211G Presser Foot Sticks In Up Position...

[Skylark53]

Hi all,

Hope someone can help...

I'm in the process of cleaning and refurbishing a Singer 211G156 and I can't get the presser foot to operate properly. As soon as I bring the lever near the top of its travel, it jams and I have to use a drift and tap it lightly from the top for the presser foot to drop back down.

I have cleaned everything I can and oiled it thoroughly and it still jams. I even used a mechanic's stethoscope to listen at different moving points and the loudest noise comes from the top of the presser foot rod in its tube. Needle moves freely, no problem there.

When I opened the front cover I noticed right away that someone had pried the legs of the presser bar position guide (a tuning fork looking thing). I should have taken a picture of the distorted guide. Once I figured out how to remove the position guide, I straightened it in my vise and filed off the damage the bending had done to the part. When I reinstalled the guide, it didn't make the movement any worse which tells me it wasn't the problem in the first place.

One thing that still puzzles me though is whether it's a hard job to dismantle/remove the presser bar, that way I could lightly ream the tube and reassemble the unit. I'm sure THAT would solve the problem but I'm at a loss on how to dismantle it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Skylark53

[sandyt]

Don't know that machine, but it sounds to me the presser bar is bend. Reaming the tube would ruïn the machine. You would still have a bend bar. Cousing more problems in the near future.

[Skylark53]

... and I guess the only way to ascertain that I do have a bent bar is to take that part of the machine apart which is why I was asking for dismantling instructions.

Any ideas?

Skylark53

[Uwe]

The Singer 211G156 Service manual would be a good place to start figuring out how to take things apart and put them back together. Often the presser bar/rod/shaft is held in place by a clamping block, which allows adjusting the presser bar height (or removal of the bar/rod/shaft).

The Singer 211G156 Parts Manual will tell you which part numbers to look for. The presser bar is part # 208566 , which is available and cheap in case you need to replace it.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Uwe

[Darren Brosowski]

First question is inner or outer presser foot bar?

In both cases you need to look for build up of old, hardened, oil that can cause issues.

The outer presser foot has multiple linkages so pull the lot apart and clean them out. Look for any scoring of the metal and when you have it apart test the rotation of each part.

I have found with some older machines that bolts have come loose and cross threaded. This causes parts to be out of alignment and jam up. The problem can be less than 0.25mm or 0.0020" but is enough to cause grief.

Do not be scared of pulling it apart as it does not work now so you cannot make it any worse.

[Skylark53]

Hi Darren,

It's the outer presser foot that jams as it nears its uppermost position.

You seem to be familiar with this machine or similar machines, what I'd like to know is how many items I'll have to remove to get the outer presser foot bar out of the machine?

One more thing I noticed... When I reassemble the machine after the thorough cleaning, I hand cranked the machine though a full revolution and the feed dog wants to push up the needle plate. If the two screws that hold the needle plate are snugged down, it then becomes a binding situation. Is this a timing problem?

Thank you very much for your time Darren, much appreciated.

Raymond, aka Skylark53

[Uwe]

The feed dog can be adjusted sideways to center it with the opening in the (fixed-in-place) throat plate. If the feed dog is not centered it may hit the edge of the throat plate opening and push up on the throat plate.

You can also adjust how high the feed dog moves during the stitch cycle. If it is set too high, it will touch the underside of the throat plate and bind (the AZ adjustment screw in Figure 22)

[Skylark53]

Thank you Uwe...

I don't think it's a sideways interference but I will definitely adjust the height as you suggested (Thanks for the instructions too...)

Skylark53

P.S. : Today I replaced the Arborite table top, now I'm refurbishing the legs... Can't wait to try it out with the new servo motor.

[TinkerTailor]

Does the presser bar stick when sewing? If you are lifting it higher than it was in its service life, the shaft may be on a spot that wasnt used much, thus is worn lots less and may have more buildup on it, just a thought.

[Skylark53]

Hi Tinker,

I'll be able to assess that better tomorrow...

