SOS - Please help! Singer 201 Problem!

Please help!

I have a Singer 201 that started making a "plink" noise. I finally tracked it down after pulling the bobbin and rotary hook. When the bobbin case/rotary hook spins and the needle comes to the down position, the needle gets hit by a tab on the rotary hook.

The picture below shows the hook sliding along after being hit. When the tab goes around, the needle pops back. Sorry for the incorrect terminology.

Does anyone know if this can be fixed? Is it a timing problem? I've done an extensive internet search, but can't find anything similar.

http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery.../006_thumb.jpg

LB, I just looked at my machine and compared it to your pic.

Is the needle hitting that little spring clip or the shuttle/thing that spins? Did it start happening all of a sudden?

My first guess is that the needle is bent. Comparing your pic to my machine, it looks the same at that needle position, so I'm not thinking it's a timing issue. Try a new needle and see what happens.

Looking a bit more closely, on my machine there is about 1/16" of clearance between the needle and the crook in the little spring clip. You pic shows it to be less than that. Is it possible those two screws are loose and the clip has moved?

Also there is another clip that attaches under the rotary hook and extends up both sides before securing to the top of the hook in a small semicircular recess. It's about 1/4" wide. In your pic it doesn't look perfectly flush with the side of the rotary hook next to the needle. It should be.

Hope this helps.

Detail Man - thanks for the fast response. The needle is hitting the clip. You can actually see the needle flex when it gets hit. Brand new unused needle (Singer needle). I don't know exactly how long its been doing it - I was oiling it this morning and heard the ting of the needle hitting that clip. With the machine on it's side I can clearly see the needle getting hit - it rides along that clip and pops back off the clip.

Checked all the screws and they are tight.

could the needle be set to low ?

Found the problem thanks to Detail Man! The spring clips were being forced out by years of built up crud. Once Detail Man said his machine had a gap, it finally clicked in my mind. I removed the clips and clean quite alot of caked on lint that was keeping the clips from fitting flush.

Another lesson learned the hard way - clean out that lint! Thanks for any and all help! See the pictures below.

Machine is purring along fine now.

Glad to help get the problem solved, and the machine is running well again.

Thanks again Joe! Where do I send the cookie?

Will you wrap it up in cuban?

Unfortunately, I took one piece too many off of one of my machines to get a good look. Now it doesn't want to go back together right.:cursing:

I'll take a look at the Adjuster's Manual and figure it out after lunch

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Originally Posted by Detail Man

Will you wrap it up in cuban?

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Sure! 12 sq. inches enough? It's not a very big cookie.

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Originally Posted by gmcttr

Unfortunately, I took one piece too many off of one of my machines to get a good look. Now it doesn't want to go back together right.:cursing:

I'll take a look at the Adjuster's Manual and figure it out after lunch

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Uh-oh. What did you remove? I'm sure one of us can help you.

.....I want a cuben cookie!

here ya go!

http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...allg_thumb.jpg

Ta-Da!

Problem number 2 found - I never knew the foot lever wasn't going down all the way. It stopped about 1/4 inch from all the way down - thought this was normal. I found a big compacted wad of lint blocking the lever. Now she feeds even the slick 1.1 treated materials and doesn't pucker near as much. The stitches are much straighter now too.

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Originally Posted by Lost_Biker

...Uh-oh. What did you remove? I'm sure one of us can help you.

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I removed the "Rotating Hook Case Position Plate" and wasn't getting everything put back correctly. It's all good now.

If anyone wants the Singer 201 Adjuster's Manual (service manual), PM me your email address and I'll send the pdf file.

FYI, the video's I have for maintaining our Singer 221's say to clean that area frequently as it collects lint and thread bits. A quick brush out pulled a couple of globs out of our machines. I suspect it should be a common maintenance issue along with the longer interval oiling points.

At work we keep about 75 thread injectors going sewing medical devices. Each month we do a thorough clean out around the hook and under the throat plate which has eliminated alot of issues. Clean out with air works the best. If anybody needs parts, machines or has questions contact a friend of mine, Dale at heavysew.com "a clean machine is a happy machine and a happy machine will sew all day".

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Originally Posted by nothermark

FYI, the video's I have for maintaining our Singer 221's say to clean that area frequently as it collects lint and thread bits. A quick brush out pulled a couple of globs out of our machines. I suspect it should be a common maintenance issue along with the longer interval oiling points.

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I'm usually good at maintenance, but failed to see the obvious with these 2 problems.

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Originally Posted by vrg

At work we keep about 75 thread injectors going sewing medical devices. Each month we do a thorough clean out around the hook and under the throat plate which has eliminated alot of issues. Clean out with air works the best. If anybody needs parts, machines or has questions contact a friend of mine, Dale at heavysew.com "a clean machine is a happy machine and a happy machine will sew all day".

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Not only a happy machine - when I'm happy, I can sew all day! :lol:

I guess this is as good a place insert work I'm doing on my 201... I hope you guys are OK with this.

Today I replaced the stock foot pedal with a new electronic replacement foot controller. All the cleaning and lubricating I did would not eliminate the light switch like low to high jump so I searched youtube vids to try and work out the bugs. Found one video describing the difference between the old style and modern controllers so decided to do the swap.

Here's the video of my before and after:

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Originally Posted by DBLOCK

I guess this is as good a place insert work I'm doing on my 201... I hope you guys are OK with this.

