margaret53

I bought a 301 in cabinet. Seems to work well except when I press on the foot pedal there is a hum (from motor?) Before it takes off like crazy. I tried another food pedal which helped greatly with speed control but still hum and need to give handwheel a spin most times to start sewing. What do I need to do? Tia

Joe Ayres

I would make sure the motor is properly greased. I got a 301 that wouldn't even turn, and the grease in the motor had hardened, and was preventing it from running. If your motor is sticky, it could be your problem. See your manual (or someone here may have a link) for how to grease the motor.

JoeJr

Sounds as though the motor has to overcome some resistance, either in the motor itself, in the machine, or both. In addition to servicing the motor I would thoroughly oil and clean the machine. I've not owned a 301 (yet) but I would remove the motor, as I think it gear drives the machine, to make sure the machine cycles freely. And service the motor while it's out.

margaret53

I have greased the gears and oiled the machine. It is gear driven and the motor does not have a grease port. I am not sure I am confident in removing the motor.

OurWorkbench

How to oil and lubricate a 301 can be found at https://www.manualslib.com/manual/45...page=15#manual For the gears you need lubricant, but not the one that you can get now. If you have one of the old metal tubes, you can use that. Others have used petroleum jelly or there is another that is available from a couple of online featherweight pages. I don't know if it would be like the 401 and benefit from a drop of 30W automobile oil or not as indicated at She's real fun, my 401...

Also what kind of foot pedal do you have? It is the 2-button kind? There is an adjustment that can be made. Archaic Arcane did a couple of pages about foot controllers at https://archaicarcane.com/what-a-pile-of/ and https://archaicarcane.com/highway-st...on-controller/. Or it just may need cleaned out.

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JoeJr

Here's a thread on 301 motor removal

How to remove the Singer 301 motor?

Once the motor is out, you can tell if it turns freely, as well as if the machine does.

1.41

If the machine was belt driven, I would say start witch checking if the belt is too tight. Given that there is no belt here, I agree with the advice you've received from OurWorkBench. I would certainly start with the foot pedal if it's a button pedal. One way or another I would do a thorough cleaning and lubrication of the machine as previous posters have recommended. I use SuperLube synthetic grease on gears. I find that it works really well on sewing machine gears. I've used it on my Singers, my Elna and my Kenmore and I'm very pleased.

I wouldn't start with taking apart the motor. That would be my last project. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to remove the motor and give it a good cleaning. And a motor disassembly and cleaning should certainly be on your agenda. You can be sure that the commutator needs to be wiped down at the very least. I don't know these motors well enough to advise about oiling or greasing them. Others who have experience with disassembly of one of these motors can weigh in.

That said, the general approach to lubricating motors is that if you're going to use grease get motor grease from the Featherweight shop or use pure petroleum jelly. Don't use grease that is used on gears. For motors you need grease that has a low melting point and the only source for that type that I know of is the Featherweight shop or just use Vaseline like I do. All that said, I don't know what is generally recommended for the worm gear on the motor. My guess would be regular gear grease like SuperLube, but I've never looked into that point. I've also lubricated motors with a tiny, a very tiny drop of sewing machine oil in the bearings, but again, I leave it to others to advise on this particular motor.

If the above doesn't help, you may have a shaft that's binding or even thread wrapped around the hook or the handwheel binding the machine. If a shaft is binding it's a bit more of a project, but certainly very doable.

1.41

I completely agree, and once you have it out, check the brushes, and clean the commutator.

FoggyButFocused

Here's my two cents. My vintage machines do this when I forget to start with the needle all the way down into the fabric. Make sure the needle is in the fabric before you step on the pedal.

Let us know how you solve the problem!

MWB53

Thank you for all the advice. I oiled again and greased the gears; switched out the button foot pedal for an electronic one. I sewed a few long seams and what a major improvement! I still.have a tiny bit if hum and hesitation when the needle is in a certain position.