German Language Manual And The Adler 205-374

[llucas]

I have received great advice on this forum regarding the Adler 205-374 I am refurbishing. But I have run into a snag. In checking the action of the alternating feet in the sewing cycle it strikes me that one reason the outside presser feet are leaving a mark on the leather on each side of the top stitch is the outside presser feet don't lift high enough to release the leather even in their highest position in the alternating cycle. The upper foot and the feed dog pull the material back during the cycle and the too-low outside harness feet drag on the leather and mark it. I turned to page 7, sections 2.3, 2.3.2 and 2.3.3 in the Durkopp-Adler Service manual that I downloaded and was struck by the confusing and poor English translation for correcting this issue. There seems to be some confusion of part names when compared to the German language parts list. It has been many, many years since I have read German (my grad school dissertation dealt with Hans-Georg Gadamer and his Wahrheit und Methode) and I find I have forgotten more German language than I ever knew to begin with! I am very, very slowly working through it, but thought I would ask: has anyone on the forum already translated this section of the service manual? The existing English translation is not very good. It is certainly not clear. And my former weak language skills are even weaker now, lol.

[Uwe]

I made a little video about my interpretation of that section in the service manual. It's not a literal interpretation and I took some liberties involving a stack of quarters instead of a proper gauge. The German version of the service manual is a little opaque even to native Germans, haha.

It sounds like your clamp that ties the articulating arm to the presser foot shaft might be loose. In any case, here's the video - I hope it helps:

Edited December 2, 2015 by Uwe

[Thor]

Haven't really checked it all, but try these:

http://sew24.blogspot.de/p/downloads.html

http://www.duerkopp-adler.com/commons/download/download-text-attachments/Vintage_Leaflets_Adler/Leaflets_Adler_Class_205.pdf

[llucas]

Perfect! That is exactly what I was looking for! Another excellent video. I thought that was what the German language section was saying, but there was some confusion between the terminology for parts between the German language parts list and the explanation. Looks like that transferred to the English version. Is there a similar solution for the upper foot? Or is that not adjustable? I haven't finished that section in the manual.

Years ago I was laboring to translate a philosophical article by Heinrich Ott and hit a road block with a few neologisms. A fellow doctoral student was from Austria, so I consulted with him. He read the section and said, "I have no idea what he is talking about, but you must remember: German philosophers do not write to be understood; they write to be admired for their erudition." The same may be true of those who write sewing machine manuals, ha ha.

I made a little video about my interpretation of that section in the service manual. It's not a literal interpretation and I took some liberties involving a stack of quarters instead of a proper gauge. The German version of the service manual is a little opaque even to native Germans, haha.

It sounds like your clamp that ties the articulating arm to the presser foot shaft might be loose. In any case, here's the video - I hope it helps:

Edited December 2, 2015 by llucas

[llucas]

Haven't really checked it all, but try these:

http://sew24.blogspot.de/p/downloads.html

http://www.duerkopp-adler.com/commons/download/download-text-attachments/Vintage_Leaflets_Adler/Leaflets_Adler_Class_205.pdf

Thanks, Thor. I did not have the first one in your list. It is a 1966 edition, but has more information than later versions for the 205 class. That is very helpful. The one I was using for parts is the one for the subclass -374. If anyone else needs it, it is here:

http://www.duerkopp-adler.com/commons/download/download-text-attachments/Vintage_Parts_Books_Adler/205-374.pdf

Edited December 2, 2015 by llucas

[Uwe]

Not sure what you mean by upper foot. The inner feeding foot and outer presser foot perform the same lift relative to each other due to the design of the linking arm. By adjusting lift for one as in the video, you automatically adjust the other. They should always be lifting equal height.

[llucas]

Not sure what you mean by upper foot. The inner feeding foot and outer presser foot perform the same lift relative to each other due to the design of the linking arm. By adjusting lift for one as in the video, you automatically adjust the other. They should always be lifting equal height.

