Sunday, February 21, 2016

How To Get Into The Top Of A Bernina 930

There are two spring-loaded screws on the top of the machine.  One on the right (under the bobbin winder lid), and one on the left (built into the bobbin winder tensioner).  Push down, then turn a quarter of a turn.  You'll know you're in the right position if the screw pops up.



Once you get inside, you can clean and oil, and adjust the presser foot tension.  Here's where that adjustment is.


The copper colored cylinders are the basting mechanism.  Be sure to use this feature every-once-in-a-while, so it doesn't freeze-up. 

Here are some diagrams on how to oil your Bernina 930.  You can click on the image to make it larger.  

 
#1  upper shaft
#2  eccentric / tracer
#3 and #4  turn stitch width knob to see sliders
#5  top of vertical shaft
#6 and #7  both sides of stitch selector plus 2 spigots down inside
#8  eccentric / tracer
#9  turn handwheel to find hole
#10  joint
#11  joint


#12  race
#13  feed dog joint
#14  spigot down inside
#15  left side of shaft
#16  right side of shaft
#17, #18 and #20 feed dog linkage
#19  turn handwheel, oil joint as it comes close

Don't have time to do the take-up area.  Hopefully, I can get to it later this week.

42 comments:

  1. Your blogs and every other content are thus interesting and helpful it makes me return back again.
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  2. Its really very interesting and informative one,thanks for sharing this blog,keep updating more threads Best Embroidery Sewing Machines in Chennai

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    1. Yes, I agree with you. I'll ask my wife to go through this article and hope it resolves her problem. Best Sewing Machine for Beginners

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  4. Being here is fruitful, I'm gonna share this to all employees of my company. our company is Sama Engineering which is bakery items making machines manufacturer. Packing machine

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  5. How can you repair a pfaff 74 when there is a one piece housing around it?

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  6. Hi Dolores,

    On the old Pfaffs, you can remove the plastic part that the spool pins are on. I don’t have a good picture of the back, so I’m going by other model Pfaffs that I’ve worked on. Usually there’s one screw, then you slide it to the take-up end to get it off of the internal screw. Unscrew the screws on the needle plate, and remove that. You can also remove the end cap (on the left) to get to the take-up area. On some old Pfaffs, there’s a lever under the end cap that releases it. Or, they simply pull off. Then tip it up to get to the bottom on that particular machine –since it’s a flat bed. The old Pfaffs are notorious for freezing-up. WD-40 is the easiest way to break-up the old oil and get it moving again. Here’s a link about using WD-40 on sewing machines. It’s something we use at the shop every day.

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  7. Hi, I was looking for your email but wasn't able to find it. Do you have any info on timing the 930? My husband and I do sewing machine but just started about 1 1/2 yrs ago and this machine seems to be tricky.

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  8. Timing is something I don't want just anyone to play with. You can really scramble your machine, sometimes beyond repair. So I gave my reply to Katie privately, because she and her husband are sewing machine mechanics. Adjusting timing settings is something I'm very cautious about posting on my blog.

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  9. Annette, I'm here at your blog and thanking you, again! This will be fun to read through. I, too was always mechanically inclined and like tinkering with machines...Gratitude to you! Sandy

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  10. Can you show a close-up and where to oil? Also, is any gear lube needed? Thank you.

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  11. Hi Garden Faerie,

    There’s no gear lube needed on this machine. I’ll take some pictures and see if I can show you where to oil your 930.

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  12. Please send me a notice when the pictures are up. Thank you.

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  13. ACK! I had the pictures all ready to go, then my camera lost all of my pictures – had to re-format my memory card. Then I got busy and forgot. Let me try again.

    Thanks for your patience!

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  14. I got a couple pictures up for you. http://shesasewingmachinemechanic.blogspot.com/2016/02/how-to-get-into-top-of-bernina-930.html It shows how to oil the top of the machine and the hook/feed linkage area. Don’t have time to do the take-up area today, but will try to do that this week sometime.

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  16. Hello,
    I'm wondering if you know how to get in the bottom of the 930. My grandson put a piece of pipe cleaner in the space where one adjusts stitch length. I got the top off, but can't see the pipe cleaner. I hope that taking off the bottom will help me get the pipe cleaner out of the machine. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I just spent $100 getting it serviced about a week before this happened so hoping I can fix it.

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  17. Hello, I am also wondering if you could help. We got the feed dogs unstuck with a little banging and now that they work fine, the stitch length is stuck on tiny! do you know what we need to adjust? Thanks.

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  18. Hi Adam,

    I have to ask... did you adjust the stitch length knob?

    After you've dropped the feed dogs, then turned the switch to bring them back up, they don't come back up until you turn the handwheel one complete rotation. There shouldn't be any banging needed.

    Sometimes the buttonhole system is engaged, and the machine acts un-natural. So, make sure the buttonhole knob (the center knob on the right/front) is pointing straight up.

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  19. Hi - Thank you for replying. This is *actually* Adam this time! The feed dogs switch control had seized so took a little persuasion to get it to work so they could be dropped for embroidery. The bolt is now lubed and working nicely. However, after doing this though it seems the stitch length control is playing up. It is jumping up and down in a counter-motion to the presser foot when the stitch length is set beyond about 3.5mm. We've a 910 Berninamatic. I can video it if my explanation isn't clear?!

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  20. Hi Adam,

    If I understand correctly, the stitch length knob is jumping around?

