Singer 101 Wiring
 

Hi! I'm new to the Quilting Board. I am reading the Vintage Singer posts as fast as I can but it is a bit overwhelming. I inherited my Grandmothers old Singer, cleaned it up and love it! Got in line to inherit a long bobbin and I am working on that one too. The question today is my purchase from Craigslist of a Singer 101 for $39. It was made May 1930. It's in pretty good shape and the table is in very nice shape, except the wiring......

To get to the point... the wiring looks pretty beat up and I have not even removed the fly wheel or potted motor (a bit afraid of what I will find). Can I rewire somehow with a foot pedal and electrical outlet cord instead of the knee pedal? Will the wires be ok when I remove any old insulating material (it's fraying).

Point me to any resources, Thank You in advance for any help! I am trying to post photos.

Laura

Hi Laura,
Good for you finding a 101, I have two and they are my favorite machines, smooth and the very best straight stitch you will find! I am not sure I can help you much with the rewiring, mine haven't needed it. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think you could use the potted motor information from the 201. Why do you want to change the knee control to a foot pedal? The knee control works well and I think you would like it if you haven't tried it yet. Here is a link to the owner's manual and the adjuster's manual which should have what you need for wiring. http://ismacs.net/free-sewing-machin...ls-list.html#S

The best oil for your machine is Tri-Flow, which is available from Sew Classic.

Here is a story about my 101. When we first got it the knee control wiring needed some fixing. My husband had his head down in the cabinet, and the machine was tipped back. He said "Tell me when it is running". It was running, but so quiet and smooth he couldn't hear it from 6 inches away! Congratulations on your 101, they are the most refined and beautiful of the Singers I think!
Tami

Hi, Laura! You might look at this site: The Vintage Singer Sewing Machine Blog. The author, Rain, has videos on how to rewire a potted motor on a Singer 15. Apparently it's helped a lot of people! I'm still too chicken to mess with the electric, and have several machines that need a good messing with!

PS - Best of luck to you and send pictures!

Thanks Margaret, I couldn't remember the name of that blog. He has some really great pictures of what he is doing.

Rewiring is not a difficult process. It does require a bit of care but not a great deal. It's very easy to replace a knee controller with a foot controller and vice versa. I keep all my originals safely tucked away and in most cases use a modern electronic controller and power cords for my vintage machines for better control and to preserve the originals. Rain's tutorials are fantastic.

Thank You! It's not the knee pedal so much as all the fraying of the wire insulation everywhere, pretty scarey looking in there. I wasn't able to post the wire pictures. I'll try after work.

Laura

Small appliance repair place
Check out Victorian sweatshop forum
A lot of QB members went there

Is it the motor wiring or from the machine to the wall? There are schematics on line on how to rewire. Some are on U tube. DH is an electrician and he is teaching me how to wire machines, as his eyesight is fading. It is pretty straightforward on the old machines and starts to get wild from 1950 on. The old, black, Singers are pretty easy and simple. Some of the old wiring had real rubber insulation and it gets hard, cracks, and falls off. Never use a machine with bad insulation. You can get new supply wire at Home Depot, Lowes and the big box stores. Reuse your plugs in you can. The machine plugs will probably be useable. The wall plug will probably need to be replaced. I have found the machine plugs on Ebay also. Sew-Classic.com has most of the older style plugs and wires. They can even wire the new controllers for you for a small charge. Try browsing their website and compare what you require with what they have. Their prices are the best and a lot of QB members use them because their prices are the best. Good luck.

These old Singers are very straight forward for wiring.

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The Singer 101 was made before the wiring diagram above. It's a little different, there's no 3 prong connector. Just follow the path of the wires and it should work though. You can rewire easily enough if you prefer the foot pedal. Personally I prefer knee controls.
I gave my 101 to my daughter. They do make a beautiful straight stitch and are one of Singer's more unusual designs IMO.
Rodney