So, I cracked open my sewing machine tonight with the help of my trusty screwdriver, and spilled out its guts on the table. Turns out the problem is indeed with the socket – one of the wires had broken loose:
(I’ve circled the loose wire with a red oval to make it a little more obvious, or you can click to see the larger version, of course.)
This looks like it should be quite easy to fix! at least, if you have a soldering iron and a decent grasp of electronics. Even I might be able to do it, though I’ll probably leave the actual soldering to Mike. (Electronics is one of his hobbies, so he’s much much MUCH better at it than I am.) Mike was nice enough to look up the part in the Digikey catalog and order it tonight, which means it should arrive in a few days. Meanwhile, a fellow crafter was kind enough to lend me her sewing machine, so I can continue sewing in the interim.
I couldn’t resist taking another photo of the sewing-machine’s guts, while I had it open on the operating table:
I hadn’t realized how much electronics there was in what I had thought to be a mostly-mechanical machine – apparently there’s more to it than I thought!
At any rate, hopefully we should be able to repair it without too much difficulty. The main reason the shop couldn’t fix it was because they aren’t familiar with resources like Digikey, and they certainly aren’t going to take a soldering iron to the interior of someone else’s sewing machine! Fortunately, Mike knows enough to take a good solid crack at a fix. Here’s hoping it works!
The sensor magnet for my loom arrived in today’s mail, so tomorrow, I’ll either work on my muslins or start threading. Possibly both!
It’s shocking, really, that a what is really a simple repair can’t be performed in shops these days, consigning an otherwise great machine to the bin. I doubt the shop would even use it for parts if they’e not comfortable soldering. I want to suggest they should contract out that sort of repair to someone who is, but I guess that would double the cost, and a new one is cheaper, so… I suppose it’s no wonder we live in a throw-away society!
Sorry. This sort of thing annoys me more and more as I grow into a crotchety old woman! I’m a long-time reader and lurker, and this has just prompted me to stick my head up and say ‘hi’. I think your site redesign is *seriously* excellent, and I hope the sewing machine surgery goes well. 🙂