Janome and New Home (was Re: Oiling your machine)

I have a Janome from 2003, the manual does tell you to oil it and the machine came with a bottle of oil!

Anne

This was bought new in 1991 or 92 and the name on it is NewHome.

The manual with this one doesn't even mention oil, or greasing the bottom gears. How do you reach into the head area to oil it? Everything including the light unit is in the way. I guess they'll show us tomorrow if the store is open (President's day.) It's hard to believe all those moving metal to metal parts wouldn't need some kind of lubrication.

I have a Janome 9000 and the manual says not to oil it myself. Apparently I'm supposed to take the machine in to be oiled. Looks like a way to get me to spend $$$ at the repair place -- LOL! Of course, my machine is one of the embroidery machines with all the computer stuff inside and there's no way to easily open her up AND no directions on just what to oil if I did get 'er opened!! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

Howdy!

I asked "my" sewing machine people when I took my machine for it's bi-annual check-up, "What's with the oil?" The factory-trained repairman said that one of the biggest messes usually seen w/ machine repair starts w/ too much oil, esp. on the newer machines (less than 25 yrs old ); "People just go crazy with the oil." One way to avoid that is to make it less necessary for the machine to be oiled, & new designs MAY make it difficult for the customer/machine owner to get to the oil points. "The biggest problem: people messing w/ something they don't know." But, he added, sometimes the manufacturer is trying to make it easier on the machine owner, and/or protect their own butts by not recommending do-it-yourself servicing (liability). For $65, minus the discount guild members get &/or a coupon from the newspaper, they check over everything, remove the dust I couldn't get to, give it a good going-over and give it back looking & acting brand new.

Parts guys love DIY-ers; when people tinker w/ stuff they don't know anything about (esp. computerized stuff), parts people call it "job security". ;-P

My little Janome is great. Dependable, cute, and she hums, quietly. And the little *beep* she makes when starting up attracts the cat who comes downstairs to check it out! ;-D

R/Sandy

So, if you have a newer machine the $65 is well worth the cost. As I read this I see how quickly those old FW's really would pay for themselves if you just need a simple piecing machine. The more affordable models like

Then again, there's this. We must not assume that the repairman is qualified, having a good day and does a good job. A year or two ago, one of my Berninas decided to toss a tiny spring out into my quilting. I didn't know where it came from, what it did and apparently Miss Bernina didn't care. Eventually, we made a trip to civilization and took the Bernina in to have the spring replaced wherever and for it to be cleaned and serviced. The next day I had an upper thread create a terrible snarl. We had to remove the side cover to the left of the thread uptake area to undo the snarl . . . that area was not really exploding with fuzzies but it certainly had not been cleaned. Our youngest daughter's first sentence was, "Do it myself". Yes. We know where that came from. Polly

There you go! The case on my old machine came off in a few parts. I did it myself. The NH seems to have more parts than a jigsaw puzzle making up it's case. I would be afraid I'd never get it back together again.

While computerized machines do require some expertise, the older mechanical ones are very basic indeed...and if you understand how the machine works (i.e. the needle, the hook, the thread, the tension in relation to each other) you can make many repairs yourself.

After replacing the pinion gear on a little Elna Lotus it was badly out of time...I retimed it myself and it came out perfect on the first try, because I knew where the hook had to be in relation to the needle.

-Irene

Irene, so glad you're paying attention here. I was hoping you would contribute to whether or not quilters were capable of cleaning and oiling SMs. I don't have a clue what a pinion gear is. I don't even know how the radio works. But . . . by golly I know that metal against metal needs oil and I can identify and remove fuzzies. How I wish my sweetheart could see you in action. He would be so proud of you. Polly