    At the shop, when the feed dogs don’t drop, we use WD-40 to loosen the old tarred-up oil, then gently pry on the linkage in the center front to get it to let go. It sounds like that’s about what you did. I think that the WD-40 could also be applied to other parts of the machine, to loosen the knob’s unusual motion. When a machine has one frozen part, it often has more than one. When we spray WD-40 into a machine, we do it very generously. We run the machine as we spray it into the machine. We move linkages with our hands, that don’t want to move freely. We turn knobs so the feed dogs and stitch width and length are moving at their greatest capacity. We spray anything and everything that moves or that should move. We literally soak the machine in WD-40. However, your Bernina Minimatic has a circuit board in the back by the motor and in the top of the machine. Be very careful to keep the WD-40 off of those circuit boards.

    Keep working the machine and running it. That doesn’t mean to run it full tilt for 20 minutes straight, because that would burn up the motor. Just keep working it. Turn the back of the machine towards you and spray towards the stitch length knob. Follow whatever the stitch length knob is affected by, or is attached to. It can take as much as 20 minutes to get the thing to release. Usually, I don’t really know exactly which part was frozen, I just keep working it until it breaks free.

    With that much WD-40, you now need to remove it all. Soak up what you can with paper towels or rags. Then blow it with an air compressor. If you don’t have an air compressor, you can use canned air, but it has to be a full can to be useful. Or maybe you know someone who would let you use their compressor? It will likely take 10 to 15 minutes of blowing and blotting to get it all out. Turn the handwheel to get to all of the surfaces as you blow.

    I’ve talked to sewing machine techs who will oil a part 5 times a day for a month or two, before the part will break free. WD-40 is much more productive.

    Once you’ve removed the WD-40, re-oil everything with clear “sewing machine oil,” or “Tri-flow Superior Lubricant.”

    I hope you can get your machine sewing well. It’s a great machine!

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  22. Can you show pictures how to replace spool pin on Bernina 930?

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  23. This was sooo helpful! Thank you so much for posting this! I got my machine working again because of it ;) You rock!!!

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  24. Hi Sue - I just realised I never came back and thanked you for helping get me back on track with the Bernina. It's all fine now! I ordered a copy of the service manual and discovered that when I was getting the feed dog switch working I had loosened the grub nut that adjusted the height of the feed dogs. I'd tightened it back up when finished but not noticed that it had moved on the rod. Once I reset the height adjustment; the stitch length returned to normal. Mrs H is now merrily sewing again and I've got a bit more understanding of the inner workings of a sewing machine! BTW - from working on cycles and motorcycles, I wouldn't use WD40 as a penetrant - it's a lubricant first (I think WD stands for Water Dispersent). If you've got something that's really gooed up you're better with a proper penetrating fluid as while WD40 has some effect; it doesn't cut through rust or gunge as quickly as something purpose-made. All the best!

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  25. Sorry - I put the wrong name in my comment! Thanks to Sue for reminding me to thank Annette!

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  26. Thanks, Adam. I'm glad you got the machine working.

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  27. I just acquired a 930 Record and need to change the bulb. I can pop the nose piece by pushing in the tiny spring on the back, but it only pops out part way. The top front corner won’t budge—like there is something else I need to do to get the nose cover off. It doesn’t open enuf to get a new bulb in.

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  28. There are two screws on the left side end that need to be loosened.

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  30. I'm looking at buying a 930 or 1020/1030, but have no idea what power wattage the motor is fitted in these machines...Can anybody enlighten me ?

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    1. I can help you with the Bernina 930.

      115V 60HZ90w1,1A Motor 75W

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  31. Is there another trick to try to get the top off? The screw near the bobbin winder does not pop up & does not disengage. Any ideas?

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  32. How can you repair bernina 930 stitch selector red green knob. It just spins and leaves stitch green selected.

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    1. The lower stitch selector knob has a screw that holds it in place.  It probably just needs to be tightened.  It's a very small screw that's set into the side of the knob.  There's a "flat" on the inside shaft that should line up with the screw.

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  33. G´day to you.
    I have a small problem with a Brother VX-930. It will not zigzag and I think the problem is the camroll that does not rotate anymore. It is driven by a plastic wheel on the wormthreads on the driveshaft. But it is hanging free with no contact.
    Is this somehow adjustable or replaceable?

    Hoping for help
    Richard

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    1. Hi Richard,

      Sounds like the camstack gear is broken and will need to be replaced.  I've searched Brewer Sewing Supply and Sewing Parts Online, and can't find any replacement gears for your machine. 

      Sorry, I'm not much help.

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  34. Greetings! I have a 530-2, runs fantastic in straight/zig zag mode. However, the 1-13 cams aren’t being read by the scanner screw because it’s just flopping around. Might you be able to take a picture of both ends of the scanner screw while positioned somewhere on Cam 5-10. I need to see how it is positioned and attached. I only have the screw and one nut. It may be missing another nut. Thanks!

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    1. Hi Howard,
      Here's  a great blog that might have the answers you need.  https://tumorfarmer.blogspot.com/2015/09/bernina-530-2-sewing-machine.html  There's a schematic half-way down the page that is of the "tracer" / stitch selector area.  There's also some other great tips on cleaning up that particular machine.
      Good Luck to You!

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  35. Bernina 930 Record Service Manual: https://youtu.be/EcXMk18zQiM

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