Questions about my new Pfaff 1245

[katit]

Spent couple hours just looking at all parts, sewing some, etc. Many questions came up..

1. I want to clean it. See picture with white wrinkled surface. Dirt in low spots. I tries to soak with contractor solvent(similar to goo gone) and use tooth brush but no luck. Any suggestions? I think if I can clean it - machine will be like new..

2. Servo motor. I was practicing and trying to go really slow. Sometime it works, but pedal travel is not relative to speed. Example, 30-40% of travel nothing happen and then 10% of travel it moves slowly and then it just goes fast. I wonder if there is something I can do to make it gradual? Changing speed on servo control just "moves" this grab point and makes top speed lower/faster

3. Bobbin casing. There is some dirt/gunk inside. I'd like to clean but not sure if it's possible to take hook assembly out without kicking it off alignment?

4. Machine missing all "Crucial" parts  In manual it says don't run without needle guard, don't run without this guard over this up/down thingy (not sure what is the name) and don't run without belt cover. All those missing. I found part numbers for them. Any common online supplier for those?

5. Walking foot. It is not flat on a bottom. I afraid it might mark leather. Which one do I need and any other feets I need to get for this machine? Will be working on automotive upholstery.

Thanks a lot!

 

 

More pics:

 

[dikman]

Those "crucial parts" aren't necessary to run the machine, they're simply there to meet the manufacturer's legal safety obligations. Unless you're really concerned (or paranoid about safety) I wouldn't worry about them.

Maybe you could try a rag dampened with WD40 to clean it?

Personally, I'd try and clean as much from the bobbin case as possible without dismantling it - unless you're very mechanically minded and know what you're doing!

As for the feet, you could grind them flat or try filling the grooves with JBWeld. Kwok Hing is one supplier of feet for some Pfaff machines.

Sewing speed, perhaps consider fitting a speed reducer?

[katit]

"Crucial parts" was quoted to indicate their "importance". But I got nice machine and I figured it would be nice to have it complete. Of course I don't really care about those parts. Belt cover (front piece) is kind of bothers me cosmetically

WD40 doesn't work

Just took motor pulley off - it's 75mm and 15mm inside. Found same one but 45mm on eBay, let's see what it does. Should give more torque which is what I need. When I press pedal half way even though it's not sewing if I crank by hand it goes much easier. So, it's just motor can't overcome resistance. And seller said putting on low speed won't help. If I will work with leather it just won't start.. I hope 45mm pulley will help.

Another question about servo motor: Should they squeal? When I turn machine by hand I hear this squealing noise. I though maybe it's belt skipping. But now I had pulley off and turned motor and it's motor itself. When it turns over under power - no problem. But it's very annoying when you do this last stich or try to raise needle it makes this horrible sound.

 

[R8R]

I cleaned up an old Juki with some Lysol hydrogen peroxide cleaner, a small nylon brush and some good microfiber towels. You have to scrub the gunk out of the "pores" of the textured paint.

http://www.lysol.com/products/see-all-products/lysol-with-hydrogen-peroxide-multi-purpose-cleaner-citrus-sparkle-zest/

It came from a very, very dirty factory and by the time I was done it looked new.

 

One of those 550w servos with no speed reducer is great for upholstery or garments, but it won't have much low speed torque, and it will need speed and momentum to penetrate anything substantial. A smaller pulley on the motor will help, but a reducer will make all the difference.

Edited October 13, 2018 by R8R

[R8R]

Oh and the hook just soak it in sewing oil and scrub with a toothbrush or similar soft brush till clean, then rinse in more oil. Avoid solvents as they can stick around and reduce the effectiveness of any lubrication from the oil.

[katit]

25 minutes ago, R8R said:

 

One of those 550w servos with no speed reducer is great for upholstery or garments, but it won't have much low speed torque, and it will need speed and momentum to penetrate anything substantial. A smaller pulley on the motor will help, but a reducer will make all the difference.

Can you point me to speed reducer? Can’t find what it is

thank you!

[R8R]

3 minutes ago, katit said:

Can you point me to speed reducer? Can’t find what it is

thank you!

It is a large-to-small pulley reduction wheel. Typically made of iron.

This is one of the ones I have:

https://store.keysew.com/parts/sewing-parts/sr-2

Many (most) industrial sewing vendors sell them.

It bolts under the table between the servo motor and the machine. You then have a two belt power transfer - one belt from the small pulley of the motor to the large pulley of the reducer, then one belt from the small pulley of the reducer to the pulley on the machine.

