williaty

Did you do anything other than stick a 120V plug on them? I tried with mine today and, on 120V, it sounded off and maxed out at Speed 30. Plugging it back in to 240V made it sound normal and would run up to the full Speed 45. The parts list for the SM645 series does list a different circuit board for the 120V and 240V versions.

I have a pair of Enduro Pro SM645-2P servo motors that run on 240V. It's kind of a PITA to get 240V power to them in my house and I need to add another motor for a new machine anyway so I was looking for 120V motors on ebay. I came across a guy selling a SM645-2P yet claiming it was for 120V. I asked him how this could be and he said that the hardware was designed so one version could be sold anywhere in the world so he just "converts the plug" so it can run on 120V. Now, I have some reservations about this but at the same time I have seen wide input range digital devices before that don't require flipping a switch to go from 120V to 240V. Digging into the manual (https://www.universalsewing.com/images/instructions/SM6452P-i.pdf) I can't find anything about a wide input range. The manual does say that the motor is happy with either the single-phase single-leg 240V the UK has or the two-phase dual-leg 240V the USA has and gives wiring diagrams for both. 1) Do you guys think it's at least vaguely reasonable to suspect that one hardware version might be getting sold to both 120V and 240V grids worldwide? 2) Do you guys think it's likely to instantly fry the 240V-labeled motor I already have if I try it on 120V wired the 240V-UK way?

Hmm, sounds like I need to keep an eye out for one. They previous ones I saw before I started looking for a ZZ machine went pretty cheaply.

I thought the 20Us were straight stitch. Were there submodels that were ZZ?

Yeah I've used the straight stitch version of it under the Tandy label. I have to say I am very, very much not a fan of the weird placement of the presser foot lift lever. I'd *prefer* a larger harp space too though that's something I'd compromise on if I had to.

Oh, at this point I'd settle for a drop feed only z-z machine. Any more advanced feeding that that would be awesome but not required.

I picked up several compound feed straight stitch machines easily from Craigslist here in Ohio but I've been looking for a year for a zig-zag machine and haven't seen a single one come up for sale at all. Are zig-zag machines exceptionally rare or do they tend to trade hands via some other method than Craigslist?

Can you give me any help on finding a stronger pressure spring? That is one thing I had wondered about but I have no idea how to source a spring other than the one it shows in the parts book for the machine. I started with a #23 needle and it wouldn't pull the knots up. I asked here and the dominant response was "#23 is too small" so I ordered #24 and #25 needles. I am not going around the 2nd tension more than once. Based on the partial manual I have for it, the thread enters the 2nd tension at 12-oclock. Wrap anti-clockwise back to 12-oclock, passing behind the "staple" which I am assuming is the pin that sticks out, then back down and over the pin, under the check spring, and up to the takeup lever. So the 2nd set of discs is threaded from 12-oclock anticlockwise to about 2-oclock once all is said and done. I can try going around once more but if it's already lifting the work off the needle plate, won't that just make it worse?

OK, so I'm back at it after a long wait for parts to come in. So, sewing with v207 thread and a #25 needle, I get the same results with the bobbin thread lying flat against the bottom of the work and the knots not pulling up into the holes. I also checked (as suggested) that the bobbin tension was as low as physically possible by removing the hook/shuttle and it's associated race, cleaning the crap out of all of it, and putting it back together with the bobbin tension screw as loose as can be without falling apart. Cleaned, stuff works a little more snappily and I think I may have identified the problem. When the needle begins to rise out of the work, about the time the eye gets to the leather the work is pulled up off the needle plate about 1/8" before suddenly snapping back down with a click. I am assuming that what's happening is that the force needed to pull the knot into the hole is greater than the force exerted by the presser feet. So the work rises a little bit. Since the needle rises faster than the presser foot, eventually the inside foot strips the work off the needle but the timing of this delayed withdraw is completely messed up so the knot is never pulled into the work. The adjustment for the pressure foot pressure is already maxed out but I can hold the work with a hand on each side of the presser feet and lift the work into the air (force the feet upwards) without much trouble. On my 206RB-5, the pressure foot pressure is so high that I can't grip the work tightly enough to get it to lift. I have pulled out the presser foot pressure adjuster, the spring below it, cleaned everything, and reassembled for max pressure foot pressure. Thoughts?

