Electric sewing machine problem.

mrswalton

I just bought a beautiful old (1970's) made in Japan, Brother sewing machine. It works with a foot pedal. I plugged it in to check it was working and sewed a few inches of stitches....all good so far.

Inspecting the stitches, with my foot removed from the pedal, and about a minute passes before the machine starts to buzz and then starts sewing on its own. Foot pedal wasn't stuck, wondered if a previous owner was haunting it or is there an electrical solution for this.

Any ideas? Any help would be appreciated.

stoneill

The foot pedals work on a variable resistor principle - as you press your foot down, it move a metal pick up along the length of an exposed coil, the more you press the further along to the start of the coil it moves, the less the resistance. Quite crude. Mechanism is more mechanical than electrical.
I would think that the pressure spring needs replacing.

mrswalton

Thanks for that, i have been told the whole foot pedal needs replacing. Should any electrician be able to do what you are suggesting? Brother/Singer want 60 euro for new pedal.