Singer 307g2 zigzag limited

[Mizzy]

My apologies if this has been covered already, however,  I can’t find it if it has. 
 

I recently had to replace my original Singer 307g2 with one that doesn’t zigzag properly. It’s a shame but I had no choice (see below). When the lever of this new machine is at 0 on the extreme left, the machine does a small zigzag but it’s supposed to be straight. When the lever is moved to nearly the middle it does a straight stitch, and when the lever is at the extreme right at 6, it does a wider zigzag but only 4mm wide, not 6. Can anyone please tell me why this might be?

Ok so here’s what happened. If you’ve seen my previous posts you might remember how much work I put into restoring my original 307g2. Anyway, during the summer here in Australia our house was slowing becoming surrounded by bush fires and so we evacuated along with our most precious possessions, one of which was my 307g2 head. Unfortunately, once the danger had passed and we were returning to our property, my husbands ute side gate failed and the crate holding my machine fell out, the head bouncing along the bitumen road like a ball. Destroyed. I was gutted but my husband found another one and had it shipped in, yet it’s not working properly. That’s the old one below. Can anyone help please?

[Tejas]

Could the problem be that the machine had been unused for a long time and is gummed-up? I bought a used Bernina 217 zig zag sewing machine in excellent condition but that apparently had been stored for a long time. Zig zag worked erratically. A sewing machine repairman soaked the machine in a solvent -- kerosine maybe -- and the sewing machine worked perfectly.

A few other folks on the forum seem to have had similar problems Try the following in google to see those threads.

gummed up zig zag sewing machine site leatherworker.net

[Constabulary]

Have you checked the position of the L - R "push lever" - is is centered? Have you checked the position of 2 limiter thumb screws left and right of the ZZ lever are they set to the far left / right??

The 307G2 has a small eccentric stud but this is just fine tuning for the needle position, just wanted to have it mentioned in case you did not know. Loosen the set screw from the left and then you should be able to fine tune the needle position - see pictures. But this will not solve your problem.

Edited May 17, 2020 by Constabulary

[Mizzy]

Thank you Tegas, I’ll give that a go. I plan to start restoring this one too and part of that is usually a good clean with kero to remove all the sanding residue, but I’ve never soaked the inside before. 
Thanks Constabulary, I didn’t know about that set screw and now the needle is dead centre when straight, but as you said, the zigzag problem remains. Great tip, thank you. Yes I’ve played with those black setting knobs but nothing changes. Another thing that happens is if the lever is at 0 and does a 2 mm zigzag it will only do so with central needle position. If it’s set to left, the needle strikes the plate on the left side. If it’s set to right, the needle strikes left on the plate. But only in zigzag, if it’s sewing straight the needle penetrates the hole exactly left, centre, or right depending on where it’s set to. And also when the lever is set to 6 it does a perfect 4mm zigzag no mater which position the needle is in. 
At the back of the machine is a screw that seems to go through to the front (guessing actually). Does that screw play a part in adjusting the zigzag lever? I haven’t touched it as I can’t find any information about it.

Edited May 17, 2020 by Mizzy
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[Constabulary]

The 307G2 is almost the only machine I own which have not really restored, I only cleaned mine and it worked really well. So I can only guess here and only can make suggestions. Hopefully someone else has more experiences with this machine. I will soak up any information.

So from my experience the 107w seem to be very similar in its ZZ control (as far as I can tell). The "screw" you marked sees to be the shaft for the ZZ drive gear.

You can download a parts list here:

https://www.universalsewing.com/images2/parts_lists/all/adqbmhsh.pd

Also there is a 107w Video maybe if gives you an idea for adjusting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdGD7D9QCUk

Sorry I really cannot help much here. I wish I had a 2nd machine "to play with"

 

EDIT:
I have a better 307G2 parts list but file is to big to attach here (11MB), send me your email address by PM soI can send it to you.

 

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by Constabulary

[Mizzy]

That’s so kind of you Constabulary, I’ve sent you a private message with my email address. 

[Gymnast]

Well when nobody else responded I just like to guess a little based on your information. I think in some way the stitch lever position was changed by the impact your machine had on to the road. The correct range was 0 mm to 6 mm width, before. Now it have in some way changed to -2 to 4 mm. I guess the dial with lever outside got some lock screw on to the shaft into the machine. Inside the machine I guess there might be some other kind of lever attached to this shaft with one or two lock screws. So I guess that one of these levers have got turned a  bit on this shaft by the impact.

You have got another lever or dial to fix the needle position from left  to right. How much are you able to move the needle using this lever?

[Northmount]

3 hours ago, Gymnast said:

lever position was changed by the impact your machine had on to the road

That was the first machine she had and was totally destroyed.  She has a replacement machine now that is giving her trouble.

Tom

[Mizzy]

Thanks for your responses!

I’ve found some information on adjusting a Bernina here https://www.picuki.com/tag/bernina117

but not sure how relevant it is to my Singer 307g2, but here’s part of it in case you don’t want to read the whole article.

I use a dial indicator mounted on a flexible arm magnetic base to adjust the straight stitch on a zigzag Bernina 117. I was getting a slight zigzag while the machine was set to straight stitch. A dial indicator is a basic measuring tool that has a plunger on one end. As the plunger moves in and out of the indicator, a needle on the dial shows the measurement of the distance. Each line on this dial indicates .001 of an inch (one thousandth of inch = .0254mm). After mounting the indicator on to the flexible arm I set the plunger against the block that holds the needle bar, depressing it until I get a reading on the dial. I then zero the dial by rotating the face. As the needle bar moves back and forth it depresses the plunger causing the needle on the dial to move. Using a 5mm screwdriver I loosen the limit stop and slide it to the center of the shaft. Then I turn the zigzag lever to maximum zigzag to get access to the adjustment screw. Then I loosen the screw with a 2mm screwdriver and then move the zigzag lever VERY SLIGHTLY, then tighten screw and move the zigzag lever back to straight stitch. Rotate the hand wheel and watch the dial indicator if the needle moves more than it did when I started I readjust moving the zigzag lever in opposite direction after loosing the adjustment screw. I repeat this adjustment procedure several times until there is very little movement of the needle on the dial indicator. I was able get the movement down to less than one thousandth of an inch. Then I readjust the limit stop so that the zigzag lever can move between straight stitch and full zigzag. You will need to swipe to watch part 2 and 3 of the video. I apologize to the machinists that follow me but most of my followers do not know how to use a dial indicator.

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by Mizzy
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