I have recounted in a previous post my taking apart of my Bernina Mechanical 1008 to rectify a vexing problem that the Official Bernina Repairman could not seem to diagnose and fix. I did it and without any problems. I regularly partially disassemble and clean that machine on a regular basis for service and cleaning. I thought I would delve into the innards of my Computerized Bernina 430 Aurora and see about cleaning the nether regions of this most wonderful machine. The backs of both machines come off in the same general procedure, but when taken off reveal two totally different innards. The mechanical one exposes the gears and rods and levers of a 19th century design that has been updated to perform in a more modern series of stitch requirements. But, it is still based on the 19th century model of gears/rods/pivot points. When I took off the back of the computerized machine, what I found was a housing within a housing that encapsulated god knows what inside and I was unable to view the "workings" without further complete disassembly. The whole inner unit was sealed and therefore, without any knowledge of the procedure of disassembly, you would have to have a careless disregard for your sewing budget to remove any of the plates that contain the inner workings contained therein. I will in the future let the repairman go about servicing the newer machine and clean where I can but leave the screwdrivers and wrenches for use on the mechanical machine. Or as Dirty Harry once said, "A mans got to know his limitations". This pains me as I used to do quite a lot of mechanical hobby work. I have rebuilt car and motorcycle engines and other things of a mechanical nature, but these computerized things are beyond me. I watched the Bernina repair guy adjust my machine when I took it in for servicing, and he had a factory supplied template that he placed over the keyboard on the front of the machine, that when in place allowed you to enter the service program on the "hard drive", if you will , and make adjustment to bring the machine settings back into factory specifications. He said this was necessary to do if you in any way alter the mechanical alignment of the machine. Even by so much as hitting the stitch plate with a needle through the careless use of a straight stitch plate, instead of the proper stitch plate for zig-zag work, or other careless usage that might not affect the mechanical machine. I guess that this is the price of "progress", that we all seem to be so enamored of. It also confirms my love of the older mechanical designed machines over the newer computerized one. Even though I do love all the bells and whistles of the newer machines. I just hate the fact that, by their very nature, they are not user serviceable. Sigh!, such is progress. That is why I will always keep one good quality mechanical machine in play, so that I can be in, in play.

John

Yes, my old Singer was indeed easy to work on. I maintained it (oiled and greased it) myself. That was basically all it needed all those years.

and if you understand how the

My husband is very handy around the house but the NewHome's case had several parts and without a repair manual we had no way to know how to remove it safely, no less replace it. There were a lot of screws all around the thing. We removed what we saw but the case still would not come off nor could be remove the bottom so the bobbin-brake could fall out. At that point he said we should take it to the shop and have them remove the bobbin brake and grease and oil whatever needed it. $69 dollars is a lot of money for us right now. We're living on our savings until our SS checks start in June. I used the money I got for the two quilts I sold to buy the Singer, some notions and fabric. I hope I can maintain the new Singer myself since we'll be on a limited income from now on.

I believe we are. But the owner's manual doesn't cover any kind of repairs. The manual that came with my NH (and the new Singer) doesn't even explain how to get all the cover parts off.

I don't have a clue what a pinion gear is. I don't even know how the

And knowing that is surely the most important thing.

How I wish my sweetheart could see

With all the progress in sewing machines.... I wish I had kept my old Singer from the 60s. It did everything I wanted it to do. The store took it on a trade-in for the NH. He took something like $40 off the price. I have all the accessories here for it and they don't fit the NH or the new cheapo Singer I just bought as a backup. So now it's accessory buying time..........

Marie, your comment made me remember something. If you have an old machine, say from the 30s-40s, take look at the manual. The older Singer manuals have ver detailed instructions for taking covers off, adjusting the bobbin winder, disassemble the tension, removal of the hook, care and adjustment of the treadle mechanism, etc. Back then, lots of people lived in the sticks and wouldn't even consider buying a machine unless they could fix it themselves! So Singer and other manufacturers included this information in the regular users manual.

-Irene

Polly, I just love your posts. You always make me smile.

-Irene

Thank you kindly, Irene. I'm blessed with a lot to smile about and love to share it. Polly

The manual that came with my original Singer (late 60s) didn't cover any of that. Just very good instructions on oiling, greasing and cleaning. My mother's old Singer came from a friend and no book was given with it.

I would love to get repair manuals for both my new Singer and the NewHome but Google just brings up owner's manuals.