Vintage sewing machine pedal problems

Thread Starter

Coyvan

Joined Nov 1, 2021
2
I’ve got an old sewing machine that I am fixing up for my mom( it’s the same model that she learned on when she was a kid). The machine it’s self works fine but the pedal does not. I dug into it and to me( someone that has little experience with electronics not to mention vintage ones) it seems like the capacitor on the top might be bad but I don’t get how that would keep the thing from working. Also if it needs to be replaced what would be a suitable replacement(don’t t really want to foot the bill to stay vintage)?
 

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AlbertHall

Joined Jun 4, 2014
12,345
It looks like the white rectangular part is a simple switch which either connects the power to the motor or not. The capacitor would be just to prevent arcing across the switch contacts,

Does the motor nevr run, or does it run all the time?
 

Thread Starter

Coyvan

Joined Nov 1, 2021
2
It looks like the white rectangular part is a simple switch which either connects the power to the motor or not. The capacitor would be just to prevent arcing across the switch contacts,

Does the motor nevr run, or does it run all the time?
Never runs. I sorted out which connection is interrupted by the switch and when plugged in I can get 120 volts but still nothing in the unit.
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
I may be wrong, but that doesn't look like a capacitor to me. The makings on it says, "Fq = 5MHz" doesn't look like any cap marking I'm aware of.
 

debe

Joined Sep 21, 2010
1,389
Inside that white ceramic block is a carbon pile, the plunger compresses it to vary the speed. The plunger when fully pressed closes the end contacts for full speed. The capacitor is just there to stop electrical interference. Sounds like there may be a break or poor connection in the wiring. If you bridge the plug that goes into the machine the motor should run at full speed. If it doesnt then theres a problem with the motor (may be worn out brushes if it has seen a lot of work.)
 
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