ADLER 205/370 OR 374 WITH EFKA VARIOSTOP

[Diyer]

I am doing a little dance.

Why?

Well I found out today that my local saddle maker is selling a Durkopp Adler 205/370 or 374 that he has in his workshop, complete with an Efka Variostop motor/control system.The machine is likely to be well used,but not necessarily knackered. I get to find out the price on Thursday, when the owner will be "in".The previous one was around 1800 euros, sold last week.I suspect he is getting new machines, and the old ones will have long become "scrap price" from an accountancy point of view. I just have to make sure what I am buying is not real scrap, as Adler parts prices can be steeeeeeeeep!

As it is a production machine, there is also air operated this and that.Not all of it works, but I will have to take those bits off (I really do not want to hear my compressor all the time), and replace them with original items.

The motor may be 3 phase- it looked a lot bigger than any single phase one I have had- sort of bullet shaped.I suspect from pictures I have seen, the Efka is used with a clutch motor.. The manual states that the recommended Efka unit is either a type 9B 31, or an 8E 521. I found some details on the 8E 521. It has a pneumatic backtack console parked on top of the machine head.

The Efka  looks awful complicated- how useful/what can you do with it, assuming the system is quite old- no computer shaped boxes like the new ones.

Underneath the machine table was a great jumble of boxes, air operation stuff, and wiring. Efka will be completely new to me.

The 205 head is painted grey (any idea of year/s of manufacture?), and has a black end piece, with no cover for the arm that has thread going throughon its end.

I noticed that the stitch length lever did not stay up when put in reverse, but I wondered if this had been disabled in some way for the air back tacking.

Are there any particular checks pertaining to this specific model that I need to do?

I have noticed comments on costing for a new bobbin case, plus checking  for needle bar wobble and availability of the different needle size spacers pointed out in UWE's Youtube video.

It is of course, already set up to sew a reasonably thick leather, so I can take some samples of what I use with me.

I have the room and the time to play with this one, if the price is right.

[dikman]

You can always remove the motor (and all its associated paraphernalia) and replace it with a servo?

[Diyer]

I have a Hohsing on my 105, so that could be used. Or I could possibly use my single phase clutch motor that WAS  on the 105.Is there any value on the older Efka stuff?

[dikman]

In my opinion you would have to be something of a masochist to want to put a clutch motor on a leather sewing machine!

[shoepatcher]

Diyer,

Get us some pics of the machine and motor.  That way, we can see what kind of shape it is in.

 

  I have (4)  205-370 Adlers here at our plant and they all are not set up with Efka computer motors.  This gave us needle positioner, air foot lift, air back tack,  speed control.  After having these functions on a machine, I do NOT want to go back to manual one.  If it is a 3 phase motor on the one you are looking at, that could be changed with a phase converter.    Do you currently have air  at your shop  now?  An  Adler 205 can be converted back to a plane jane machine with  a servo motor.  Hirose makes a very good clone bobbin shuttle.  I use them on our Adlers.    To bad you are not in the states.  Allen at Weaver Leather is about the best I know of at rebuilding Adler 205's simply because he works on them everyday and has so for over 20 years.  They rebuilt 2 of my 4 Adler 205's.    Pictures will tell us a lot.

glenn

[Diyer]

Glenn,

I do have a SMALL air compressor. Can you please tell me what the consumption for 1 machine might be? My workshop for sewing is in the house,and the room is a converted bedroom ,so there is not much room.I will be taking photos, as well as some sample leather to try out. The price needs to allow me to spend money on parts, hopefully not the bottomless pit variety. Presumably even though I am not in the USA, Allen is available at the other end of a phone?

I also have a tame machinist that is pretty good if needed, but I will be looking on this machine as a project rather than something I need up and running asap.I know there was a bit of muttering about something on the air system that did not work. Fortunately, a Portuguese friend will be visiting, and she can help me with language translation. My Portuguese is ok, but sometimes one has to be really careful with negotiations, that I am being understood correctly, and vice versa.

Regarding clutch motors on leather sewing machines- clutch motors were all my experience from the early 1970's to two years ago. I still have one on my flatbed Seiko.You kinda get used to slipping and feathering the clutch.

[dikman]

I guess I should have added the proviso "unless you are very experienced with clutch motors" (which most of us hobbyists are not), so feel free to ignore my comments .

[shoepatcher]

Diyer,
We run our machines at about 60-75lbs of pressure.  A small compressor may handle it .  It just depends on how fast you run the machine,  how often you reverse stitch and

lift the foot since these are the functions that use air.  Allen is available between 8:ooam and 4:oopm  EST at 1800-Weaver1.

If you use a clutch motor, you will also want to get a speed reducer especially on this large machine.

glenn

[Diyer]

As I may set the machine up in its original form, I can try out my compressor and see how it goes.

The motor is a 3 phase, so that will need altering, as I only use single phase.

The price is a steal, even if I have to buy some expensive spares- 1,000 euros- less than I thought.

There was a very small amount of play that I could feel on the needle shaft, and the same for the inner and outer foot shafts.

He said there were the curved spacers for different sized needles.

I suspect the shuttle and race are worn, but it appeared to sew ok-albeit on thin leather, which is what it has been used for.

He does not want me to spend time taking it to pieces- he said that two strong guys managed to move the other one he sold- has any one got any opinions as to the number of people needed to move it out and onto a low trailer with a ramp? I do not own a pallet truck.

The man was rather puzzled as to why I wanted such a BIG  machine!!! He he.

The control box has 6F62A and some other letters obscured by something on the photo.

Here are some photos I took today.

I see the system only allows the one photo. How do I upload more please? Do I have to put them on a photobucket file with a link, or is there some other way?

[Wizcrafts]

We have a fliesize limit of 1.46 mb per file. Just upload another photo as a follow-up. Or, reduce the file sizes by lowering the resolution.