I came to a decision when my sewing machine stopped working yesterday. I was not going to bring it in for repairs again. I have already put a chunk of money into repairs and replacing the foot pedal a couple of times. It is not a high end machine, it seemed like a poor financial choice to keep on putting money into it. Like at the end of my Dodge Neon's life I just kept having to repair it all the time (OK, that thing needed to be repaired often, the entire time I had it) and in the end I paid more for repairs than I paid for the car. The big difference is I never much liked the Neon. I really love my Husqvarna sewing machine.
So I looked into replacing it. And of course the exact model I have has been discontinued. Which doesn't mean I couldn't get a NIB model of the exact same variety, for a lot less than it originally cost. It was something to think about. And I would think about it. But while I did I asked Ethan if he had any interest in seeing if he could figure out what is wrong with it. Ethan can fix or build anything. And if for some reason he couldn't fix my sewing machine, it was not going to be any worse than it already was. He started fairly simple and worked in the bobbin case. Where he found the problem... or it appeared that way. At the very least he fixed a small problem and everything worked again (sort of) for a minute. But the machine bound up again. So this was not the big problem.
So then he opened up the machine some more. He looked around and we turned the wheel over and over, watching for things that looked like they were not doing what they should be doing. This was not the issue. So he opened up the machine even more.
After a bit of time looking things over he said we should plug it in. Ethan is so much braver about things like this than I am. But he was an auto mechanic for a lot of years, which is a lot bigger everything than anything in my sewing machine. With the power on he watched things and sped things up and slowed them down. With the faster speed he got it to fail faster. Still binding up. So he would do some other mysterious fixing things and I watched all the moving parts. There are SO many moving parts inside the sewing machine. It was neat to watch.
I am really happy that I don't have to buy a new sewing machine. I really do love my Husqvarna and it makes me happy that I will have at least a little bit more time with it. I have no idea how long it will last but at least I have it for now.
5 comments:
Thank you Ethan,... My own Dad was a fix-it man. I know what it is like to live with genii: a bit scary, a bit inspiring.
It's GREAT when you have someone with magic fix-it fingers! I love that he was able to get you up and running again and even if it doesn't last, you can't do more than try!
The bobbin winder on my 25+ year old Kenmore stopped working a few months ago. I googled the problem, watched a few YouTube videos and cautiously took it apart. I took pictures as I disassembled it. It turned out to be dried factory grease on the clutch that was causing it to bind instead of wind, just like the video said. After cleaning with alcohol, and putting back together, it works great again! I thought I would have to buy a new machine because I didn't want to invest money in a shop repair on such an old machine. I love my Kenmore (one of the first electronic sewing machines) and it get to enjoy it a little longer now!
Well done to Ethan, my dad worked with sewing machines for a long time and has been teaching me how to repair ours, I personally love seeing how things work, and saving a tonne of money.
Yay Ethan!!
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