Wasn't the motor on my 99K!
 

Earlier this week I wrote about buying a 99K that didn't work...knew that when I bought it. People on the board suggested I find a good repair man to fix it. Well, the more I looked at the machine the more "something" bugged me...drove me crazy. Finally a light came on in my head and I started laughing. Yep, it was the bulb itself. Someone had replaced the bulb with a ROUND refrigerator bulb instead of the long machine bulb. Bought one for $1.50, inserted it and the machine ran for the first time. Guess the round bulb just wasn't making the connection. I have oiled the machine this morning and it sounds so smooth. Doing a happy dance!! Just have to find a name for her now.

While I'm happy you got your machine running, something doesn't sound right. Your motor shouldn't have to depend on having a light bulb installed to run. I could be wrong. I certainly don't know everything there is to know about these machines. Maybe someone else here will chime in on what's going on.
Rodney

+1. rodney, is right. there is no connection between light and motor. no light there should be motor. no motor there should be light.either way something is not right with your setup. motor and light assembly wirings are seperate. you can run either one seperately. meaning - i can turn on the light by itself and i can run the motor by itself. they are not dependent on each other.

Must be a girl thing. I had a dryer that started acting up. Dh went through same motions as I did. Got it started. but as long as it is running with a new/correct light bulb. Don't knock it. Could be just moving it around checking this and that and bulb change and oil just jiggled everything into place.

The 99s do have a round bulb.

One possibility I thought is that the bulb could have been shorting the electrics and blowing a fuse each time it was switched on, although I'm sure Linda would have mentioned if this were the case.
Great you got it working, though.

I didn't know 99s had fuses.

They don't. Something is wrong here either with the machine or the way it was described i what was wrong.

Houses usually have them, Miriam.

just making sure

Ok....all I know is that when I plugged my machine into 3 different outlets nothing worked....not the light, not the peddle. It was dead for all intense and purposes. I had purchased it from some who told me I would have to put some money into it to get it working. My mothers old Singer took the long bulb and that is what showed up in the Singer manual for the 99K. All I know is that my machine now runs like a dream.

I got plenty of morning laughs out of this thread. All in all, I am so happy that, for whatever reason, your 99 is humming away. Call it serendipity, maybe.

I think people are afraid there may be something wrong with the wiring and are worried for you. Whatever, have a good sew and just keep an eye when you have it plugged in you don't smell smoke or something yucky.

Does your machine use the stock wiring or does it have the power cord with two outlets? Also, does the light stay bright or does it get brighter and dimmer as you work the controller? It's possible someone wired the light in series with the motor instead of splitting the power before the controller. Kind of like twinkle lights on a Christmas tree. When one dies the whole string goes out.
Rodney

I'd suggest removing the light - and if it won't run - then SOMETHING IS WIRED WRONG. My husband recently works on a Featherweight that had the wiring messed up a bit. It ran fine, but you occasionally got a tingle from the bed of the machine. Not really safe, and had it shorted a bit more, it would have been more than a "tingle". That is why people are concerned here -

There are a lot of newer machines that are controlled through the light SWITCH, so if that is not "On" the motor will not run. However they will run just fine without a bulb - as the power is not running through the bulb, just the switch.

I am waiting for 99K to be delivered which I bought sight unseen. It's funny this is the first thread I should come across on the 99k as it addresses an issue I read about last night on Facebook. It said use of these old machines is electrocution waiting to happen and I've been nervous ever since and wondering if I should have just not bought the machine. When it arrives I'll check for any visible wiring problems and use an instant cut out switch when I first turn it on.

I guess the sensible thing to do is to take it to a repairman for a service and complete checkover.

The bulb from my 99k is round. I need a new one, 'cause it's dead, but the SM works just fine!

If you use a bit of common sense (which is less common these days) you can DIY but yes the best option would be to take it to an electrician. Someone pointed out to me the other day that SM mechanics don't generally like doing the electrical work. This has been my experience too, but I find it very easy so do my own rewiring.

Being in Australia, you are better off with a 240V machine. The higher voltage means lower current and therefore heating, so the wiring lasts significantly longer than our 110V friends' machines.
Only one machine has ever needed a total re-wire: A 32VDC 222K featherweight (was sold new to outback QLD in the '50s). Again, lower voltage had accelerated its demise.