Singer 4423 heavy duty sewing machine?

[mathineer]

Oh, one other thing I like about the machine is you can pull the slide thing off of the bottom. This makes sewing round bottom stuff sacks a lot easier.

mathineer

[Banjoman]

Update! Just got the machine today and man am I impressed. For $130 it sews like a dream. When I first got the kenmore you see in the background I fought tension issues with the bobbin and casing for days straight trying to figure it out. Now that I know exactly how to adjust the kenmore it's easy for me now but it's kind of a pain to work with compared to this new singer. I do understand what everyone is saying about that "hummmm" you get at the start of it and then it jumps ahead to super fast speed. However, the Kenmore is also a mechanical machine and it does the same thing so I am acclimated to it, I actually just add a longer paddle to the foot pedal to allow for slower start controls. The singer is super easy to thread and load a bobbin and I have tested all the stitches and they work beautifully. I sewed an old t shirt I had folded into 8 thick layers and it powered right through it so I will no longer have issues like I had with my kenmore and thick materials birds nesting underneath. Haven't gotten a chance to test it on some thinner sil material but I will tonight. I have a tyvek project in the works to I might test that since it's super slippery. And as for the motor speed controller I tried it out and really all it's doing it limiting the power to the whole machine. So when you set it all the way low the light on the machine is very dim and it will see much slower. The only way you could use it efficiently is hook it up and turn it way down to start your project and then turn the dial to the point where you don't want the machine to see any faster, which for me is about half the speed of this, 1,100 stitches per minute, machine. So there is a place for it for sure. Plus for big projects like tarps you can slow it down for all your small slow detail work and just use the dial to turn it up for your large side hems. Anyways thank you all for your help and suggestions but I'm super happy! *Also does anyone know if this machine has to be oiled? My kenmore has an oiling diagram that shows the spots to oil yearly? Thanks!

Kyle

Glad you are happy! I think mine came slightly under-oiled. I can't even remember what the issue was, but it made me suspect it needed oil, so I bought some and lightly lubed it everywhere I thought it looked like it could use it. I do remember that it definitely helped whatever was wrong though (no placebo effect).

By the way, I like the idea of attaching a longer lever onto the pedal! I don't seem to have much trouble controlling the speed anymore, but I bet this would make it easier!

[mathineer]

Glad you are happy! I think mine came slightly under-oiled. I can't even remember what the issue was, but it made me suspect it needed oil, so I bought some and lightly lubed it everywhere I thought it looked like it could use it. I do remember that it definitely helped whatever was wrong though (no placebo effect).

By the way, I like the idea of attaching a longer lever onto the pedal! I don't seem to have much trouble controlling the speed anymore, but I bet this would make it easier!

"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world!" Archimedes

This message from ancient Greece brought to you by the

mathineer

[Kpi890]

Glad you like the machine. I certainly like mine.

The speed controller behaves pretty much as I expected. Plugging it into the wall, and the 4423 into allows reduction of the voltage to the machine. You'll notice that the footpedal has a three position connector that plugs into the machine. The hot and neutral from the wall go into the machine, and the hot goes to the foot pedal as well which runs through the pedal and into the machine. So the foot pedal controls the voltage supplied to the motor, while the other hot powers the light. You could cut the wire that goes to the pedal, and wire the speed controller in series with the pedal, and you wouldn't dim the light. Or, you could hack the pedal circuit itself, and put a second potentiometer in series with the one in the pedal circuit, but that's sort of a pain. None of that is going to prevent the motor stalling when you try to start very slowly.

Did you find that the speed controller allowed better control when you want to go very slow by limiting the max speed, ie with the speed control turned to low, you push on the pedal and just get the hum, push more - hum, push more and it starts but even all the way down and it starts, but goes very slowly?

I'm thinking of buying a speed controller and a small LED lamp...

mathineer

Yep that's exactly what I use it for. I have the speed controller always plugged in now I actually bought another one today just for the machine. I turn it to the variable side and turn it all the way low, then I push the foot pedal all the way down and keep it down the whole time and slowly turn up the dial until it reaches the maximum speed I want it to "jump" to if it does stall a little at the start, and I leave it set there. If I ever want to use the machine as normal I just switch the power controller to the full power side. I did cut the cord to the foot pedal and spliced a longer cord into it because the cord from the pedal to the machine wouldn't reach my large desk I use for sewing, it was rather short.

[P-Dub]

*Also does anyone know if this machine has to be oiled? My kenmore has an oiling diagram that shows the spots to oil yearly?

No actually, I don't think there is any planned maintenance for these newer less expensive machines. Older machines (like my grandmother's Singer from 1954) came with an extremely detailed instruction booklet that showed everywhere that needed oil and grease. As you have found, this 4423 comes with a booklet that is practically worthless for doing any maintenance or taking care of the machine. I have an awful feeling that they are essentially built to throw away once they quit working. SAD!

But, in the meantime, fun to sew with, eh?!!

[Kpi890]

No actually, I don't think there is any planned maintenance for these newer less expensive machines. Older machines (like my grandmother's Singer from 1954) came with an extremely detailed instruction booklet that showed everywhere that needed oil and grease. As you have found, this 4423 comes with a booklet that is practically worthless for doing any maintenance or taking care of the machine. I have an awful feeling that they are essentially built to throw away once they quit working. SAD!

But, in the meantime, fun to sew with, eh?!!

Yea my Kenmore has a super detailed map of the machine and where to oil it. I wonder if there is a way to find out how to oil the machine. I'd sure hate to throw it out due to it burning up on me. It is a mechanical machine so it's bound to need oiling.

[jellyfish]

This is a good rundown for modern machines.

https://youtu.be/ejlfcOwFpFY

[Kpi890]

This is a good rundown for modern machines.

https://youtu.be/ejlfcOwFpFY

Thanks! I just found a few other videos on how to oil this exact machine.

[P-Dub]

Thanks! I just found a few other videos on how to oil this exact machine.

Oh! Can you post those links??!!

[Canufixit]

I have the PDF service manual for this machine ... I don't think I can post a 7.8 meg pdf.