Anyone up for a little Singer troubleshooting help?

I don't know if this helps, but the last time my Singer (1970s vintage) did this, it was because there was crud built up between the tension discs. Get a bit of thread and 'floss' between the discs, rethread and see if that helps. Also, a blunt needle can sometimes affect the way the bobbin thread draws (or doesn't draw) up. Try a new needle. My last idea is that the bobbin tension might have come undone somehow. Check the screw that holds the bobbin assembly together and ensure it's done up snug (but not too tightly).

Best of luck - it's awful when these things happen! :-(

In article , David Nebenzahl of Posted via Supernews,

uttered>It's a "No. 15", at least according to Singer's serial # scheme from >their website. (Except that the manual I downloaded shows a treadle >machine while mine has that newfangled e-lectric motor; the kind with >gears instead of a belt. Everything else seems to match up to mine.)>

OK ... it may or may not be a model 15 - Singer are notoriously inaccurate on these matters (don't panic, it's not you, it's them!)

Does the bobbin go into a spool case which you then insert? Or does it go straight into the machine? If the former, then yes, it'll be a 15. Again, don't panic about the means of propulsion - they made this model for a *long* time.

Old Singers all thread from left to right, honest. But you do need to get the needle in the right way round. From folk memory (without dragging a machine out to actually look) the scarf (long groove) on the needle goes to the left, therefore the flat side to the right.

Try that, then get back to us and I'll see if I can dig out a manual (although there should be uggins of them on the web if you Google around a bit)

There were several No 15s produced between the 1890s and the 1950s. Which one do you have? You can see some at

.

Things to try:

- clean the fluff out the bobbin case and oil it where the manual tells you to (won't necessarily fix your problem, but it's a good thing to do)

- give it a new needle, the right weight and point for your fabric

- check that the needle's the right way round

- make sure you're using a Singer needle: they're a slightly different length to some domestic machine needles

It sounds like something's just a tiny bit out, so that when the fabric adds a little extra to the mechanism the needle thread isn't in the right place to be picked up by the hook. You can see how the stitching machanism works at

(_such_ a cool site, despite the spelling mistake).

Check out the guide at

.

Not at all. They're lovely machines. They don't do much, but they do it very well.

No, no! Do not get rid of it!!! Copy the manual from and check your threading. That's almost certainly the problem. The 15 is a fine machine.

It will be the same: All they did to make it hand crank or electric was shove a handle or a motor on it! :)

Have you made sure that the bobbin is in the right way up, so the thread comes off in the right direction, and that the thread is fully in the spring tension leaf on the side of the bobbin case?

Make sure the needle is in the right way round (flat side towards the bobbin), and thread it right to left. Check that you have the correct manual. Mine has the correct instruction in it. If you would like a copy of the threading diagram, let me know.

No need to get rid of it. I have a 1930's treadle version, a 1923 hand crank 66, and a 1909 Jones Family CS, all in perfect working order. They are sweet, beautiful, and fun to use. They will also still be sewing when my electronic whizzy Lily 550 has been land fill for a hundred years.

Also ment to say: take a look on my web site at the 15-88. The pix show ir quite clearly. There's also a 66 on the site, so make sure that isn't the one you have the manual for.

Not quite right: the needle in the 15 is the other way about and threads right side to left, honest! Take a look on my web site, and see.

If I put the needle in 66-ways-round, or thread it left to right, it doesn't sew!

In article , Kate Dicey of Customer of PlusNet plc

uttered>She who would like to be obeyed once every Preston Guild wrote:>

I'll take your word for it - but it's blooming odd, coz I had a quick look online in somebody's "Manuel", and it said what I said ... I'm still not clambering in there and dragging a machine out here to test the theory though LOL!

Ah, well, I just popped my machine up and looked at it! :) Nice not having it under a pile of crap, for a change!

The "No. 15" is what I also have. Mine was my grandmothers and is still in it's treadle. The original 15 manual will still be applicable in terms of the threading and needle setting. It does thread from left to right!

Also, if there is any maintenance directions in your manual, do follow that as that's still applicable also.

Have you done a routine maintenance and cleaning on it? For example flossed the tension discs, cleaned out under the needle plate, oiled it, etc.

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

--------------

---gently snipped---

Nope....some don't. FWs, 201s and 301s for example thread from right to left.

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

--------------

In article , IMS of Road Runner uttered

Thinks ... you're right! Sorry for the inaccuracy, folks! (Mind you, not got a 301 ... yet ...)

Well now,....all the more reason to get one :)

--Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

--------------

Trust me Kate is correct. But it is not all model 15's just some of them, there are quite a few versions, thread right to left and the flat of the needle goes to the left. Also model 221, and 301.

So it's a 15-91.

Thread it the way the manual says to. You probably should also clean the bobbin case, and check the thread path through the needle plate and around the bobbin for burrs.

Not at all! You've got a great machine there.

NO, No, NOOOO!!!! Don't get rid of it! Keep using it and keep it in good shape and it will last forever.

Thanks to all who responded (so quickly! amazing...). Thanks especially to Sally Holmes for your link showing the two types of needles. That was the problem; I had assumed that the screw that secures the needle went against the flat. Put it in right, threaded it up (right to left as I had suspected) and it stitches fine. Well, not fine, but at least it *works*. I need to tweak some tensions, I guess.

And no, I hadn't seriously considered getting rid of this machine. I love old stuff! What's not to love--black lacquer, gold curlicue decoration, massive iron castings, beautiful chromed fittings. Got it for $25 at a junk shop, and so far I've refinished the top deck with its beautiful walnut veneer with curly figure. All it needed was a good cleaning and lube to get it purring like, well, like a well-oiled sewing machine.

OMG!!! I almost choked over:

"To Connect the Machine to Electric Service Line Push the terminal plug at one end of the electric cord as far as it will go on the three-pin terminal block at the right of the machine. Attach the plug at the other end of the cord to the nearest electric light socket and the machine is ready for operation."

"...the nearest electric light socket..." How far we've come...

My mother had one of the old black Singers, I would give anything if I still had it. Dad was furious that she had to pay *extra* for a machine that sewed forward-and-reverse! He learned very well *why* over the next 30+ years. She traded that machine for one of the first zig-zags, it had disks mounted on the *front* of the machine.

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