This adds torque and slows the machine to a stitch-by-stitch crawl.

Trade off is it adds complexity and can be tricky to set up, and can make tilting the head back a chore if you have to undo the belts.

[katit]

Ok, I see. And it’s pretty expensive. I will see what 75->45mm pulley will do. Maybe practice and exchange will fix it for me

[Constabulary]

sample for a DIY speed reducer:

 

[katit]

Yep. I can do that. Problem with missing belt cover will be solved automatically as I will have to take other one out as well

[Northmount]

12 hours ago, katit said:

Another question about servo motor: Should they squeal? When I turn machine by hand I hear this squealing noise. I though maybe it's belt skipping. But now I had pulley off and turned motor and it's motor itself. When it turns over under power - no problem. But it's very annoying when you do this last stich or try to raise needle it makes this horrible sound.

It must be a brush type motor and the brushes are vibrating in the brush holder as the commutator turns.  Check the brushes are not worn out (too short).  If the motor is new, they may wear in and stop squealing.  There will be two brushes, one on each side of the motor.  Usually a black cap with a screwdriver slot.  Don't over tighten or you may break the external part of the brush holder.

Tom

[SARK9]

I'm pretty sure some of the non-electronic "servo" motors have a brake pad of sorts....try depressing the pedal slightly to see if it disengages it.

-DC

[Northmount]

That sounds like it is more likely than my comment above.  Good call.

Tom

[Ken Nelson]

Rubbing alcohol is good to clean up that machine.  I would lay it down and let it set on the paint and it should soften all the gunk and a small brush, ie-toothbrush should get it out or compressed air- high pressure and a lot of it.   Same way with cleaning the hook.  The Alcohol will evaporate  and won't leave an oily residue behind.  Then the proper oil will be the only lube there.

Just my opinion.

Edited October 13, 2018 by Ken Nelson

[katit]

Yep. It is brake. Sligtly pressing on pedal removes tension.

did my first project- machine cover. Almost got used to speed control. Thinking that 45mm pulley might solve issue

Will try soaking wiyh rubbing alcohol. Tried simple green - no luck

Edited October 13, 2018 by katit

[Uwe]

Looks like you got yourself a nice machine there!

Those motors usually have a simple speed dial knob. Try turning it down, but not all the way. It may improve low speed control and starting speed.

The brake pad on those motors is annoying and replaceable/removable. Personally I hate those brake pads and I remove them. I thinks it's dangerous to depress the pedal just so without starting the motor while you're doing detail work and have your fingers near the needle. The machine will stop just fine without the brake pad.

Aftermarket feet for the Pfaff 1245 are readily available, I have a few left in my online store. You can also order them directly from Kwok Hing. The knurled foot you have is probably fine for automotive leather, and definitely good for vinyl. 

The hook on this Pfaff series can be removed without changing the hook timing, which is a really nice feature to have. The hook design is almost identical to the Adler 167 series. You shouldn't be afraid to remove the hook when you need to do a proper cleaning, at least not on this machine. Who really wants to take a machine to a mechanic everytime thread gets stuck under the hook? I made a video on how to remove the hook on an Adler 167. The Pfaff 1245 steps will be nearly identical.

I don't have a full video of the Pfaff hook removal but I have a video snippet for the last few steps on a Pfaff 145, just to show how similar the hook designs are.

 

Edited October 13, 2018 by Uwe

[katit]

3 hours ago, Uwe said:

Looks like you got yourself a nice machine there!

Thanks! I eventually got machine from Nick. He brought this Pfaff to local store and the deal was pretty good. All this time (since July) I monitored local CL and nothing showed up... STL is like a "black hole"  

So.

1. Extra part removed, much easier to deal with machine now! 

2. Hook cleaned up. Took it out as per instructions, used brake clean then immediate oil everything and then wipe. Now I know where to put oil when changing bobbing (little hole and wick between tiny bolts). It seems like it's sewing better now (placebo most likely )

3. Guide foot ordered. Looking forward to nice French seams.

 

[katit]

Finally installed 45mm pulley on a bottom (smaller belt needed, OReilly didn't have right size, had to get online). So, for less that $20 I got machine slow the way I need. For material thickness I will use it's enough to penetrate, motor setting is about 950RPM, this gives me good control and can go decently fast when pushed.

