Havplenty

I bought two singer 15-91's a few months ago from the family of the original owner (mom) and one definately needs to be rewired as i can see the exposed wiring, the other one maybe not. the seller (son) had put black tape on the one so that i could try it out and they sew beautifully and i can hardly wait to use them.

i had toyed with the idea of trying to rewire the one machine myself and found a coupla of great tutes online to do so. but in the meantime i have purchased a singer 301a and had to restore the cabinet (which i like doing) and clean up & oil the machine (which i am currently doing) so that made me reconsider my decision to rewire the 15-91.

ok ok i am getting to my question. while searching craigslist today i saw a singer 15-91 for sale ($300.00) that stated that it was fully restored. i thought to call this woman to see if she rewired machines for others. well she does and not only that she is a vintage machine collector/enthusiast and started naming the machines in her collection. ok sooooo her price was $60 each machine to rewire, oil and do any tuneup needed or $50 just for the tuneup. this sounds like a fair price to me so i just need to bounce this off you who know all things vintage machines. does this sound like a fair price for her services??? are there other questions i would need to ask when having repairs done? your assistance is much appreciated. thanks.

mary

here are pics of the machines.

this one has exposed, taped or cracked wires in different places, a few chips in the paint, a little wear on the front scrolls, but she sewed great when i tested her. can someone give me her birthdate info from the serial number?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]330734[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]330735[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]330737[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]330739[/ATTACH]


this is the second machine. there are no cracks in the wiring nor any exposed wires but there is a connector at the potted motor site. do you think the connector setup would pose a hazzard if machine is used like this? can you tell me birthdate info from the serial number? this machine is a beauty with no visible scarring. just needs to be cleaned up.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]330743[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]330746[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]330738[/ATTACH]

misskira

The tune up is easy. I just did mine the last couple days using various blogs. I am totally not mechanically inclined, so I'm sure you could do it. I would say its a fair price if you don't want to do it yourself. The tune up mostly should just be cleaning it well, fresh oil and grease, and a check over of the bobbin shuttle and tension assembly. I can't imagine what else could be done to it honestly. The tension assembly was the tricky part for me, but I used the pics in the manual and a good blog tutorial for it.

The wiring I can tell you tomorrow. My replacements are coming from sew classic tomorrow. It looks pretty easy, she has good instructions. The wall plug and plug into the machines are already attached.

Either way, if you aren't inclined to do it yourself her prices sound fair enough I suppose.

misskira

Also, my cord coming out of the motor looks the same as yours. The white is insulation, not the wire itself. I think I've decided it's ok. The plug on mine was poorly replaced once, which is why I decided to do mine.

Candace

That's a very fair price she's quoted you.

DonnaQuilts

I decided to have the foot controller replaced on mine and my husband did it, then I found the instructions on line. Sew-Classic.com has step by step instructions. After that went so well, we replaced the power cord too. The parts were very inexpensive. They will also wire the foot controller for a small fee, so you don't have to do it yourself.
Look at their website and you will come away impressed. Did I mention the prices are very good?

Havplenty

here is another website that i found on rewiring a 15-91. i dont know if this is one you found in your search or not. it is a step by step tute also. http://vssmb.blogspot.com/2012/01/co...ted-motor.html

$60 in the scheme of things and for convenience sake didnt sound so bad. the other 15-91 (without wire issues) i will oil & lube myself.

Krisb

The first machine serial number is from a group allotted September 1948. The second from a group allotted in March 1956.

Havplenty

thanks for the info.

Nanamoms

After I "ahem" "dropped mine on its side, the plug portion shattered. I ordered a new plug but didn't have time/knowledge at that moment to fix it myself. Took it to my SM guy and he did a full checkup, oil and cleaning and repaired the plug for $75.00 so yes she is quoting you a good price. My SM guy has been repairing machines for over 30 years and that's all he does...no sales of new machines, etc. Love his shop!!

Havplenty

tuneup & lube done on 1 machine. how is your wiring project going? i am giving mine some rethought. let me know what your experience is like & just maybe it will inspire me.

mary