Feeddog issue (?) 111w103 singer

[Uwe]

The motor spinning the wrong way is the more likely cause of the reverse feeding problem. There's no point in investigating potential other issues unless we are certain the machine's mechanism is rotating in the correct direction.  

I'd recommend taking the drive belt off the hand wheel until you hand turn perfect stitches on the machines. It's no use running the machine under power if something is wrong. Tilt the machine head back a few inches to slacken the drive belt and take the belt off the hand wheel. Don't put the belt back on until you can hand-turn perfect stitches.

Move the top of handwheel towards you - the hand wheel needs to spin counter-clockwise when you look at it from the right side (that's the only way that machine will ever make a stitch.)

Try that and report back.

[dikman]

Good point in removing the belt. Then start/stop the motor a few times and see which way it turns - always the same way or is it inconsistent?

[CSM68]

I appreciate all the commentary here.. just so you know I called in a sewing repairman and he can't figure it out but had never worked with a running foot before, just home models. The machine is now oiled and cleaned to the hilt. So now I'm really depressed..

Uwe---I removed the belt, the engine OFF, and moved the wheel counter clockwise as you suggest but the machine is still sewing in place/backwards. I guess when I move the wheel manually it's more of an 'in place' stitch. 

There is what appears to be a stitch length knob on the side of the wheel but seems to have no affect no matter how it is moved. Is it possible the walking foot is not working properly? This is odd because the only thing I sewed on it was a quilt! No heavy leathers at all, but is it somehow misaligned?

 

 

[Wizcrafts]

11 minutes ago, CSM68 said:

There is what appears to be a stitch length knob on the side of the wheel but seems to have no affect no matter how it is moved.

That knob on the end of the flywheel is the stitch length adjuster. It consists of the know attached to a long steel shaft that has a long tapered cone on the other end. If the threads are not worn off the device, screwing in inward (CW) should lengthen the stitches and vice-versa. If turning the know CW has no effect, the threads may be gone. If that's the case, the stitch length can be adjusted internally via a pair of set screws in one side of a movable block that controls the needle and feed dog motion.

The control block I mentioned has a cap screw on one end that holds a very heavy spring in place and it should not be removed. The other end has two set screws, with the top one just being a stopper for the bottom screw, which sets the stitch length against the tapered cone on the left end of that long shaft. The bottom screw usually has a rounded end to push smoothly against the tapered cone.

The stitch length shaft can be removed to clean up any gouges, polished and replaced.

If I get time I will try to find a parts page showing these ancient mechanisms in an exploded view. Or, maybe someone else will have it handy and post that page.

[Uwe]

Screw that stitch length adjustment knob in the center of the hand wheel in as far as it will go and see if it produces a noticeable feed dog movement. If not, you may be missing some parts. I just got done fixing the same stitch length mechanism on a different machine where a few parts were missing on the excenter disk. Let's hope your stitch length mechanism is complete because fixing mine was a real pain.

[CSM68]

I have GREATLY APPRECIATED everyone's commentary!! Give me a day to try out your ideas and I'll report back. XO

[CSM68]

Wizcrafts, Uwe, and others--- ok so I pulled out that gauge and yes before I did that i moved it around and tried again to sew with no effect whatsoever.. I'm starting to suspect that that button is the issue? Do you agree? Ok so what should I do next?

[Uwe]

We'll have to be a bit more precise with wording to make progress. It's not totally clear to me which exact parts you are referring to when you say "that gauge" and "that button". It's obvious to you because you're looking at the parts, but we have to interpret the words and try figure out the details. Pictures with a little arrow always help. Most smart phones allow to to annotate pictures with arrows and words that you can then upload here. 

I made a video describing the feed adjustment mechanism on my Singer 153W102, which should be identical to what you have on your Singer 111W103. Hopefully the video will help you understand how the feed (stitch length)  adjustment functions and perhaps identify why yours does not work right.

 

[CSM68]

Uwe-----This is fantastic, and I don't know how to tell you how much I appreciate your video. NOW---Because of your education I have been able to pinpoint the issue and I have FINALLY found a repair guy in Chicago that understands the problem and can address it. My biggest problem before was that 
I didn't know what the problem was and so making certain I had the right repair person was problematic. I'm expecting a happy ending here; I want to thank EVERYONE here for their input.