Tutorial showing how to work on a Singer motor?
 

Is there a tutorial or video showing how to work on a Singer motor? I'm replacing the wiring and while I'm in there I'd like to clean out the old grease in my 201, 15-91 and 66-15. I've searched a few places but not having any luck. Can someone point me in the right direction?:confused:

I'm mechanically inclined... I replaced the gaskets on the valve covers on my John Deere a couple months ago. Can do minor repairs on a car engine (replace brakes, alternator, starter, fuel injectors, plugs, that sort of thing) so I'm sure I can handle a sewing machine motor. I'd rather not go into the motor blindly that's all.

This is the one I followed to rewire my 15-91. Should work for the others as well.


Hah! I bet the link would help.

http://vssmb.blogspot.ca/2012/01/com...ted-motor.html

In case anybody is interested, Glenn is coming to my shop next weekend and we are going to mess with wiring problems. I have a hundred or so machines in dire need. You wouldn't even have to bring your own machine... PM if interested.

Thank you! That's the tutorial I need!

I'll hop on the transporter pad with my Singer 306W and I'll come for the wiring tutorial.
Sharon W.

I wish we could get Muv to show up with her video and sweet explanations... I'm going to try to get as many pics as I remember to do. Some times I get so absorbed I forget. Pat and Glenn are coming Saturday!!! I'm so excited. We are going to show them some of the local spots - well, hit up all the junk stores and mess around in the shop. I need to spend a week in there cleaning... I can't lift anything - I hurt my shoulder... Probably stay up all night talking like we did at Glenn's house. Anyway, Skip has been holding out on us. Pat says his job in the military was to rebuild/repair small machinery. She says he is very good at showing how it is done and she says he LOVES an audience. HHHMMMMM. Pat knows him better than we do.

One more question... the motor on my 201 doesn't have the typical motor brush caps. The machine was made in Canada, but someone put a 110 volt motor on it, made in New Jersey. I'm hesitant to take the motor apart until I can see photos or a video of what it looks like inside. The grease cups tell me where the brushes are located but I need to take the motor apart in order to reach them. Any suggestions?

Here's a photo:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]352693[/ATTACH]

Christine,

That motor is made out of Bakelite. If you twist it, drop it, hit it, or otherwise abuse it you will have a broken mess.
All of the wiring comes out the bottom of the motor into the little box formed by the motor mount where the two screws hold it together. The wiring is held together by those twist nuts. Very cramped, but if you follow the pattern from the old wiring you can rewire it.

If that motor is running I see no reason to take it apart. I rewire them from the bottom out if needed, but if they are running I lube them with Singer Motor Lube and leave them alone.

Here is what those motors look like inside.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...mbledmotor.jpg

Yours is held together with two screws from the pulley end I think, this one was held together with a snap ring on each end. But inside I think they are similar.

Joe

Thanks Joe! I haven't plugged this machine in yet, the wiring is in really bad shape. I don't know if the motor runs or not, but am assuming it's a good motor.
I was planning on replacing all the wiring on this machine EXEPT for the 2 wires coming out of the motor. They are the only wires in good shape. Bare copper is showing on all the other wiring.

Christine,

Then you're good to go. You've probably got smaller fingers than I do so you'll not have as much trouble as I did.
I also have some wiring diagrams for that motor if you need them.

Oh, if that machine hasn't been run in a long time the motor will smoke and stink the first time you use it. Just ignore it and keep going. Mater of fact I've had more than one person tell me to take the belt off and run the motor at full speed until it cleans itself out. Done that a couple times with good results.

Joe

Wow, I ordered wiring, plugs, etc. from Sew Classic and 3 hours later received "Your item has been shipped" email. Cool!

I like ordering from Jenny. She is really nice. Did you know she has free shipping if you buy lots of stuff?

Is felt supposed to be in the grease ports of a Singer motor? My grease ports are solidly packed with felt! I thought they were for grease? Aren't felt packed ports made for oil?

Yes,.. they're called "grease wicks", they're supposed to "wick" the grease down to the bearings slowly.
http://vssmb.blogspot.ca/2011/12/how...r-part-10.html

I did find that in my 15-90, they weren't doing their job though... how do yours look?

I looked at the link you included but its not the same motor as the motor i show in the photo I included. Look at post #13, I have grease ports not grease caps.

Are grease ports supposed to have felt in them? They are so narrow I can't see they would even work.

I'm tempted to take them out. Its the first time I've ever seen felt in there before. They seem fine other than appearing to have never touched grease before, they're still fluffy like felt, nothing like they should look for a 64 yr old machine.

I'd say they're not doing their job then. They should look nasty like the ones in the link I gave you to Rain's site.

What you describe sounds like the ones I found in the 15-90. That one, the motor smelled "wrong" and it ran too slowly. I decided to check the grease wicks to see if the motor was being greased enough, and found fluffy white wicks, with a crusted over "lid" at the top of the grease tube.

I greased under, to lube the motor immediately, then a little around the wicks, and stuffed the top full after reassembly. Took a few minutes, but the motor sped right up and I think it runs as fast and as strong as the 15-91 now and that nasty smell is gone.

Which motor are you working on? Probably the 66 motor, right? BRS, other? Let me know, I'll look it up on my parts diagram,.. the principle is the same though.

I have several of those motors with the grease ports on top. None of them have felt inside that I know of. You are supposed to fill them with the lube from the tube. I'd think the felt would block the lube. I'm wondering if someone put that in thinking they could use oil in them then?

Joe

It's a replacement motor on a 201-3 made in Canada. The motor says its from NJ.

