I posted this over at the sewing group but, truth be told, I much more respect the experience of you (all). Here's what I asked: My serger is an Elna 945. Very probably she needs a fine technician to get her going straight again BUT there's nobody locally that repairs anything that isn't made by John Deere. I can not just hand her over blindly to any body who claims expertise. I love this serger. I need it for little clothes for babies who weigh in at 3 pounds. Any thoughts? Polly
Sounds to me like here is your new career, Polly. Go to college, take a vocational engineering course, and set up in practice (after you've fixed your own serger obviously!). How's that for an idea? It could work ... ... . In message , Polly Esther writes
Hi Polly, I posted a reply over at alt sewing I hope might help. Did you change the type of threads and the tension before it went goofy? Barbara in HOT 100 degree days in SC
LOL, Pat. Yeah. Right. Like I need a career. The entire gov't would go bonkers if I dared to earn one dollar. I can just see the mountain of paper work that would generate. Polly
Changed everything several times, Barbara - even the blade. I think the steering column has gone out. Do sergers even have a steering column? Polly [we were the bull's eye for Tropical Storm Bonnie and barely got a 'poof'.]
First thing that I would try is to figure out whether one of your threads is caught up somewhere and is causing the pull. Start with the needle thread #1 and move the tension setting to zero - gently pull on the thread and 'feel' whether it is co-operating.....if it seems to pull easily - return the tension back to the required setting .....move on to the needle #2 and repeat..........then test out the looper threads individually in the same manner. You might get lucky and solve the problem in the needle area.....
Open up the serger and look for any place where thread might have knotted itself around a moving part - hand walk your serger through the motions and look for any seizing/jerking movement.
Make sure that the feed dogs are clear of any debris and that the knife blades are clean of lint buildup.
Thread each looper/needle with a different coloured thread and manually operate the serger to check for any problem with the stitch using your regular tension settings both with the differential feed engaged and disengaged.
If you feel capable of rethreading the serger from scratch - try that but otherwise - use the tie-on method of changing threads.
Does your serger use oil? Sometimes, it helps to run a serger or sewing machine at top speed with using thread or needle to dislodge any deeply imbedded lint/dirt.
H> I posted this over at the sewing group but, truth be told, I much more
Hey, I love John Deere engineering. Any company that makes their engineers jump through hoops to get permission to use one of the non-company-standard bolts has my favor. So does the company that builds harvesters designed to be taken apart and put together again with two sizes of wrench and two sizes of screwdriver.
Why yes, I am nettled that assembling a $#@!#@ bbq yesterday required four sizes of wrench and five of bolts.
Kay, who takes sewing machines and sergers apart and puts them back together before buying them.
LOL. Ah, Kay, how I love your attitude. Atta girl. During high school, my summer job was as a clerk typist. The first thing I did there was take their grungy typewriter apart, clean it and put it back together. It scared the Dickens out of the boss but our typing instructor had taught us well. ( Or killed a few duds and disposed of the bodies; we never knew.) Polly
We have tried everything many times. Nothing changed the mind of the serger to feed straight. We did find a serger tech over in Mobile and will take my precious machine there. Neighbor says, "What if it can't be fixed? Elna doesn't make a 945 anymore." Isn't she just a little ray of sunshine? I do thank you all for trying to help. Polly
Don't give up hope on the old gal. I can't remember the details but it used to be that there were two manufacturers of sergers that made them for all the other companies. If that is true there are a lot of interchangable parts. You just need a good service guy. Maybe your Mobile guy is it. Taria
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