wilburness

miriam I may need your sledge hammer! been working on a singer stylist 834. it clicks and I have found why just not a way to make it stop.
you will see that the feed dogs rub against the needle plate that makes the needle plate lift and flop back causing the click click. the owner had that magnet guide stuck to the plate. when I told her the problem, now she remembers why she had that magnet there.. to hold the plate down and stop the clicking. she also had a needle hit the needle plate quite a few times.
I have pulled this apart, cleaned, oiled and still cannot stop the rubbing and click click. I thought the feed dogs needed to be adjusted, no can do.
any ideas?

miriam

Did she replace the feed dogs at some point? Lint under - looks clean - thread wrap somewhere out of sight? Everything looks assembled correctly except that little button that holds the whole mess down (oil it like you are my little Wilbur)- double check with a manual. Maybe pull everything out and reassemble? I might have a set of dogs that fit that somewhere in my junk. It looks like a needle scar on the throat plate - needle hit and maybe hit hard. Bent needle shaft? Is there a sprung spring down there somewhere? You have nothing to lose by taking things apart and putting them back together - great learning experience. I can always lend you a sledgehammer if things get out of hand. I hope you didn't pay much for that machine. Joe or Candace probably have better advice than I do. Not my favorite machine.

J Miller

There should be an adjustment under the bed for the feed dog height. You'd have to find a service manual to be sure what to adjust though as I have not messed with one that new.

Joe

Candace

Follow where the feed dogs attach, down and under the machine. There should be a linkage that you can adjust under the machine. It just may be very hard to get to. I've had several machines that the feed dogs either scraped against the back of the plate or banged it rather hard and that adjustment to the linkage was key. I've never worked on a 834 that I remember, so the service manual that Joe recommended would be handy for you to have if you can get one.

ThayerRags

Check for a broken/missing plastic thrust washer at the left bearing of the upper shaft (inside). If missing, the upper shaft will have too much end-to-end slack in it.

CD in Oklahoma

J Miller

I can verify what CD says about that plastic thrust washer. I've replaced 5 of them on lower series machines.
I did not however realize they'd affect the way the feed dogs worked.

Joe

Candace

Yay, plastic! :<

J Miller

LOL ... I think they're actually a nylon, but that's not much better.

Joe

miriam

What do the plastic parts look like?

J Miller

Miriam,

The plastic / nylon / whatever thrust washers look like this:

Original one, cracked as usual:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]460860[/ATTACH]

Replacement one, new:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]460861[/ATTACH]
The collar with the set screws usually needs to be reset to keep the main shafts end shake to a minimum after replacing the bushing.

Joe