After sewing on heavy fabrics my machine has finally stopped working
I've vacuumed and oiled when changing the bobbin but have been working on heavy upholstery pieces. Now it's frozen. The screen turns on and the motor tries to turn over. Doesn't seem to be in the needle up/down mechanism but in the main drive.
Sewing Machines - Bernina - Artista 180
Answers & Comments
There is something that everyone is missing here in their answers. The biggest cause of a Bernina 180 binding up is the two belt tension idler cogs that are inside of the machine. Your machine has two belts and each belt has one of these belt tensioner cog wheels. What happens is that the original factory oil on these tensioner wheels turns black and gets rather sticky over time. I have run across many that actually lock up this putting a large amound of drag on the machine. So much drag that it becomes very hard to turn the hand wheel.
This can only be fixed by removing the tensioner assembly, cleaning it and adding fresh oil. Just oiling alone will not clean out the old sticky oil. I have a video posted on YouTube that will show you exactly what I am talking about. Go to YouTube and put this in the search box at the top of the page.. "Bernina 160 165 170 180 200 730 important steps I see that" there was not enough room in the YouTube title to take my whole name for that video, so it was cut short. I service and sell Berninas on eBay for my living and I can guarantee you that these tensioner cogs getting gummed up are a major reason for machines locking up.
I appreciate your comments regarding belt tensioners but having experience throughout my career and with over 800 Bernina machines with one of my clients, a school district for 12 of my 43 years in Bernina, belt tensioner idlers on 180 Bernina and subclasses is the least of problems. I suspect that your experience in buying machines on EBAY may bear out your claim due to the fact that there may already be serious problems with these machines, but under normal conditions, this is not so. It is in fact rare as compared with the items of seizures of thread locks, take-up lever seizures and so forth. It is best to look at the simpler items instead of looking for a monster. The monster problems will be revealed as one goes through a basic logical estimation.
One additional comment is that a belt tension idler will not cause a machine to lock up. The advice given by the technician has merit however, and the servicing technician should always lubricate the idlers.
Sewing on heavy fabrics should have no effect on a machine seizure with any Bernina sewing machine other than a thread lock. I assume that the machine functioned well in sewing light weight upholstery?
1. The first place to look to see if you have a thread lock would be in the hook race and basket (bobbin case support). The objective here would be to remove the thread bind in order for the hook to rotate freely around the bobbin case. This is not a serious issue but may need some competent technical attention to relieve the lock.
2. Bearing seizures seem to occur in a couple of places on the Classic Bernina machines from the 130 to the 180. These problems will usually be found in the following order of failure frequency:
1. Take-up lever driver journal.
2. Again the take-up lever driver journal at the needle bar swivel connection.
There are other areas of concerns but I'll defer that conversation on an as needed basis.
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Removal of the light cover to expose the take-up lever and associated parts. This comes off by means of a (single T-20 Torx screw), then slide the cover off. You can blow out the lint (canned air, and yes, you can use canned air but don't use upside down) and observe the take-up lever for any oozing out of sticky black residues in the oil orifices. If you lubricate these components, 1/2 drop of oil is sufficient.
The 180 should use two kinds of lubricant: A class 68 machine oil for all bearings and moving parts (dealer servicing routine, not by customer) and a special thin oil (Texaco 22 textile oil) for the hook race (by customer 1/2 drop per garment usage....(never, ever use WD-40 or 3 in 1 oils).
Most users of the 180 do not lubricate the hook race and simply don't know where to lubricate (look at the oiling routine for this in your user manual...hopefully it will be there). Failure to lubricate the hook dramatically affects thread tension and can result in hook problems resulting in costly hook replacements. SewTechnical Home
It sounds as though you have thrown the timing out or have a broken part. This will likely need a professional tech.