Just got a belt of the proper length tonight, I still need to fabricate a drip pan, I think I've found a source for felt, I have an old typewriter pad I've kept for years thinking I'd find a use for it some day. Then it'll be a thorough oiling and a dry run with the new servo motor.

I only heard the machine run once when I bought it and only for a short time. It did have the sticking problem but not when sewing, only when using the lift lever.

To be continued...

Raymond, aka Skylark53

[Skylark53]

Looking at the difference in thickness between the old belt that came with the machine and the new belt I got yesterday, I'm wondering whether I'm making a novice mistake by using an automotive/lawn mower type fan belt.

Any comments?

Thanks

Skylark53

[sandyt]

If it works, it works I guess.

Sometimes I also use automotive v-belts. Is should not hit the bottom of the v-groove though.

[Skylark53]

An update and a request for help...

I fabricated a drip pan, with the appropriate oblong hole for the knee lifter rod, I cut some felt discs for the oiling system, saturated them and also pre-oiled every moving part I could see in the head, underneath the machine and the lifter mechanism at the back of the machine.

Gave the machine a try under power from the new servo motor that I now know I'm going to like a LOT... Now I have to adjust the feed dog to prevent it from hitting the needle plate. I will only do that once I install the new feed dog and needle plate I just got.

Now for my request... Because I am also expecting a replacement presser bar that I hope will correct my binding presser foot in its upper travel, I need for someone to explain to me how to remove the presser bar from my 211G156... I know how to remove the presser bar guide (the part that looks like a tuning fork) but I need guidance removing the actual presser bar.

I've looked at service manual but they are not "Assembly/Disassembly" manuals, "oiling and adjusting manuals" would be a better description of those manuals.

Any help would be truly appreciated.

Merry Christmas to all...

Skylark53

[Skylark53]

I watched carefully to see if the presser foot would stick (in its upper movement) while operating the machine under power and it didn't... It only seems to stick when using the lever to lift the presser foot and at that, only in the upper most part of its travel.

Skylark53

[Uwe]

There's a chance that it's not the presser bar at all that's causing the apparent tightness/binding at the upper end of the presser bar manual lift movement. Ther are lots of parts moving when you manually lift the presser bar. Make sure it really is the presser bar that's causing the bind.

Try to get some close-up photos posted here so we can see what it all looks like in real life. None of the folks who have these machines in front of them seem to participate in this thread.

Assuming it is the presser bar that's actually causing the trouble, it seems to me that in order to remove it you'll have to loosen anything that clamps or otherwise holds on to the bar. Then the bar should slide freely up and down - it may need a little twisting motion and some extra lubrication. Then you "just" pull it all the way out the top. Obviously you'll have to remove the presser foot and screw, too. The bars are just that, very smooth straight bars. Don't put burrs on it with sharp plier and such.

I tried this on my SInger 111W155 just now because I wanted to know. I didn't actually remove my presser bar all the way but it slides up and down somewhat freely after loosening three screws. There's nothing that keeps it form getting pulled all the way out the top except my fear of not being able to get it back in, haha. I actually DID remove the presser bar on My Adler 205 to replace a broken lifter bracket. The 205 is a VERY different machine, but same principle - loosen all the clamping bits and pull the bar out the top.

Your 211G has a very different housing design and you probably have to remove the face cover first, but I suspect the internals haven't changed all that much.

If your presser bar is truly bent, it may not want to slide through the bushings which are fairly tight fits on my machine. Don't force it or you may mess up the bushings in the process. Ask yourself if you can live with the bar binding a little during manual lift and be just fine while you sew. The little annoyance may not be worth the effort of removing a presser bar that is truly bent. Depending on how precious your machine is and your level of daredevilness, you may have to cut off the bottom end of the bent bar with a grinder, then file and sand down the cut burrs in order to pull it out.

If the presser bar comes out easily in one piece it probably wasn't bent in the first place and likely not the cause of the lift binding.

