Sewing Machine Repair

The one of the lamps on my favorite Pfaff has been flickering, again. I had taken it in to the shop to have this fixed a year or so ago and the tech said it wasn't the bulb but the fixture. The tech note also stated it had been tightened up.

Until recently I wasn't able to perform my own maintenance on this machine because I didn't have the right tools to open it up. I recently purchased a Hex Key Wrench set so I could reach the screws and get into the workings of this machine. When I did, I found the wire was holding on by only a couple strands and broke from the top of the fixture when I touched it.

I had to borrow the soldering iron from a friend as I couldn't find mine. I grabbed my wire strippers, brand new wrench and my needle nose pliers and got to work.

See that glob of solder? Yep, that's what that wire should be connected to. The other lead connects to another glob on the other side of the lamp. I'm somewhat appalled by this poor design, but it has served me well for almost ten years and thousands of hours of sewing so I guess sometimes cheap gets the job done.

I stripped back the wires, removed the old solder, and soldered the leads onto the top of that fixture. It is by far not my best soldering job. I also tightened up the clamps for the lamp which is what was causing my flicker. Next time I open up the machine, I'll skip to that step and not fiddle around with wires.

Don't be afraid to learn about your tools and how they work. I often question why people that know their sewing machines so well they give them first names are unwilling to open them up and see what makes them tick. This is especially puzzling when it comes to mechanical only machines such as vintage sewing machines. There is so much to learn and really, it's pretty difficult to mess them up.