Thanks for that clarification. I thought that was the case, but since the needle does not center perfectly in the transportfuß (which I initially confused with the feed dog), I thought there might be another adjustment. Thanks for the help and clarification. Very helpful, indeed -- and your explanation is much, much clearer that the German version, lol.

By the way, if you complete a video for each adjustment possible in the service manual, you should consider selling a full dvd. A picture is sometimes worth far more than a 1,000 words. Coupled with a new translation of the service manual into English, this could be a big winner. Perhaps Weaver and other supply houses and retail outlets would market it. In addition to helping the novice hobbiest (like myself) it might also be helpful to some beginning sewing machine mechanics who are not familiar with Adler. Just a thought.

Edited December 2, 2015 by llucas

[Thor]

Germany German and Austrian German are about as close as British to American English. That being said, Ott was Swiss and at times I have no idea what they are talking about even though we're speaking the same language. However I noticed that a number of terms can't be translated by the book and one just has to know the appropriate term. Skiver is such a term for example. If it would be translated by the book it wood be what we refer to as a dodger.

[Uwe]

Technical documentation that originated in english isn't a whole lot better at times. Good technical writing is a lost art. The exact same thing (a cylindrical piece of metal) may be called a rod, bar, or shaft, depending on who's looking at it and where it is. I've translated automotive technical manuals in the 90's and it's hard work. You really need to be an engineer in addition to knowing both languages to do it even remotely justice. If you just look up words in a technical dictionary, you end up with documents that read like the translated sewing machine manuals.

[llucas]

Germany German and Austrian German are about as close as British to American English. That being said, Ott was Swiss and at times I have no idea what they are talking about even though we're speaking the same language. However I noticed that a number of terms can't be translated by the book and one just has to know the appropriate term. Skiver is such a term for example. If it would be translated by the book it wood be what we refer to as a dodger.

Ott was indeed Swiss. As a doctoral student I had to work with Austrian, Swiss, and high and low German. Fortunately in my field, there was a commonality of vocabulary tied to the western tradition in philosophy and theology. A few idiomatic expressions were different. The clinkers were neologisms (new words formed by placing numerous terms into one word) strung together like mother-of-pearl necklaces, lol. Ott, like Barth before him, was an interesting read.

Technical documentation that originated in english isn't a whole lot better at times. Good technical writing is a lost art. The exact same thing (a cylindrical piece of metal) may be called a rod, bar, or shaft, depending on who's looking at it and where it is. I've translated automotive technical manuals in the 90's and it's hard work. You really need to be an engineer in addition to knowing both languages to do it even remotely justice. If you just look up words in a technical dictionary, you end up with documents that read like the translated sewing machine manuals.

Uwe, given your background translating automotive manuals it strikes me you are a good candidate to tackle a project like this. Coupled with your excellent video work I suspect you could sell them easily. Just a thought.

[llucas]

By the way, Uwe, are the walking feet in your video original Adler equipment or are they Kwok Hing? They look slightly different from the part numbers at Weaver you provided. Perhaps it is because the photos on the Weaver website are of new product.

[llucas]

O.k., I read the manual again, watched Uwe's video and adjusted the foot lift on the old 205-374. The marks were eliminated from the top stitch. The height of the presser feet was at 5 mm during the lift cycle, it is now at 10 mm. Much better. It needs some tweeking, however, as now the presser foot lever to lift the presser feet won't lock open. Also, there is another difference from Uwe's video. His presser foot adjustment spring is similar to my own, but it appears the previous owner added a two inch section of spring to increase the pressure on the feet. Here is the extra part that I removed:

Question: should I leave this short spring out? The main spring is exactly as the one in Uwe's video. The presser foot adjustment knob on top of the machine is somewhat difficult to adjust. I may need to remove the presser foot rod and get in there with chemtool and a tooth brush to clean the threads better. As a novice I really don't know how much pressure should be adjusted into the mix -- i.e., how tight should the tension be on the presser feet?