Several things that I can't figure out if they're related or not so I want to verify that the machine is properly set up to begin with. It's skipping stitches on thicker material such as 2 layers of quilting cotton with 2 layers of 1/16" cotton batting between. On two layers of cotton alone, it'll sew perfectly fine 99% of the time, then suddenly start leaving 1/4" tall loops on the bottom side of the fabric (top thread isn't getting pulled fully back up after going around the bobbin, I think), then magically fix itself and resume stitching perfectly like nothing has happened. In the service manual, the procedure for verifying everything is: 1) Verify needle bar height at BDC 2) Verify needle centering left-to-right in straight stitch mode 3) Verify feed dog height 4) Verify feed timing 5) Verify hook tip is on centerline of needle when the needlebar has risen 1.6mm from BDC. Change hook rotational timing if necessary 6) Verify hook tip is 3.2mm above top of needle eye when needlebar has risen 1.6mm from BDC. Adjust hook assembly height if necessary. I've done 1 through 4 already with the only discrepency being the needlebar being 0.015" low. I'm waiting on #5 for another tool to come in. I need a longer extension on my dial indicator to measure the 1.6mm rise on the needlebar to verify the timing position.

This is for a domestic Juki but you guys are the best sewing machine mechanic resource on the internet. The first test the service manual calls out is setting the needle bar height. The spec for setting the needle bar height is that at BDC the stop pin in the needle bar clamp is 19mm above the surface of the throat plate. The current setting is actually 18.61mm above the needle bar plate. In other words, the needle bar is 0.39mm (0.015") lower than the spec calls for. The service manual, unfortunately, doesn't list a tolerance for this or any other measurement. Since I'm trying to correct some problems I'm having with the machine, is this something I should try to correct or is it so close to right that my problem must lie elsewhere?

Oh, yeah, I've bought a lot of stuff from them. Thanks! Also, you're all telling me I need to be more flexible on needle choice, so I'll listen.

I actually got the idea to use the 135x16 needles form 42-5 owners here on the leatherworker.net forum. I'll see if I can find System 190 needles in the US because ordering from EU, or anywhere not North American, just isn't realistic right now. I'm 4 months out on a still unarrived order from Singapore and my last package from Germany was 13 weeks. Until the pandemic stops and the shipping system is given a chance to recover, that's just not workable.

So both of you are recommending a larger needle. The thread vs needle size chart on Bob Kovar's website that this forum links to all the time says to use a 160/#23 with v270 thread. Is that only for fabric and leather requires a bigger needle or is the chart just wrong? If 207 requires a #24, what size is then required for v277 and v346? Also, I have been having trouble finding 135x16 needles in sizes larger than #23. Do you know of a US supply of the larger sizes?

I just bought a used Singer 42-5. I verified at the seller's that it was sewing properly with the thread left in the machine by the last user. When I got it home and started to clean it up, I again verified that the machine would stitch properly before tearing anything down to clean it. At this point, I did notice that the lower tension seemed absurdly tight but I've never used a shuttle based machine before so I have no frame of reference for how much is too much. After getting a few things cleaned up, I started trying to answer my real question about the machine, which is how big of thread it'll actually use. I wound a bobbin with 207 and re-threaded the whole machine. The machine formed a stitch after that but the knots were all on the bottom of the work. I increased the top tension to try to bring the knots up into the work. No dice. Figuring that maybe I was right about the bottom tension feeling weirdly high, I lowered the bobbin tension until it felt about the same as pulling 138 out of my Consew 206's bobbin case. Still no dice. I then maxed out both of the upper tension adjustments. At this point, the knots would sort of lodge in the hole on the bottom of the work but would not pull into the center of the leather. By feel, the bobbin tension is in the realm that I'm used to from other, properly functioning, machines but the top tension is so tight you can pluck the thread between the takeup lever and the needle, or the takeup lever and the last tension disc, and get a high pitched plink out of it like plucking the string on a violin. I just can't believe this is how things are supposed to be. Any idea what would be causing the knots not to pull up into the work with the top tension so high? Machine: Singer 42-5 Thread: Bonded nylon v207 Needle: Organ 135x16 Size 23 D/TRI point

