Cecilia S.

"And if the old wiring is bad, don't plug it in. Things get really interesting when that happens. Don't ask me how I know this." Joe



Joe - I cannot resist. How do you know this?

J Miller

Ummmmm, well, uh , it was like this ..... I had a new to me Singer 15-91 and I wanted to see if it would run. Borrowed the cord set from my wifes FW plugged it into the 15 then into the wall. BAZORCH!!!!!!
A huge flash of flame and smoke came out of the cord block and just as suddenly my basement work area was dark. Thank GOD for for surge bars with breakers in them.

The female part of the FW cord block was badly scorched, the metal receptacles badly arc burned. Boy was I glad she wasn't home.
The prongs in the 15s block were burnt too.

Thankfully I was able to repair the damage but it was an exciting lesson to learn.

Joe

Cecilia S.

Joe, your story reminds me of the time I used my friend's husband's new $1500 espresso machine. Oh dear. Let's not go there. ;-)

Many thanks to everyone for your help and opinions thusfar.

I replaced the motor wire. Actually someone else did the soldering for me. Must acquire that skill yet!

Interesting random things:

-The brushes ended up coming out in the expected way, but by popping a not-so-expected spring-loaded cap out of the way.
-The motor did slide out of the housing; I just had not been firm enough with it.

The motor is in very good condition! My only complaint is that there is a bit of whining as I depress the pedal, before the motor kicks in. My other machines begin slowly and smoothly and without complaint. It is a bit of an electrical whine, just a bit, but enough to bug me.

Any thoughts as to how to remedy this? Someone suggested a capacitor may help; I do not know much about the electrical side of things. All opinions would be -very- welcome!

Many thanks again,

-Cecilia