Edited December 2, 2015 by llucas

[Uwe]

There's a separate adjustment for the manual lifting lever - it's supposed to have just a tiny bit of play when not engaged. The clamping block just above the one I loosened in the video adjusts the manual lift lever. The manual lift lever should be able to rotate to the 11 o'clock position to hold the foot in the lifted position and release the upper thread tensioner. If you can't rotate the manual lift lever easily past the 12 o'clock position it's binding - don't force it! You're supposed to be able to engage manual foot lift lever and then release it again by pressing the foot operated lift above the manual lifting position.

If you loosen both clamps at the same time and remove the presser foot, you can pull out the presser bar/shaft/rod out the top (watch out for the little spring between the two clamping blocks.) I did just that last week when I replaced the lifting bracket/strip/blade that hooks between the two clamping blocks - it was broken on my machine. I'm guessing the previous owner forced the manual lift when it wasn't properly adjusted.

My spring is 120mm (4-3/4") long. It just peeks out the top a few millimeters (tension screw removed) when I have the manual lift lever engaged. If your total spring length is longer, leave the extra piece out. The presser foot is supposed to push down on the material with just enough force to keep it from moving while the needle is above, not clamp down with a ton of force. Excessive force just makes everything work much harder, and leaves marks on your leather.

Fabric generally doesn't care how hard you clamp it down, but leather does care. It also matters how thick the material is, but the proportional increase in pressure for thicker material is usually just right.

Take the needle out and lower the presser foot on your finger. If it hurts, it's too much force. If you feel it holds your finger in place without hurting, I'd say you're good for a starting point. Adjust as needed.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Uwe

[llucas]

There's a separate adjustment for the manual lifting lever - it's supposed to have just a tiny bit of play when not engaged. The clamping block just above the one I loosened in the video adjusts the manual lift lever. The manual lift lever should be able to rotate to the 11 o'clock position to hold the foot in the lifted position and release the upper thread tensioner. If you can't rotate the manual lift lever easily past the 12 o'clock position it's binding - don't force it! You're supposed to be able to engage manual foot lift lever and then release it again by pressing the foot operated lift above the manual lifting position.

If you loosen both clamps at the same time and remove the presser foot, you can pull out the presser bar/shaft/rod out the top (watch out for the little spring between the two clamping blocks.) I did just that last week when I replaced the lifting bracket/strip/blade that hooks between the two clamping blocks - it was broken on my machine. I'm guessing the previous owner forced the manual lift when it wasn't properly adjusted.

My spring is 120mm (4-3/4") long. It just peeks out the top a few millimeters (tension screw removed) when I have the manual lift lever engaged. If your total spring length is longer, leave the extra piece out. The presser foot is supposed to push down on the material with just enough force to keep it from moving while the needle is above, not clamp down with a ton of force. Excessive force just makes everything work much harder, and leaves marks on your leather.

Fabric generally doesn't care how hard you clamp it down, but leather does care. It also matters how thick the material is, but the proportional increase in pressure for thicker material is usually just right.

Take the needle out and lower the presser foot on your finger. If it hurts, it's too much force. If you feel it holds your finger in place without hurting, I'd say you're good for a starting point. Adjust as needed.

Thanks again for clear, easily understandable information. I would suspect I did not have enough pressure as the stitch length on a test piece changed slightly on a test piece I was stitching. There are a surprising number of variables in obtaining a good stitch on these machines. I am slowly learning and appreciate all the help you and others on this forum provide.

Edited December 3, 2015 by llucas

[llucas]

. . . watch out for the little spring between the two clamping blocks. . .

There is no spring in my machine as illustrated in your video. The parts manual for the 205-374 does not show this spring, although the parts manual for the 205-370 does. I assume it may be desirable but my machine does not call for it. This is an interesting project, thanks for your insight and contribution.