Today I replaced the stock foot pedal with a new electronic replacement foot controller. All the cleaning and lubricating I did would not eliminate the light switch like low to high jump so I searched youtube vids to try and work out the bugs. Found one video describing the difference between the old style and modern controllers so decided to do the swap.

Here's the video of my before and after:

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Anything to do with the 201 - you go right ahead and post.

Wow! What a difference. Thats going to be my next add on for the machine! Thanks for the video, DBLOCK!

I have one of the electronic controllers from Sew-Classic as well. Sew-Classic is good people.

Very nice, DBLOCK. A world of difference. Would you mind sharing the part number for that foot controller? One of my 201s could use the upgrade. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Detail Man

Very nice, DBLOCK. A world of difference. Would you mind sharing the part number for that foot controller? One of my 201s could use the upgrade. Thanks.

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gmcttr just posted a link to a Needlebar thread on cleaning the old style carbon pile controller if you are interested HERE. Lots of good info on Needlebar, but you do have to join.

Detail Man,

I purchased the "Foot Control Electronic 2 Wire Type- UL 1.2 amp Item# SCE168FC" after cleaning and lubricating my machine, and then going through the original foot controller as best I could.

It sounds like there's some good instructions for cleaning the older style controllers so would be interested to read the results if you try their suggestions before replacing yours...

If all else fails, here's a link to the part on the sew-classic website:
http://shop.sew-classic.com/Foot-Con...p-SCE168FC.htm

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Originally Posted by Detail Man

Very nice, DBLOCK. A world of difference. Would you mind sharing the part number for that foot controller? One of my 201s could use the upgrade. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by TZBrown

gmcttr just posted a link to a Needlebar thread on cleaning the old style carbon pile controller if you are interested HERE. Lots of good info on Needlebar, but you do have to join.

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Thanks for the link TZ. Doesn't look like Needlebar allows lurkers, or want any new members like me looking for ways to keep my machines running well, based on their forum rules. In their words, maintaining machines is off-topic. They are first an online museum.

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Originally Posted by DBLOCK

Detail Man,

I purchased the "Foot Control Electronic 2 Wire Type- UL 1.2 amp Item# SCE168FC" after cleaning and lubricating my machine, and then going through the original foot controller as best I could.

It sounds like there's some good instructions for cleaning the older style controllers so would be interested to read the results if you try their suggestions before replacing yours...

If all else fails, here's a link to the part on the sew-classic website:
http://shop.sew-classic.com/Foot-Con...p-SCE168FC.htm

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Thanks for the link.

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Originally Posted by Detail Man

Thanks for the link TZ. Doesn't look like Needlebar allows lurkers, or want any new members like me looking for ways to keep my machines running well, based on their forum rules. In their words, maintaining machines is off-topic. They are first an online museum.

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Yea, they are a bit of a stick in the mud, it is based in the UK, but many moderators are US based, and once you are in it is a pretty neat place to find info

I have copied it to a PDF, hope it helps

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Originally Posted by TZBrown

Yea, they are a bit of a stick in the mud, it is based in the UK, but many moderators are US based, and once you are in it is a pretty neat place to find info

I have copied it to a PDF, hope it helps

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Thanks for the pdf.

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Originally Posted by TZBrown

Yea, they are a bit of a stick in the mud...

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Thanks TZ. Several of the good Singer sites are similar or Yahoo Groups that have a few rules that make HF look under moderated.:rolleyes:

Here is a great instruction on the Tension system on the 201


Scroll down to about Aug 16 to start, near the bottom of the page, then work up

I was lubricating the 201 today and decided to trace down the clicking noise I hear as the machine hits mid to top speed.

I moved each part (or tried to) thinking it was a loose joint or maybe something hitting part of the casting or another part. I loosened and retightened every screw I could find.

In the end, it turned out to be the top part of the needle holder hitting the bottom of the head. I'm guessing the screw was loose enough that things shifted up (and I noticed rotated too) as it worked over the years, or maybe impacted something along the way. No, no click for me! I loosened the clamp at the top and alternately rotated and lowered the bar until the eye of the needle was aligned with the shuttle, and the parts no longer contacted one another - maybe a clearance of .005 inch.

I tightened the clamp and ran the machine until I no longer heard the click.

Just thought I'd pass this along as I've heard this click on many of our videos and those on youtube...

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Originally Posted by DBLOCK

...I loosened the clamp at the top and alternately rotated and lowered the bar until the eye of the needle was aligned with the shuttle, and the parts no longer contacted one another - maybe a clearance of .005 inch...

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The clearance at this point on my both of my 201-2 Singers is ~1-2mm. On the older of the two, it is not adjustable.

Changing the needle bar height also changes the Rotating Hook timing. You should confirm that the timing is correct. Take a look at page 44 of the Singer 201 Adjuster's Manual. PM me your email address if you need a copy.

A slight adjustment on the gage shows the needle position and height to be pretty darn good as is. I'll dig up some scrap and let you know how it sewed up...

Thanks for the manual!

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Originally Posted by gmcttr

The clearance at this point on my both of my 201-2 Singers is ~1-2mm. On the older of the two, it is not adjustable.

Changing the needle bar height also changes the Rotating Hook timing. You should confirm that the timing is correct. Take a look at page 44 of the Singer 201 Adjuster's Manual. PM me your email address if you need a copy.

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