Friday, May 21, 2010

Wow. So, That's What it Looks Like...

I did it. (Shake, shake, shake) I did it. (Shake, shake, shake)
I fixed the reverse on my machine.  I'm a genius.
Ok, so I'm not a genius, but I was brave and did surgery on my old Kenmore, and it's reversing again!
I saved myself at least $80, and it took less than an hour.
Like I said... gene-eee-us!  If you missed my earlier post, here's the blog post with all the YouTube machine maintenance links.

So, per Bunny's request, here's the guts of my Kenmore...
From the side:

From the top:
From the bottom:

The bottom is where I had to do the work.  I figured out that the reverse button releases a spring (through a series of long arms and more springs), but the rod was stuck with gunk.  So I cleaned it up, oiled it, and kept manually moving it back and forth.  It was like Dorothy oiling the Tin Man, I swear.
Then I put it back together, and it's good as new.  Woooo hoooo!!!!
And if you're wondering, it's super easy to access all those places.  2 screws on the top, 3 on the side (2 were underneath), and 2 for the bottom.  I'll spare you the lint rat pictures, cause they were bigger than dust bunnies!

Okay, I'm spending the day with my niece tomorrow, so I'll be back again soon to update you on our "confirmation party dress" sewing session.  Her teacher contacted the local paper, and they did a small story about the fashion design class she's doing this summer.  So much fun!

11 comments:

Elaray said...

Wow! I can imagine how thrilled you were when you first saw your machine reverse. Congrats.

Patty said...

You are such a smartypants!! I am impressed :-)
BTW...I wish I could be a 7th grader again just to be able to take the Cranbrook Academy class. I never heard of anything like that when I was sewing away in Middle School and High School!

Mariela Alethia said...

Hurayyyyy you save a great deal. Thank you for posting the video instructions on you-tube

KID, MD said...

I am so impressed!! You're amazing!

Michelle said...

Awesome! Fantastic job! I love the "lint rat" though...I have pulled a few lint rats out of machines, too!!

Beangirl said...

You ARE a genius (I'm going on the "takes one to know one theory here"). That is so awesome. I frequently think I should maybe repair my old Kenmore mechanical and see if it performs better than my weak computerized Brother. You've inspired me to haul it out of the garage and see if the videos will help me. (My local repair guy charges about $75 for a basic maintenance cleaning and if you take it to the sewing shop they charge $100 -- those are the only two choices in town.) Thanks for the video links, you genius you.

Bunny said...

I am so so so impressed. Thanks for the great pics. I love doing this sort of thing and will definitely try next time I need to. Thanks so much for the links too. You are amazing!

Bunny said...

I just want to add that I can see why you are so successful with your weight management. You are one determined persistent Sistah.

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

It is so kewl that you fixed it yourself!

Rose said...

Good job! Now I'm wondering if I have any lint rats lurking in hidden places in my machine.

amber said...

Nice! Way more fun to spend that $80 on fabric or patterns instead of repairs. :)