I have a Zap II and I use Eneloops a well. I get several hundred burns per battery charge. The NiMH batteries don't voltage sag as severely under high current compared to an Alkaline battery. Since the Zap II is basically a dead short across the battery, voltage sag under load is the single most important characteristic that determines how much use you get out of a single battery. Once the Zap stops glowing orange when you push the button, you have about 50 more uses before it becomes useless.

I finally found a manual that's legible. I'm going to dump a quote here for future reference. So it sounds like the big differences are the -1 having the roller presser vs the -5 having the primitive spring loaded faux walking foot arrangement and the text implies the -1 and -5 have different bobbin arrangements. Any reason to prefer one or the other?

If you say -3, I'm going to hire someone to come slap you with a trout I have the option of buying either a Singer 42-1 or 42-5 this week. I love my Consew 206RB-5 but being limited to 138 thread is a bummer for things like holsters and sheaths so my interest in the 42 is for stitching with big boy thread. I've done some searching on here and on google in general but mostly I've been turning up information about the 42 Class and not specific differences between the 42-1 and 42-5 that might inform me about which I should buy. Anyone got the details?

I keep seeing many industrial machines list "Workspace: Standard Workspace" in their specs. Googling turns up nothing useful about what this means. Anyone know?

Are you talking about the 3112-00 cutter? I have one. It's terrible. The idea is fantastic but in practice it doesn't work with a damn.

Thanks guys. Sometime this weekend I'm going to get my wife to film me doing this to make sure I'm interpreting your directions correctly.

As told in a different thread, I just bought a Consew 225 (clone of Singer 111w155) and I'm trying to get it running again. I got the jam problem resolved, got the lower end cleaned out, and got the timing back together. Now I need to test sew with it only to find the bobbin arrangement doesn't match the manual. The manuals all show a bobbin carrier like the one in my 227R-2 where the bobbin thread tension spring is part of the bobbin basket/hook assembly and a long finger comes through the center of the bobbin and folds over to lock it in place. However, this machine has no integrated tension spring in the bobbin basket/hook assembly and also has what appears to be a separate bobbin carrier like a domestic machine. The center finger is also very short but does flip from vertical to horizontal like the manuals show. How do I thread this?

Yep, I'm sure it's a Consew. All the parts are stamped SEIKO not Simanco. Doesn't look like it's been repainted given the amount of missing paint.

OK, so after a little more playing and a look at one of Uwe's videos, I think the click I heard was the safety clutch resetting. The hook has a ton of the monofiliment line the previous owner used wound up under it and something was binding against the needle plate. Removing the needle plate allows the whole machine to turn freely. So now I need to learn how to get the hook out to clean under it. Also, the hook assembly and shaft have a lot of vertical play. At some points in the rotation, you can lift the hook and shaft up about 3/8" of an inch. Is that normal?

I just got home from picking up a new-to-me Consew 225 off Craigslist. I have no idea if it matters, but this is an ancient one; still in Singer gold and black with gothic script. The machine ran beautifully in testing at its previous home. Loading the head into the van, I tipped it down to lay it on its side and the balance wheel (which I was holding) rotated a few degrees backwards and there was a loud, firm click. The machine is now locked up. What did I do and how do I undo it? Thanks as always.