Singer 111W155 presser foot adjustment

[Ole South]

I've rebuilt a "parts machine" 111W155.  Initially it sewed well but I tried to adjust the alternating presser foot height by the manual and things went in the crapper.  The vibrating foot lifts 3/8ths -1.2 inch. the alternating presser foot (outside) barely clears the material being sewn.  This makes it difficult to sew across height variations like seams. The mechanics appear to pivot the outer foot off the inner.... but when I adjust them for the same lift (standard) the inner foot binds on the feed dogs and locks up the machine.

The manual doesn't specify where/what their starting point/position should be.  Anyone else experienced this?

Thanks.

(Needle bar height is set correctly)

[Uwe]

Things may actually bind on the housing, not the fed dog.

I've had a few machines where I managed to get the adjustment so out of whack so that the foot lift linkage was touching the cast body and causing a bind. Make sure your foot lift linkage looks something like this:

 

The linkages are all connected and it may be tricky to get it into the right position.

Sometimes you can adjust the linkage like shown below to get it back into the correct range of motion:

 

This arm should be vertical in the middle of its range of motion:

If things are really out of whack you may need to re-set all the linkages as as shown in this video where I replaced the thread tension release guide:

 

Edited February 26, 2017 by Uwe

[MADMAX22]

Uwe on my 111w155 that linkage has enough room to clear the hole on the side without making contact of any sort, curious if they had different machining specs on these things for that portion of the body. 

[leecopp]

Hi All,

Getting my timing reset from previous owner was indeed tedious. I was also impeded by contact issue. Ultimately resolved after much fussing about.

Thanks Uwe for the clarifying photos.

 

Lee

[brmax]

I'm not to familiar so I have to ask if in the 2nd photo above: right side top hole can the linkage there be adjusted as "is it on a cam" like the 15 series Juki so calling it a feed cam.

 

Thankyou

 Floyd

 

[Uwe]

Floyd, you are correct - the clamping arm itself (where we loosen the screw) is indeed fixed in its position by its connection to the feed cam arm on the main shaft.

But we're really rotating the shaft that the clamping arm holds on to, not the clamping arm itself. It's hard to explain in words without writing a novel. Might be a good video topic. 

[Ole South]

Thanks Uwe, the vibrating foot actually clamps down too hard on the feed dog to turn the hand wheel.  I will revisit the linkage set screw.  Where (just picking a random point) should things be when the L shaped pivot arm {red/green} is at exactly 3 o'clock position.

And thank you so VERY much for the pictures of the thread tension release guide... I wondered why mine shot out of the back of the machine if the pressure lift arm was hyper-extended.  I ordered one and I got the rod for a 152/3 (different diameter).  I eventually fabricated one of correct diameter from brass rod but if you push lifter release too high it binds the presser feet... basically how I got the presser feet out of whak in the first place.

[brmax]

I have found the adjustments on many of these machines have a "or" require to be on a certain stitch setting. Also this may need to be changed for the next adjustment in the manual listing. I mention this only because this particular adjustment is what matters most or gets jacked up and even me doing it earlier on. I can say that because it was a stumble i had to figure out on some, re-adjust my own mess. And following up in the future found that doing each step in step with the manual was critical for this issue whatever machine i had and this seemed to worked better for me.

 

good day

Floyd

Edited February 27, 2017 by brmax

[Uwe]

10 hours ago, Ole South said:

the vibrating foot actually clamps down too hard on the feed dog to turn the hand wheel

As you turn the wheel, the outer presser foot is supposed to start lifting up the moment the vibrating presser foot presses against the feed dog (or against the material if there is any). There must be something that prevents that from happening. Your foot lift linkage is not working properly. I have strong feeling it has to do with how you adjusted the feet for same lift. What exactly did you do to adjust the foot lift?

[Ole South]

Loosened the lock screw and turned the worm screw rotating the eccentric at the middle of the upper drive shaft.