JoeJr

Those of you old enough to remember when personal computers were first coming out may remember than when you were shutting one down, especially if you were going to move it, you had to "park" the hard drive.

Perhaps not uniquely, I have more machines than I would ever use (meaning more than 1), and I was wondering if there's a recommended way to "park" the machine when it's going to be sitting for a while. Presser foot up? down? tension loosened all the way? Cloth under the presser foot? Extra oil in particular spots? Etc.

I am envisioning rotating through a bunch of machines just to redo all the clean up work to make them move again and wondering if there's a way to lessen some of that.

leonf

I like presser foot up, leave tension alone. if you have a complex mechanical machine, (I am thinking Italian or Swiss or German ones with ZZ and cams, I'd want it easy to access so I could give it a spin at least once a month. And of course, unplug them


Just my opinion thought.. I am eager to hear other ideas

leonf

ahh and loosen the belt so it doesn't retain the shape. if you have friction rollers, put a wedge between the motor and the body or the drive wheels will develop flat spots. Elna's are terrible at that. and many Kenmores.

JoeJr

I need to loosen a few belts, hadn't thought of thought. In general, I am not a fan of leaving springs compressed at all, if possible to avoid it, but not sure it makes a big difference.

Hooligan

If i'm storing a machine that's not intended to be used in the near future, then i do pretty much the same as mentioned above.
I do leave the presser foot down, as like you JoeJr...not a fan of leaving springs under tension. I will also add a few packets of the Moisture Absorbing Silica Beads in to the case if it's a portable machine

OurWorkbench

I'm reminded of the warning in most manuals, not to put the presser foot down without fabric underneath. When one does that and something should happen that it stays there for years, it is a mess especially in humid areas. It can rust the foot to the feed dogs.

I have been known to relieve the pressure regulator (like those quick release ones) and when I went to use the machine, forgot that is what I had done. Couldn't understand why it wasn't feeding the fabric LOL..

I have been trying to remember to loosen the belt and for direct drive machines to stick something between the motor and the machine.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

Hooligan

I forgot to add that i also leave the test stitch swatch of fabric under the foot....as OWb mentioned...humidity is a serious thought (hence the silica bags i add)

JoeJr

I hope this is a good summary and I added 1 or 2, and I appreciate the feedback, having about 20 machines sitting around doing nothing but having me look at them:

1. Loosen belt if belt drive
2. Keep drive wheel lifted off hand wheel if applicable
3. Cloth under presser foot if foot left down
4. Release presser foot pressure so as not to leave spring compressed
5. Silica bags in case to absorb moisture (which I should do for the dozen machines in the garage...)
6. If machine has cams or ZZ capable leave accessible to rotate machine occasionally
7. Loosen thread tensioner so spring not compressed (?)
8. Oil machine thoroughly before "storage" (?)

leonf

9. If you don't use it in 9 months, ship it to JoeJr..

JoeJr

And if that happens, even once, I will most certainly be sleeping in the garage with the machines.