I took some picture of my machine as I was loosening the presser bar. Inserting the screwdriver in the slot and giving it a little twisting motion greatly improving its willingness to slide up and down. Don't expect the picture to closely match what your machine looks like - I just documented the general process. On my machine the three screws are either freely accessible or through an access hole. I had to lift the presser bar a little to line up the screw with the access hole.

Here are the pictures, hoping they help:

This block makes sure the presser bar doesn't twist as it move up and down:

The spring arm presses down on this block push the presser bar down:

This block allows you to manually lift the presser bar (and via linkages during normal sewing)

This picture shows how I inserted the screwdriver in the foot mounting slot to give the bar a little twisting motion as I pushed it up or down.

Edited December 24, 2015 by Uwe

[Skylark53]

Thank you sooo much Uwe, your pictures are absolutely amazing.

I'm not at home right now (visiting my daughters for Christmas) but the mechanics of your Singer 111W155 are very similar to my machine. The only thing different is that my presser bar doesn't have a rounded end at the top (like your 111W and my friend's 211G156), it's a tube that at its upper travel ends about a 1/2" below the top of the machine head (it doesn't look broken as someone had suggested, it looks like it was made that way). The rounded top presser bar on my friend's 211G156 protrudes past the top of the machine's head throughout its up/down movement.

Which leads me to think the cause of the binding might be an accumulation of old dried up oil in that upper 1/2" portion of the bushing. Nothing so far seems to have broken down that build-up but oiling but successive manipulation has made it noticeably looser but it still binds at the very top of its run.

I agree with you that the response from the Singer 211 owners has been underwhelming but your posts have helped me immensely.

As for putting up with this little annoyance, my wife wants to use it for her quilting so I wanted to remove any idiosyncracies for her. Another reason to correct this is that yesterday I received a knee lifter bar to incorporate a foot pedal lift.

I'm just amazed at how many parts are STILL available for these old machines.

Thank you very much for your help Uwe, it's much appreciated.

I'll let you know how things worked out and I'll take pics too.

Merry Christmas to you and a yours.

Skylark53

Edited December 24, 2015 by Skylark53

[TinkerTailor]

Does the presser bar stick when sewing? If you are lifting it higher than it was in its service life, the shaft may be on a spot that wasnt used much, thus is worn lots less and may have more buildup on it, just a thought.

Which leads me to think the cause of the binding might be an accumulation of old dried up oil in that upper 1/2" portion of the bushing. Nothing so far seems to have broken down that build-up but oiling but successive manipulation has made it noticeably looser but it still binds at the very top of its run.

Skylark53

While you have the presser bar out scrub out that bushing with a bottle brush and some degreaser. You can get a wide range of cleaning brushes for this type at wine and beer making stores. You probably would not hurt anything by deburring and taking the sharp edge off the top of the bar if there is one there.

[Skylark53]

SUCCESS!!!

On Friday, I received my presser foot bar to replace the one that I thought was sticking... As I was fiddling around trying to figure out how to remove the old one, I noticed that the flat spring that provides tension to the presser foot was not in the proper place, it actually wasn't pushing on the presser foot at all. After relocating the flat spring in the notch where it was supposed to go, the presser foot operated normally. Try as I might, I cold NOT make it stick in the upper position... (so now I have a "spare" presser bar... LOL)

I had also received several other parts to replace worn ones on the machine. I think I might have already mentioned that the feed dog kept hitting the underside of the needle plate. Someone here had posted instructions on how to adjust the feed dog height and following those instructions, I adjusted the feed dog.

The machine now purrs like a kitten with its new servo motor and all its new parts. I'm only waiting on one new part (3" bobbin winder) and a few miscellaneous screws that I want to change to complete the restoration.

Thank you all for the tremendous help to get me through this snag in the process...

Skylark53

[gottaknow]

Sheesh skylark, not sure how I missed this thread. That's a common problem on the 211's. I have about 40 of them. Glad you figured it out.

Regards, Eric