31-15 vs. 31K15 Cam Rotation and Tension Pin

[akira7799]

Hi All, 

I have a question regarding Harry Rogers YouTube video on his Singer 31K15.  At approximately 4:16 seconds he talks about the tension pin on the inside of the tension assembly and how it's actuated by rotation of the cam.  I looked for this particular movement in my Singer 31-15 and haven't seen it at all.  There's not one part of the machine that touches this interior tension pin during the rotation of the cam.

Overall question is, how different are the 31K15 and the 31-15.  Should I be seeing this movement in my 31-15 machine?  If I am supposed to see it, what adjustments can be made to ensure this pin will actuate properly during the cycle of the machine?  If needed I can upload a video to show what I'm dealing with.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[Bert51]

From memory this has been discussed before and sadly Harry did not know a lot about this machine as the pin he is talking about is the pin in the Tension adjuster and is moved but lifting the foot and not so cam some where.

I was asked to correct this, but sadly he has not, so this myth still goes on.

If you need any information about the 31-15 or 31K15 just ask this forum, as there is a lot of good peop[le who know heaps more then I do.

Bert.

[Constabulary]

Agree with Bert!

There is no tension release during the sewing cycle. The tension release is only required when you lift the foot lever and remove the material. As much as I like Harry´s videos but in this point he is wrong! The Singer 31 and 31K are the same 31 is US made 31K is UK made. The suffix K means Kilbowie, thats where the UK Singer plant was located once.

[akira7799]

7 hours ago, Bert51 said:

From memory this has been discussed before and sadly Harry did not know a lot about this machine as the pin he is talking about is the pin in the Tension adjuster and is moved but lifting the foot and not so cam some where.

Thanks for the good news!  I really manhandled this Formica and angle iron table (with machine on top) getting it into the truck and was deeply worried I broke/bent/busted a part.

Otherwise, everything looks great!  It only needed a very fine adjustment to hook/race time.  Feed dog timing looked great.

Thanks again for the reply.

[akira7799]

6 hours ago, Constabulary said:

Agree with Bert!

There is no tension release during the sewing cycle. The tension release is only required when you lift the foot lever and remove the material. As much as I like Harry´s videos but in this point he is wrong! The Singer 31 and 31K are the same 31 is US made 31K is UK made. The suffix K means Kilbowie, thats where the UK Singer plant was located once.

Thanks for the reaffirmation of information and the info on the 31K15vs. the 31-15.  Very useful!

[Wizcrafts]

Sometimes companies or individuals have their machines modified to perform certain non-standard functions. Maybe Harry's 31k was previously modified to release the tension on the downstroke. I don't know why anybody would want this, but who knows.

In contrast, there are some Singer machines totally lacking a tension release mechanism, like my 42-5. That's another story.

[akira7799]

2 hours ago, Wizcrafts said:

Sometimes companies or individuals have their machines modified to perform certain non-standard functions. Maybe Harry's 31k was previously modified to release the tension on the downstroke. I don't know why anybody would want this, but who knows.

Thanks for the input.  As far as I can tell mine doesn't appear to be modified and I'm thrilled/relieved that it's running the way "it's sposed to".

Appreciate you input,

Dave

[Wizcrafts]

3 hours ago, akira7799 said:

Thanks for the input.  As far as I can tell mine doesn't appear to be modified and I'm thrilled/relieved that it's running the way "it's sposed to".

Appreciate you input,

Dave

I was referring to little Harry's 31k15

[Bert51]

cdthayer posted this some time back,

"Four years ago, I tried to get Harry to take another look at his bull$hit about how “the Needle Crank lever should press the Tension release lever to push the pin that release the tension during the stitching cycle” (my post is at his Youtube video), and he didn’t reply. He replied to another guy and said that he no longer had the machine and couldn’t look into that person’s problem.

Your needle crank shouldn’t hit the tension release linkage at all.  Look elsewhere for your thread-breaking problem.

CD in Oklahoma"

Unless Harry had a SV 31K15, but to me it appear to be a normal Machine and if Harry cannot admit or clarify what he was talking about, then Harry has gone down in my opinion.

Bert.

[akira7799]

4 hours ago, Wizcrafts said:

I was referring to little Harry's 31k15

Gotcha.

[akira7799]

3 hours ago, Bert51 said:

Your needle crank shouldn’t hit the tension release linkage at all.  Look elsewhere for your thread-breaking problem.

No breakages!  Everything’s timed perfect and running like rain.  I just saw that video and thought my machine was screwed up because of the rough transport home.  Glad to be able to reach out to such a knowledgeable resource base to check/verify for sure.

Thanks again!

[Bert51]

As I said before there are a lot of people here that know a lot more then I do and I have learnt so much here and wish I found it before I went to the school of hard knots and wasted good money.

If you have a question, please just ask, it would be a rare thing for some one not to know the answer.

Bert.

[DonInReno]

There are plenty of myths about the 31-15/31-20 (and just about every machine) that get repeated here and in videos....

If Harry just got one of his facts wrong he’s doing good.