Pfaff 130 - I have a sticking problem
 

I have a question about a Pfaff 130. I have one and it is hanging up inside. I have oiled it and oiled it and it just won't run smoothly all of the time. The sicking part is behind the stitch width knob and controls the amount of back and forth movement of the needle bar assembly. It is a square part sliding in a channel. It will do straight stitches and do zig zag too, but when you are doing zig zag and stop it seems to hang up on this part here sometimes when you start back up again.
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If you give the handwheel a little encouragement it will go just fine. But I don't like that it is sticking. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
~Grant~

I got a newer Pfaff - a #78 last Friday and I have a similar problem in the same area - the needle will swing to the left but goes to the right in slow motion and sometimes not at all - I have oiled and oiled and it is still slow motion or doesn't go at all. I'm about ready to apply heat and see if heat helps. I've also wondered if I need a more potent cleaning agent than Tri-flow. I can't think of anything else to do.

I have a similar Necchi BU that always had a slight "hitch" and I put it in a hot car in the summer. That apparently loosened up whatever was sticking and allowed the oil that I had previously applied to seep into that sticking part....problem solved. I now give most old machines the "Car treatment".

I got this machine a month and a half ago and it was sticking. I doused it in oil and gave it a time out for a couple of weeks. It was still sticking. I ran it for a while and doused it again and gave it another two week time out and still nothing. Maybe I'll heat it up. With all of the soaking and the time to set do you think it would benefit it to be heated up? I appreciate everyone's input on this, and thank you.
~Grant~

Perhaps some some Break Clean or Liquid Wrench Penetrating oil? Looks like a dandy place for oil to gum up and get sticky.

Oh and if heat is needed just use the hair drier set on incinerate, that should do it. ( I'm serious on that part. I used heat on two different machines and it took max heat to do the job. )

Joe

keep that heat away from anything plastic though... I've got to make sure there isn't any on the Pfaff. Heat will do wonders. I doubt if putting it in my car would cure it right now though.

Joe, I am afraid to use break clean near the painted surfaces. It takes paint off. Where do you get the Triflo Oil anyway? Would an auto parts store carry it? And Miriam, the Pfaff does have some Bakelite but no plastic. I was thinking I would crank up the oven and put it on top of the stove to get the radiant heat from it. Yea, it has been cold here as of late near Chicago. My hand might just freeze to it if I tried leaving it in my car for a while now. :D
Any other ideas?
~G~

You can use a pen type torch, hair dryer, set it near a heater, rice sock, heating pad, furnace duct - someplace warm. You can get Tri-flow at a bicycle shop or from sew-classic - I would discourage you from getting the spray - just a little 2 oz drip tube should keep you for a very long time.

Grant,

Break clean will not take off cured paint, at least I've never had it do that to me. Fresh paint, absolutely. It will take of wax, polish, oil, varnished oil, decals, and it will craze some plastics.

So you use the spray tube, get the tube right next to what you want to clean and give it a little squirt. You don't have to hose it down.


Joe

And I would encourage you to get the Tri-Flow spray, as I have found that solves many problems like this one. Also, first clean off all that oil; too much oil can cause problems, too. It was sewing machine oil, right? 3-in-1 oil would CAUSE that problem and other substances, such as WD40, might cause that problem. It makes the parts sticky.

Get Tri-flow on e-bay or at a bicycle shop.

I have been using Singer oil on it. I will try to find some Tri-Flow. Thanks.
~G~

Grant,

Tri-Flow oil is to Singer oil as Singer oil is to a generic all purpose oil. It is that much better.

Joe

I am a certified sewing machine mechanic, and I agree with Joe about the Tri-Flow. I was meching a machine yesterday and used Tri-Flow on it.

Grant,
Be real careful you don't get any of that Tri-Flow on your skin, it gets in your blood, then you will want to fix/oil everything in sight - can openers, the treadle base, the knee controller on the sewing table, the button holer, the juicer, the thingy that holds the hatch back on the car up...:D:D:D
- not to worry it is safe.

Joe and Cricket thank you. I looked yesterday at a store near my house but they did not have it. I am on a hunt for it now. I am going out tonight to a place that has a bike shop near by and will see if they have it there. Fingers crossed.
Miriam, I already have the sewing Machine thing in my blood. It sounds like what ever I have would feed on Tri-Flow like Popeye feeds on Spinach, and make it worse. :D:D:D I'll be careful not to drink it, inject it or put any in my next batch of Brownies. :D:D:D
~G~

Grant,

If you can't find it locally, don't forget about Sew-Classic.

Joe

Got any locks that freeze in the winter? I haven't tried it myself, but I'm told Tri-Flow will stop that problem.

Good news, and thank you to everyone that helped me with my Sticking Problem. I am happy to say that it is fixed. I was at an Estate Sale this past weekend and guess what I found there? Yup, a new can of Tri-Flow oil in an aerosol can. I think I paid about 50 cents for it and it was new (SCORE!). But I digress. It just took a couple of squirts and spins on the handwheel and it is no longer hanging up and it is not sticking any more. I have seen Tri-Flow recommended so many times here on QB but I was skeptical. I am a true believer now. I will still use Singer oil for maintaining machines and I will use the Tri-Flow for the stubborn jobs like this one.
Miriam, Wintersewer, Joe, and Cricket, thank you all so much for your interest and help. I really do appreciate it. I really do. Just so you all know, this poor machine was almost relegated to being a parts machine. Now it will be fixed, in a new home and back to sewing again.
~Grant~

My Pfaff is moving better now, too thanks to Tri-Flow!

Miriam, We sound like a commercial for Tri-Flow. :D
~G~

No joke. It is good stuff though.

Like I said, I was skeptical. But there seemed to be so many people here and other places that mentioned it as being great, I had to try it. My machine went from junk to jewel. Seriously, I was thinking of parting it out if it did not work right. I was lucky enough to get a spray can of it at an Estate Sale for cheap, so it was a no brainer.
~G~

I'm not crazy about spray cans of the stuff - I use a little drip bottle - does the job.

I didn't have the choice but for what I needed it for the spray was a good choice. I needed to get back into a place that was hard to reach and it might have blown out some of the bad stuff in the process too.
~G~

I use the long skinny straw thing and it reaches about anywhere I need it to go.