My Bernina 930 Record went 'pertwang' and now the basting stitch is ...FIXED...

[Madame Cholet]

My beautiful Bernina 930 Record is poorly 

I got it out today to do some alterations for my daughter, wound a fresh bobbin, set the basting stitch to tack a hem in place.... and before a stitch was made there was a sudden twanging sound from the innards and the needle bar mechanism locked up and refused to budge.

I know that the 930 Records had an inherent fault whereby the basting stitch mechanism can gum up from old oil, so I always made a point of running the basting stitch regularly and never oiled the basting stitch mechanism.

I took the machine to Bambers for a service late January this year, and used it shortly after its return to sew some eyelets. Then in February it got packed away as we prepared to move house. Today was the grand day of its great unpacking, and the second time I've had the chance to use it since its service... and it goes and packs up on me 

I've had the top off and it seems that if I disengage a locking lever from the balance wheel mechanism and turn the handwheel backwards, and then replace the top, I can get the machine to sew the normal and stretch stitches again, but setting the basting stitch or 'long' stitch on the stitching dial makes the needle bar lock up once more.

Oh well, at least it is sewing again, sort of. 

I need to do some research on the basting stitch mechanism.
Is anyone here in the Facebook vintage Bernina group? Do you think they would let me join if I asked them??

Edited 30/06/17 to change the thread title from 'My Bernina 930 Record went 'pertwang' and now the basting stitch is no more...' to 'My Bernina 930 Record went 'pertwang' and now the basting stitch is FIXED...' 

[Madame Cholet]

Here's an update... I have downloaded a .pdf of the 'Bernina Basting Stitch Fix' from the Bernina 30-somethings yahoo group that my OH joined umpteen years ago when he had an issue fixing my Bernina 807 (-before I caught the vintage machine tinkering bug)... I thought we had lost the login details but no 

So that's my bedtime reading for tonight sorted!

Edit to add: aaargh! It specifically states I should not have turned the handwheel backwards after lifting that lever ... ooer... 

[Lilian]

Sorry to hear your machine is poorly.  I hope you find the right fix for it 

[Madame Cholet]

Thank you Lilian 
I'll pop downstairs shine a torch inside and see if I can spend a few minutes getting acquainted with the basting stitch mechanism as described in the .pdf.
OH is off work this week and he's offered to take it back to Bambers in the morning for me if I want, but the .pdf author suggests it is a straightforward fix, provided I've not damaged anything by my over-enthusiastic twiddling earlier that is 
   

[Madame Cholet]

Good news, she bastes, she sews! 

It was a really easy fix - there is a little lever which was stuck - a quick clean with a dry brush and a bit of gentle wiggling back and forth, and everything is back to normal now.

Here's a photo showing the lever, and another of the machine innards for those of us who appreciate such things 

Btw the jar of Vicks (or rather Morrisons...) Vapourub in the photo I use as my anti-cat device - my cats always want to 'help' when I go near my machines, but they hate the smell and it keeps them away... for a while at least 
 

[Lilian]

Great news MC!  I wondered why the vapour rub..  maybe the machine was bunged up with a cold  haha.

Lovely workings inside there 

So glad you managed to fix it   

[SkoutSews]

Oh, that awful 'pertwang', I know that sound too!  Well done for using your ingenuity to fix the machine, hope it runs sweetly from now on.

[Madame Cholet]

Yes the 'pertwang' sound was ghastly, like a cry of pain!
I am so happy the machine is back in working order and usable again 
Such a straightforward fix too 

I still would like to join the Bernina facebook group, and I have a facebook profile, but only 1 friend, with whom I often speak on the telephone, so I have never messaged anyone on facebook or posted or anything... I joined facebook to keep an eye on what my daughter gets up to 
but she twigged and changed her profile to private and said mum please don't send a friend request  .
Social media is just not my thing!

But I drool over vintage Berninas  , and I own 5 of them. I once tried to join a group on facebook (-not sewing machine related) and they banned me straight away, they must have thought I was some kind of troll... 

[Maximum]

Thx for posting all the info. Is there any way to save posts for future reference on this site?
Also grateful for the vick tip - I have a Burmese who always has her nose/head/feet where they are not wanted

[Madame Cholet]

Thx for posting all the info. Is there any way to save posts for future reference on this site?
Also grateful for the vick tip - I have a Burmese who always has her nose/head/feet where they are not wanted

You're very welcome. Apart from bookmarking the link I don't know.
Tea tree oil works too. A few drops of that on a tissue waved under a cat's nose and you get a deeply offended look and they run off   

[Madame Cholet]

Oh and I asked to join the Vintage Bernina Sewing Machines facebook group.... and now I am a member