Yesterday I fired up the Elna SU for the first time. It had been setting in the garage overnight to keep my latest acquisition secret from my wife until the right moment. When I first tried it was sooo cold, sooo slow. I set it elevated over the wood stove for a bit and now it hummms along beautifully. Moral of the story, pre-heat can work wonders and limit potential damage.
One should also consider the possibility of condensation forming inside the machine when stored in an unheated space.
Wouldn't condensation only occur if you bring a cold sewing machine into a warm place? I've gotten condensation where my hands have touched the machine (in the cold), but it always goes away quickly.Originally Posted by slugbait
That is one of my concerns. Covering it will help.
lol. Thanks
I think that condensation is the biggest problem for the machine. Temperatures vary a lot more in the garage than in the house, and the air is more humid. Stuff I store in my garage is always slightly damp in winter. Your sewing machine won't like it, and it could seize. That's what happened to a sewing machine my mother stored in the attic. There was no saving it. I have even had problems in my badly insulated flat, too; it gets very damp in summer, and my sewing machine sits next to one of the dampest walls. Last summer, the foot started coming down slower and slower and had to be "unseized" by the repair service. I'm now going to store it elsewhere when I'm not using it for a couple of weeks.
If I were in your situation, I would store the machine in the house, and only set it up in the garage when needed. Get it back into the house after you finish sewing. If you don't have the space for storing the machine in the house, rather put some other, less delicate stuff in the garage for storage.
I think hutzelbein's advice is spot on.
I lost my good thread injector in a fire last year. My old all metal machine from the 50's or early 60's survived and works fine, just smells of burnt stuff.
My house is cold because I have not finished the dry wall and I have not insulated most of the house yet. My old machine works great, my daughter's new middle of the road thread injector works fine in a cold environment. Not sure what the temp is, I know it is above freezing, but a warm coat is needed along with boots. I normally keep my house between 62 and 65F. Until summer or my daughter and I finish the rebuild the house is going to continue being cold.
I think the new higher end computerized thread injectors might need a bit of babying.
Call the MFG. and ask them your question.
I would not worry about the oil, maybe the grease being thick could possibly be a problem. Again ask the MFG.
The cold itself is not the problem. It's the humidity that's killing the finer mechanics. If your house is cold and dry, and if there are no quick temperature changes (e.g. 100°F in the daytime, 60°F at night), there won't be any problems. Maybe some of the older machines are built simpler - if they only have one stitch or at least less stitches than more modern machines. I'm not an expert, but my guess is, the more stitches, the more mechanics is needed, and the more delicate things become. My machine is an older Pfaff that has some electronics built in, but it was the mechanics that seized up. My first machine was from the 70s, and it also didn't like humid conditions.
I too would be concerned about condensation more than oil viscosity.....as in...the garage and machine are at 45* when you open the garage door on a day that has warmed up with high humidity. Ever pulled your car out and had the windows fog up on the outside?
However, if it's a newer moderately priced mostly plastic machine, there is less to be concerned with. I would tend to keep the machine well oiled, go for it and keep an eye on it. Bring it in if you find yourself not using it often in the future.
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