will be around for at least another 140+ years!

I hope many other get to experience the machines from the 40's to the late 60's. Singer probably didn't make the best machines of that era, but they sold a lot more than the other makers. They are so simple and easy to maintain, they don't wear out and make a beautiful stitch. What more can you ask?

bk

williaty 07-09-2019 08:21 AM

I just had to go down this rabbit hole myself. Here's the summary of a month of research:

1) Featherweight motors and the potted motors (15-91, 201-2) require a fairly uncommon set of properties for the motor lubricant. Singer used to sell "Singer Motor Lubricant" just for this purpose.
2) What Singer sells *now* as "Singer Motor Lubricant" is not the same as what they sold back then and is not suitable for the motors
3) Tri-Flo and other PTFE (teflon) containing lubricants are not suitable for motor lubricant.
4) Most general purpose off-the-shelf modern greases are not suitable for motor lubricant.
5) The grease for the motor must have an unusual combination of a fairly low melting point, good wicking, and not drop in viscosity too far once it starts to melt.
6) Petroleum jelly (Vasaline) is commonly recommended as it does have the required low melting point. However, it does not have the required wicking and it also gets way too thin and oily once hot and therefore goes places it shouldn't. PJ is better than nothing but probably should only get used in a country that you can't find something better.
7) In the USA, the easiest thing to buy is Sew Retro grease from the Singer Featherweight Shop. It's also available on Amazon. It has the right combination of melting point, wicking, and lack of creep.
8) You'll need new grease wicks as well. A lifetime supply of it can be bought from McMaster-Carr via part number 8767K226.
9) The bevel gears in the Singer Featherweight 221/222 are meant to be lubricated with the same grease as you use in the motor bushings.
10) The bevel gears in the Singer 201 machines are meant to be lubricated with Oil Only not grease
11) The worm and worm gear in the potted motor machines (201-2, 15-91) can be lubricated with any light grease but it probably makes the most sense to lubricate them with the same thing you use for the motor bushings to avoid any possibility of grease incompatibility problems (some greases can attack each other and break down).

Lee in Richmond 07-09-2019 10:48 AM

Wow, Williaty, that is a comprehensive answer and will be Most useful. We had ordered two other products, skipping over the Sew Retro one because we didn't know what it was. Will get it now! Thank you for helping us, and all others who are perplexed by this same issue, to get it right.


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