Sergers?
 

I don't know if this is the right place for my issue, but here goes. I inherited two sergers from my DM. I have spent the last three days(off and on) trying to get a decent result. One is a Baby Lock (BL-5180) that she bought in 1987. I thought I had it going...chaining off well....put fabric in and it will not feed the fabric through, with or without knives. Of course, that meant I had to free stitches from looper.
The Singer(Ultralock 14 U64A) is about the same age, I think. I have it stitching, but not very well. Anyone have any ideas why the BL will not feed??? I am tired of messing with them...Blue streaks have been flying!

I have a Singer 14U12 and have just sold a 14U32 which I fixed, so I'd need to know more about what the problem is with yours. Not stitching very well is a bit vague. Pictures of how it's threaded and what it's doing to the fabric would be of great assistance too.

What needle do you have in the Singer? Both of mine have used special needles (different to each other).

well heres the manual for the singer. http://www.manualslib.com/manual/154...?page=2#manual

you might want to see if theres anything binding up the feed dogs for the bl.

That's a parts list.

I know very little about sergers other than they can be picky devils.

My wife has two, a Brother 920D 4 head, and a Singer 14U285B 5 head and this is what I know about them:

A: If you have an operators manual read it and follow the directions to the letter.
If you don't have one, get one, and follow the instructions to the letter.

B: One thing I've been told and have seen is threading is critical. Not only must the thread follow the right paths, it has to be done in the right order.

C: Make sure they are cleaned inside. Sergers make more debris and lint than any 10 sewing machines. Especially under the feed dog / cutter area.

D: When my wife is working on them I leave the room.

Sorry I'm no help on this, but sergers are simply beyond my scope of ability.

Joe

exactly what Joe said.
yes we need pictures. I have bought 3 sergers used, and 2 new and have always managed to get them working, and I an no mechanic for sure.
do the obvious first if you have not, change the needle.
let us know.

Mine has been working fine - 95% of the time. I have a Pfaff Hobbylock. Threading in the right order really IS critical and 100% of the time I had tried shortcuts when things went haywire....

Sergers are awesome, don't let anyone scare you away from them. :-)

I have a Babylock 418 three thread I bought new in the 80's? Maybe a little earlier, and they can be wonderful and if your sewing clothes with cotton a must have. Do the blades need to be replaced? Do the feed dogs come up and move? You may need to clean out a lot of lint and threads. Is it threaded correctly? that can be a pain in the hinny, but once done usually works good.
Will be looking for more info, wish I could get my hands on them, but threading is very important.

Sorry I don't have pics right now. To answer some of the comments...I have worked with these since DM purchased them, but now for a long while. I have both manuals, the needles required, cleaned both and oiled, rethreaded both. Worked with tension adjustments on Singer every which way. Will try to get pics of stitches on Singer soon. Guess I will make the trip to nearest BL dealer(about 80 mi) and also Bernina dealer that I have to take my machine to have yearly service. Two birds-one stone!

Sorry! I apologize for not thanking all of you for your quick responses! You are all so great to jump in to help!