Consew 255RB3 semi automatic oiling and presser foot lift

[sandmanred]

Do other owners of the Consew 255RB-3 use the semi-automatic oiling system?  I filled my reservoirs yesterday and left the little knob on top in the off position.  The machine is sitting on a metal workbench.  The upper reservoir pretty much emptied itself overnight.  There was an oil pad in the drip pan that was saturated when I got the machine.  I'm thinking I'd just go to manual oiling but wonder if others have had this problem and what they did about it?

 

The other question is about the presser foot lift.  There's lots of literature that quotes it at 9/16 of an inch.  I can get close to that at the upper lever position but then my needle bar interferes with the outer foot when the presser foot is up at the low position.  To avoid this interference the highest I can go for presser foot height when up is about 11 -12 mm.  I just got the timing dialed in to sew well so I don't want to believe my needle bar is too low but that's all I can think of.  Any merit in switch over to a 190 needle size to provide clearance.  Thoughts?

 

Thanks

[Uwe]

If I recall correctly, the little oil regulator knob has a little shaft underneath with a seal at the tip to open or close a drain hole that allows oil go where it needs to go while you sew. Take the top off and inspect that little seal. It may be worn or missing. Also inspect the lifting mechanism for that knob to make sure it actually is in the closed position when you think it’s closed.

As for the lifting height of your feet, the max foot clearance height may not be the same as real-life max sewing thickness, especially if you have max alternating walking height dialed in. If you actually need to sew a 9/16”(14mm) tall stack of hard leather with max walking height, the Consew 255RB is perhaps not the right machine.

Don’t be afraid to start separate topics for very different questions. It keeps the discussion more focused.

[sandmanred]

On 2/23/2021 at 1:45 PM, Uwe said:

If I recall correctly, the little oil regulator knob has a little shaft underneath with a seal at the tip to open or close a drain hole that allows oil go where it needs to go while you sew. Take the top off and inspect that little seal. It may be worn or missing. Also inspect the lifting mechanism for that knob to make sure it actually is in the closed position when you think it’s closed.

As for the lifting height of your feet, the max foot clearance height may not be the same as real-life max sewing thickness, especially if you have max alternating walking height dialed in. If you actually need to sew a 9/16”(14mm) tall stack of hard leather with max walking height, the Consew 255RB is perhaps not the right machine.

Don’t be afraid to start separate topics for very different questions. It keeps the discussion more focused.

It looks like all the parts on the machine match the parts in the parts diagram in the oil shut off area so not sure what do there.  I'm still wondering if anyone just does manual oiling instead of filling the well?

 

[Gregg From Keystone Sewing]

See attached.  If the needle bar is hitting the the feed, make sure that the needle bar does not have a guide that is below the needle bar itself, see one of the images in the book.

255RB-3.pdf

[sandmanred]

After more digging around I think I have the oiler figured out, at least partially.  I removed the little cylinder under the shut off valve thinking I might find a seal of some kind.  There's nothing under there!  The oil well has no outlet under the cylinder.  It creates a pumping action by the way it vibrates when the machine runs.  

I think my leak was coming from the cylinder being set too close the wall of the well, I believe capillary action was drawing oil up to the wick regardless of the valve or whether the machine was running.  That was adjustment number one, set the gap between the cylinder and the wall of the well.  It's set so the cylinder is roughly concentric with the wall.  That stopped the constant leak.

Adjustment 2 was to tweak the spring to just suspend the cylinder above the well bottom by a mm or two.  This lets it bounce and provide pumping up to wick when the machine runs.

video of oiler in action

The other problem of the needle bar hitting the presser foot I solved by going to a 190 needle, it's about 4 mm longer and provides the clearance to set the presser as high as possible.

Edited March 6, 2021 by sandmanred