New wiring for old FW foot pedal
 

I'm cleaning up a 1955 FW and the foot pedal just barely reaches the ground. The wire coming out of the pedal was wrapped with adhesive tape so I know somewhere down the line someone shortened it up.

I ordered a new cord from sew classic but I can't tell which side of the wire is + and which side is -. There isn't any printing on the cord. I think I remember someone saying that the printing is the + side but since no printing.... no help there. The new wire is copper for both sides.

The old wire had red/copper on one post ( I assume +) and black/silver on the other post (I assume -).

I don't want to burn out my pedal. Can anyone help me?

Jean,

The controller is just a switch. It doesn't really matter which way you wire it.

From what I've seen on my machines, and what your picture shows, someone has unhooked the wire from the connector block and turned it around using the connector block rings on the controller. Look at how burnt the wires are. There is usually a heat shield around the wires where the lay against the controller to prevent them from burning up like those on your machine did.

Did you buy a cord set with the plug block? Sew-Classic Part #SCE123 { http://www.shop.sew-classic.com/Cord...ers-SCE123.htm } If so then just connect the wires to the controller and you're good to go.
If you can find some heat shield tubes do use them, otherwise try not to let the controller get really hot.

Joe

Joe

Yes Joe. That's the one I got SCE123.

Where do you find heat shield tubes? ... and how do you use them? You can see that there is a black web-like material on the negative side of the old wire but nothing on the positive side. That's probably why they put the adhesive tape on it.... the rubber probably burned off the wire. I'd like to be able to use this machine (I'm trying to rotate using my machines so they all stay working well) and don't want the wire to burn up.

You always come to my aide, Joe. Thanks so much.

Joe, I hooked the wire to the silver posts. They didn't tighten down very well. What are the black screws on the block for?

Jean
I've just reused the heat shields from the old wires when they were there. If not I just didn't use them.
I've never had a controller get so hot it melted the wires. That wiring your machine had is the old junk with latex insulation and probably aluminum wire. It's very prone to decaying with melting and crumbling insulation as the result.

Modern wire does not melt as easy as the old stuff.

What I usually do is cut the old connector off, then remove the head shield if I can. Then I run between my fingers to soften it up a bit and make it flat enough to go over the new connectors. Then I slide it on the new wires and clamp them down.

I was wrong about the ring connectors, those are the original foot controller ends. Here's a pic of the controller for my 15-91. It's the same as your FW although it's a different color:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]462787[/ATTACH]
Just slip the forked connectors of the new wires under the silver screws and screw them down tight.
The black screws are not connectors, they hold the resistance block to the bottom of the controller.

Joe

PS: If the silver screws will not go down far enough to tighten up, then clip the little ring connectors off the old wires and use them as washers over the new wires connectors.

Joe

Thanks, Joe. Removing the old connectors is a great idea. I hadn't thought of that.

Would electrical tape work for the heat shield?

Is there any reason to keep the old cord? The plug that goes into the machine might come in handy if I get a machine that has that part cracked. It's just like the ones on the 15-91s I think. But that old wire isn't worth saving is it?

Okay, one more question. Is there a way to make the foot pedal a little smoother? I like to stitch slowly at times but this controller goes from 'nothing' to 'pretty fast' with no gradual increase. It kinda feels like it's sticking.

Jean,

I doubt if electrical tape would help much. Again, a trip to an electrical supply house might be fruitful.

Keep the connector block, but if you want you can toss the cord, it's toast ..... LOL.

I sew slow most of them and like a controller that will start slow and smoothly increase the speed. Jerky ones irritate the dickens out of me.
Here is a blog by our own ArchaicArcane, she's got a complete section in there about overhauling controllers.
{ http://www.archaicarcane.com/about/ }
If you look on the right you'll see a couple pics of foot controllers being worked on. Click on 'em. I do pretty good rewiring them, but she's got tips on tuning them like you need.

Joe

Thanks again, Joe. I looked at the link you shared and it looks exactly like what I need to try. I'm going to check it out again this morning. It was too late last night and I'm not a night person. I'm recharged now and can deal with a new day.

I got 2 FWs cleaned up, oiled, and greased yesterday. They had the least that needed to be done to them. I'm going to rewire a 15-91 today and then I'm off to the 99 and the 101. Those have bigger issues to deal with. I'm sure I'll shoot more questions your way. And thanks again. Maybe someday I'll know all the answers like you do....... not! At least I know who to ask.

Here's some information on Jenny's site about the wiring:
http://blog.sew-classic.com/2009/11/...r-control.aspx

Her pictures change, so you sort of have to "watch" the post...

I think the link Joe wants you to go to on my site (It's the one I would have directed you to) is: http://www.archaicarcane.com/singerattheraces/
I mention this because the pictures on the right change all the time depending on what the most popular posts on the site are. Usually this one will be there, it's by far the most popular post I have, but if it isn't one day, it would be nice for you to be able to find it anyway. :)