leonf

I swear I want to drive a 64 Falcon for these same reasons. Analog rules.

Cari-in-Oly

I almost bought a 64 Falcon wagon last year. My mom had one when I was a kid.

Cari

Aurora

We had a 1963 red Falcon Futura. I loved that car! But I think my favorite car by far was my 1980 Toyota Celica, we went through so much together.

Brass Head

I'd get out a 66 and keep sewing. In the entire history of humankind, no 66 has ever actually broken.

Miss Nancy Schmancy

What happened when your machine went on the fritz? I also have a 1475 and just yesterday, it went crazy. Normally, when it is first turned on, the needle does a little jump to center postilion. Yesterday, it just kept doing that jump over and over and wouldn't stop. In the morning, it did it for a minute or so but then later in the day it wouldn't stop. The stitch selector could not be used. I've had this machine since it was new in 1993 and I'm so sad!

bearisgray

I bought it "dead" because I felt I could use it for parts - and I was hoping that just maybe the owner was mistaken. Some of the lights would still come on! It's dead.

quiltedsunshine

On a Bernina, there are two circuit boards. One is the "motherboard' and the other is the "power" board.

When the motherboard goes out, signals get scrambled. When you push a button or select a stitch, it may give you something other than what you selected. Or it may not do anything you select.

When the power board goes out, the machine won't turn on.

In both cases, a component on the circuit board quits working. It could be caused by a power surge. One common problem we've seen with power boards, is that the machine hasn't been used in 6 months to 3 years. There's a component that is supposed to stay charged, but it looses power when the machine isn't turned on and used.

QuiltMom2

Thanks for the information. I have a beloved Bernina bought used that is 18 years old and has 48 million stitches on it. I have always used a surge protector on my machines, taken them for yearly check-up, and this obviously get used a lot but my repair guy just shakes his head and says "you know, the computer is going to go some day!"

SillySusan

Me too! I had a computerized that broke and can't be repaired. I went back to a basic heavy duty Singer and I'm so delighted. No fancy stuff, but at least it's reliable and fixable.

Puffie40

In electronics, electrolytic capacitors are the first component to fail, and those are frequently used to filter ripple out of DC rectifiers on power boards. A lot of places treat larger capacitors as having a 5-10 year lifespan before they need replacing. If a circuit board is being refurbished, usually all the electrolytic caps are replaced.

The main way to identify a failing electrolytic is to see if the top is bulging or leaking- that's from the cap shorting out, heating up, and causing the electrolyte to vaporize. If the caps are on a power board or did not destroy other components by failing, replacing these caps will usually be enough to revive the device.

Another failure point is older solder joints. As the joint flexes over time (either from age, movement, or heat expansion), the joints get brittle, break, or become non-conductive. This seems to be particularly common with lead-free solder joints, which started being used in the 1990s. Reflowing the joint is usually enough to restore a connection, and may be all that's wrong with some logic boards. Some vintage computer enthusiasts have revived old computers by "baking" the motherboard in the oven for an hour.