Tuesday, September 25, 2012

1926 Singer 99 - Part 1

On a recent north Georgia treasure hunt, I found yet another vintage sewing machine at an incredible price. Well, incredible for me anyway. It is a 1926 Singer 99, complete with the Bentwood case and knee control lever, for a staggering $25!!! That may seem a lot to some of you for an 86 year old sewing machine that needs refurbishing, complete with a total re-wire. But to me, that is a steal! In my local Craigslist, these machines frequently run for much higher, and on eBay the prices are just plain ridiculous. Sure, I'd easily pay $150 for the same machine if it were already refurbished, rewired and in excelled working condition; but no way would I pay that much for a machine where I have to supply the parts and the labor. That takes away from my sewing time!

This is the machine, as found; and now affectionately known as "Ruby". Other than lots of dirt, lint and crumbly wiring, she doesn't look bad for her age at all.

1926 Singer 99

I want to keep this machine as original as possible, with the exception of the wiring. Wiring that is 80+ years old can be scary - brittle, crumbly, and exposed bare wires. All of those things can add up to a painfully dangerous shock, house fire, or worse. And being unable to test the machine's motor, I have to keep in mind that it may need replacing. So the first step was to photograph everything and from multiple angles and begin assessing what parts/materials I would need to restore this machine.

First things to add to the budget, electrical supplies  - $30 for a potential motor replacement; $5-$10 for wiring/cords/soldering supplies/etc. I already had some wire left over from the previous machine's re-wire; I bought it in bulk to save on shipping. Somehow, I knew I would be going down this road again in the future. But I still want to account for it in the 'total cost' of refurbishment. It gives me a good idea of a machine's 'cost of ownership' should I decide to rescue another vintage machine. (And we all know given my current track record, there will be others. I'm perusing Craigslist now as I write this post.)

The internal wiring didn't look too bad on the surface. But, being cloth covered, looks can be deceiving. Upon deeper inspection, I found exposed wires where both the cloth and latex insulator had worn away, and on a few of the end connectors, the wires had broken into separate pieces.
On the surface, wiring 'looks' okay. But it is hard and non-flexible. It has survived past its lifespan.

The yellow tape is to mark which motor wire actually connected to the incoming power. Being a DC motor, I could switch the two motor wires with no ill effects. The yellow-taped one just happens to be longer in order to reach the input connectors. Also, the amount of lint and dust in the electrical compartment was a fire waiting to happen with the exposed, decayed wires.

The motor controller is removed from the case. This controller requires the round-ended knee lever, which I was fortunate in that it came with the machine. Those levers frequently are lost, and sell online for more than most machines are worth.

The BU7 A motor that came with the machine. I did jury-rig a quick set up to test that the motor  powered up and turned over. It did; but I failed to notice the rotational direction; more on that later.

And just in case technology failed me, I made a hand drawing of the wiring to put away with my notes. And even though I back up my photos religiously, I still like tangible hard copies of some things, thus my diagram:

More disassembly to come in the next post.

7 comments:

Michelle said...

Can't wait to see more!

Thaddaeus said...

I would really like to see Part 2 of this, as I have the exact machine and with the trouble of tracking down a cord with the two female ends I am wondering if it's possible to just wire a power cord in directly to the motor controller and forgo the detachable power cord.

looking forward to Part II!

Scott said...

Thaddaeus - I am working on part 2, life took a side-step recently and the hobbies took a back burner. I would not recommend wiring straight to the motor controller. You may have to switch to a 3-pin connector and wire your machine that way. Singer eventually went that direction with the 99's and dropped the 'double female' plug. I'll try and finish part 2 in the next few days.

Anonymous said...

Scott, thank you so much for putting these Singer 99 restoration pages up. I've just obtained a 1939 version of the same and your nice clear images are going to be a huge help.
Thank you again - all the best to you and yours (:

randpguerra@gmail.com said...

Scott, I refurbish sewing machine and have one exactly like this that I have cleaned and gotten operational. I loved that you posted how to rewire as this one is exactly like the one I have had to rewire. I am running into a problem, however, the motor and controller are staying warm. Very warm, not hot where it would burn you, but very warm. When I turn the hand wheel, the motor hums as if it would start moving if it could. I have rewired it exactly like you have shown, but it still seems as though the motor is still getting electricity even when the controller is not engaged. What are your suggestions??

On another note...I re-furbished one of these with the knee control, just like this one and the one I have, we couldn't find the cord to run from machine to outlet. The customer, who is very handy, made one by using a brass connector and some electric wire and a rubber sleeve. It looks great and works great!

Thanks,

Patsy Guerra

Donald said...

Where can I get a motor control module ??? #192213

Don said...

I need one of the motor control models that fits inside the Brentwood Case. Knee bar controller #192213. Any help out there???? bevdonmc@msn.com