Yes, I'm thinking they don't belong in there. How on earth they got them in there is beyond me! It's coming out a few fluffs at a time. It's definitely felt, with not a bit of grease in there.

I have the wiring almost finished and then I'll plug her in to see how it runs.

I made a tiny little cork screw and it's coming right out. Whew!

Christine,

Is it a Singer Motor? If so and it's a replacement, it could be made differently. Could you post a pic of the motor? If not, leave the felt in there and oil it.

Joe

Heres the motor

That is as standard a Singer motor as I've seen. I'd leave the felt and pump it full of Singer motor lube.

The heat from the motor is what causes the lube to flow. I've never seen felt in there but if it's in as tight as you say, I'd be leery of taking it out.

Joe

I'm confused. The 201 has a potted motor... that doesn't look like a potted motor. That's why I assumed the 66 motor was the patient.

K,.. here's what I can find in my parts books for external motors:

bz3, bz7 and bz8 motors: grease cup wick singer pn 195539
pg3, pg7, pg8, ph3, ph7, ph8 motors: (looks like a 201 potted motor) spn: 193525 (wick and spring) 193526 wick only
bt7, bt8, bt13: spn: 190074
by20-3 by20-7: couldn't see a grease cup or tube on the diagram.
br3s, br7s, br8s motors: spn: 194490
br3, br7 and br8: spn 194490
ba3: couldn't see a grease cup or tube on the diagram.
3-32v, 3-110v, 3-120v and 3-125v (fw 221 machines): spn 194097 - wick (felt)

The felt is out and the motor is greased. I'm certain the felt didn't belong in there. I've never ever seen felt in grease ports before. I made a tiny corkscrew out of a quilting pin and took it out bit by bit.

plugged it in and it's happy! Can't wait to sew a few seams, so off I go....

My motor says BA 3-8 and underneath that it says S.S. AU52-17-1

Motor was manufactured in Elizabethport, NJ

The machine was made in the UK, and is a 201 with the light on the back of the machine instead of the front. Someone put a 110 volt motor on it so it could be used in the USA.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]353205[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]353206[/ATTACH]

Then it gets weirder and weirder.

The chart says BA 3-8 Part # 102393-005 is for the model 15 (except 15-91), 66, 99, 128, 223, 237, 239, 293
I show PH8 for the 201-2 and 1200 series

The BA3-8 falls under the BA3 series. The parts diagram doesn't show grease wicks or springs, but in the "Procedure for inspecting motor" Step #7 of the "At the repair bench" section suggests checking the Lubricating wicks and springs.

Only only risk I can see with removing the wicks on a motor that's supposed to have them is too much of the grease "heating up" and running into the bearing and its surrounding area. If memory serves, often it doesn't so use your own judgement, this shouldn't be a problem.

I guess the side effect of that would be running out of grease in the cups sooner.

Thank you for looking it up! Thank you for the info. The felt was all the way to the top of the ports, only a miniscule amount of grease would fit on top of the felt. And not a bit of grease was in it, so I'm thinking this machine didn't get much use. My machine certainly is weird! :D I don't think grease ports (tiny little tubes) are supposed to have felt in them. It seemed as if the felt was in pieces, not all one piece or it would have come out easier.

There is a clue in the section called "at the repair bench". It says check the wicks "and springs", which tells me the motor they are talking about is one with grease cups where you can remove the springs and wick.

Only the 201-2 has the potted motor. There were several different versions of the 201 just like the other Singers. I would almost bet that was a machine made for the foreign market and someone retro fitted it with a domestic Singer motor when it was brought here.

The motor is greased so that's what's important.

Joe

From what I've been able to determine, my machine is a 201-3. I wanted a 201 with the light in the back so I could avoid the 201 tattoo. I have a slight brain injury so reaching under the light, if in the front, would be a problem for me... I can focus on just a few things at one time.

I'm happy with the machine! It's humming so quietly as it sews. I can't find a manual for a 201-3 online anywhere though. Don't really need one really...

Christine, the felts *do* belong in the grease tubes. If you remove them and allow grease to flow into the motor unimpeded, it is only a matter of time before your motor becomes flooded with grease and dies. The grease is only supposed to lubricate the part of the shaft spinning within the bearing. The wicks moderate the amount of grease that can make it down there.

I'd recommend you place them back in the motor, or you'll probably be looking for a new motor in a few months.

Those felts, when they're old and non-lubricated (like yours, and the ones I had in my 15-90) do get really hard to take out intact. I have found in a couple of motors so far that the springs were "optional". I think the stuff at the top of the parts page, referring to checking wicks and springs may have been generic, but it's at the top of every parts page. They could have changed it, but didn't. *shrugs* I dunno why. The 15-90 had the wick crammed all the way up the tube too, it came out in a few pieces. I ended up using a blunt pin to push it out from the top, but your corkscrew method bears some thought for the next time I get one I have to do that with. :)

Thanks for that clarification Joe! I had actually never seen (or at least recognized) a 201 in person until Tuesday night, I'd just read that they had a potted motor like the 15.


I have a FW tattoo for the same reason. That machine taught me not to use the light anymore, and i sew with another light on above the machines now. Sometimes it's one of those light / magnifier lamps that you can move the arm about, or else a stationary fluorescent meant for being under a cabinet.

I ran across a 201-3 on Tuesday. It belongs to a lady who's not going to part with it, but she wants it tuned up once she finishes a project. When her husband brings it to me, I'm going to ask him to bring me the manual we found in the drawer too, so I can scan it. I'll make sure I get a copy to you once I do that.