Joe Ayres

I don't know that these Viking Sergers are vintage or antique, but I need advice. (Machines that are covered in white plastic aren't in my books!) I have 3 of them, all are hard to turn over, and taking them apart and trying to oil them is a waste of time. There are no oil holes in any moving parts, and soaking the joints with oil, kerosene, oil, etc has no effect. One has blown the fuse that is built into the motor, and then melted the brush holders. Heat pours out of the vent when the machines are run. All three of them are much harder to turn by hand than any of the other sergers or other machines I have access to. I also had a Viking sewing machine that also was hard to turn. I gave it back to the local sewing co-op after trying to oil it..
I went to a dealer, and they said that the machines need to be taken apart and oiled once a year. I have taken one of them apart 4 times. No change. I found that it turned by hand easier after free running it for quite a while, but it gets stiff again by the next morning. That was before the motor burned up.
Any experience? Ideas?
Joe

QuiltMom2

I was in possession of one of those machines and when it stopped working right I took it to be professionally repaired/serviced. I've been taking machines in to this guy for more than a decade and he's really good. He sighed and said "I hate working on those!" and up to then I had been sure he hadn't met a vintage machine he didn't like! Machine was returned in good working order to the person who loaned it to me and I was glad to say goodbye to it.