Wiring
 

I have a featherweight that needs new wiring on the foot control and I'm wondering how diffcult it is to do myself. I want to keep the machine and parts as orginial as possible so I don't want to buy any new parts. There is a company that will do the wiring for around $30.00 but I think I would rather do it myself.

Pat in MN

If they'll do the wiring for $30, let them do it as long as they have a good reputation. I spent well over $90 in start up costs to do it myself, and frankly if I'd been smart I would have done the math and realized it would have been cheaper and safer to let a professional repairman do it.

That's mostly for the motor though; if it's the foot pedal, I'd just as soon replace the whole pedal due to the safety concerns with those old pedals. You can absolutely do the pedal for around $30; just go to http://shop.sew-classic.com/Cord-Set...ers-SCE123.htm and buy the cord there and you should be good to go.

The wiring is held to the inner workings of the foot controller by two screws. The Bakelite body has a built in step that acts as a stress relief for the cord.

Depending on what the problem is you might be able to simply rewire the foot controller by snipping off a couple inches of wire and soldering on some ring connectors then reassembling it.
However ~ if the wire is the old aluminum it's best to replace the wire from the controller to the connector then on to the wall plug. The insulation on the aluminum wire tends to be crumbly and brittle.

There is only two contacts inside the foot controller that will need to be cleaned. If the ceramic part is in good shape there is no reason to replace the controller.

You can either buy a new power / foot controller cord set and put your controller on it, or if you have the screwed together connector you can simply replace the wire.

It's not that complicated.


Joe