Also tried guide foot. nice even seam, not bad for newbie

Have couple more questions:

1. When locking seam with reverse, what is the correct procedure? Specifically items I'm curious about:

- Should I start sewing and then reverse? Which means I will get 3 stiches through the hole. Or should I start backwards and then go in?

- When I reverse a lot of time I don't get holes aligned, sometimes I have missed stitch. I think it' because of the timing. When should I back-stitch? Needle up? Down?

2. When I need to make shorter stitch, how should I do it? For example, I need 1/2 stitch, what is correct steps to do it?

3. When sewing french seam (like on picture), what needs to be done so there is no visible thread inside? You see on start/end some vinyl, this is where backstitching was done

4. I see some belt black "dust" on sewing table. Is that normal for new belt or my tension might be little too tight?

 

Edited October 22, 2018 by katit

[Brtz]

Another example of home made pulley speed reducer. I made it for my pfaffs. Regards. Bert.

[R8R]

On 10/12/2018 at 7:33 PM, katit said:

 

1. I want to clean it. See picture with white wrinkled surface. Dirt in low spots. I tries to soak with contractor solvent(similar to goo gone) and use tooth brush but no luck. Any suggestions? I think if I can clean it - machine will be like new..

 

I've had some really good luck with Magic Erasers lately. Spots and stains on this older white Juki I recently obtained seem to buff away pretty easily with these.

[dikman]

Yet another way of doing it, nice one Brtz.

[Northmount]

Item 1

You should reverse after the needle has risen about 1/4" from bottom of its stroke.  Stop before you reverse so you have control.  If you reverse too early, the hook won't have caught the loop and you have a missed stitch.

When starting a line of stitching, you can start in reverse about 3 stitches before the beginning end of the stitch line, then switch to forward.  Same rule as above applies.

Item 2

By hand-wheeling and adjusting the reverse leaver/stitch length to hit the target.

Item 3

When starting a stitch line, hold both tails to keep tension on them for the first few stitches.  When doing your top stitching, don't pull the seam too tight.  When reversing, don't lift the presser foot.  You might need more top and bottom tension.

Item 4 - belt dust

Could be rough spot on a pulley, or misaligned.  Possibly over tightened might do it too.  Should be able to depress the belt about an inch by pressing with your thumb midway between pulleys without having to exert a lot of pressure.  There is not a heavy load on these belts, so doesn't need to be really tight.  Do you have a belt riding high above the rim of one of the pulleys?

Tom

[katit]

17 hours ago, Northmount said:

Item 1

You should reverse after the needle has risen about 1/4" from bottom of its stroke.  Stop before you reverse so you have control.  If you reverse too early, the hook won't have caught the loop and you have a missed stitch.

When starting a line of stitching, you can start in reverse about 3 stitches before the beginning end of the stitch line, then switch to forward.  Same rule as above applies.

Item 2

By hand-wheeling and adjusting the reverse leaver/stitch length to hit the target.

Item 3

When starting a stitch line, hold both tails to keep tension on them for the first few stitches.  When doing your top stitching, don't pull the seam too tight.  When reversing, don't lift the presser foot.  You might need more top and bottom tension.

Item 4 - belt dust

Could be rough spot on a pulley, or misaligned.  Possibly over tightened might do it too.  Should be able to depress the belt about an inch by pressing with your thumb midway between pulleys without having to exert a lot of pressure.  There is not a heavy load on these belts, so doesn't need to be really tight.  Do you have a belt riding high above the rim of one of the pulleys?

Tom

Tom,

Thanks a lot for explanations!

#1 - I did practice but need to work on it. Not always getting through the same hole result.

#2 - Didn't practice yet, but I didn't realize that reverese lever can be used for that, all videos I've seen involved pressure release and material movement.

#3 - I will practice more. Yesterday I tried to increase tension on both top/bottom and started to get a lot of tangles on a bottom. Took me awhile to figure out. What happened was that top thread got out of tensioner and was on a tensioner spool but not between plates. And even with releaved pressure it wasn't getting in. Good expirience I guess!

#4 - See picture. I think it makes less dust now. It is straight, it does deflect about 1 inch. Completely inside pulley on bottom pulley, top pulley see pic, about even.

 

 

[Northmount]

39 minutes ago, katit said:

#4 - See picture. I think it makes less dust now. It is straight, it does deflect about 1 inch. Completely inside pulley on bottom pulley, top pulley see pic, about even.

Belt is at the correct depth on the top pulley.  Bottom pulley belt should not ride in the bottom of the groove.  Is that bracket or guard just to the right of the belt rubbing on the belt?

Tom