Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Do it yourself serger repair - How to adjust serger timing

So I recently did something awful to my serger and the needle broke, the upper and bottom loopers were loose, wiggled, and were not in the right positions. Since I bought the machine used, I didn't want to pay $100-$150 to repair it. Since if I ended up paying that much money for the machine, I probably should have just bought a new one in the first place.



So I went on the internet and searched and searched for information on how to repair and set the timing on a serger. I did get some help from the nice people in the alt.sewing google group but basically there is no information on the web on how to repair a serger. There also seems to be a lack of books, or even classes on sewing machine/serger repair. I don't really know how a person becomes a sewing machine technician. I assume they must learn the ropes through some sort of apprenticeship. I did get a "Generic Serger Manual Service and Repair" for x-mas but it is basically a photo copy of some info from the 80's and is missing some relevant pages. Plus it isn't really generic, it is basically some notes for some various older Singer sergers. However it did give me some good hints that let me figure out how to set the timing.

So I think there is some kind of conspiracy going on. Considering that the local repair shops charge $100, it becomes very pricy to get your machine(s) serviced every year as recommended. Especially if you have machines that only cost around $100-$200. Maybe the sewing machine manufacturers are trying to keep the relevant information secret so you feel compelled to buy a new machine when yours breaks. I don't know.
I am warning you that I am not an expert, this is my first time ever trying to fix a serger, and I had very little information to go off of. Fiddling around with things on your own could make things worse so that if you do bring the machine in to get repaired it could cost more. But in my case I figured it was worth it to see if I could get it working. So I am going to explain what I did so there is at least something on the internet for people to look at, but I wasn't even completely successful. After I fixed my machine I completed one project and it seemed to work fine, but the next day my needle broke again, so it still needs a little fine tuning.

I have a Kenmore 385.1664190 serger. You can get schematic pictures of all the interior parts, and order any possible part by going to the sears parts website and searching for your model of sewing machine or serger. However they do not offer a repair manual or tell you the specific placement of the loopers for timing. But the schematics helped me figure out what screws might be loose.

In my case both my upper and lower loopers were loose. So the upper looper (top red arrow) was wiggling forward and backward. And the lower looper (lower red arrow) was wiggling left and right. To tighten the upper looper I needed to stick an Allen wrench (the green thing) in the hole shown. If the lower looper is loose on the shaft you can use the screw that the blue arrow is pointing to, and I assume you can also use this screw for fine adjustments. But in my case it was the whole shaft that was loose (not the looper), so this screw didn't help me plus it was really hard to get to.



So to tighten the lower looper I needed to open up the bottom of the serger. There were two screws on the bottom plate, plus 4 screws in each of the rubber legs. The picture below shows what the bottom of the serger looked like. Once again I needed an Allen wrench to tighten the two screws where the red arrows are.







So now you need to know how to position the loopers so they actually do something.


Upper Looper:


Basically when the needles are at their highest position, the upper looper should be underneath the needles if you are looking straight on, but slightly in front if you are looking from above. If you had a repair manual I think it would tell you exactly how far the point of the upper looper should be in comparison to the left needle, and it varies from machine to machine. My generic manual was missing this information for their sample (Singer) machines. It did say that on the sample machine the looper should be 1mm in front of the needles.


Lower Looper:


The lower looper seems to belong exactly horizontal.



When the needles are at the lowest point the lower looper is supposed to be a certain distance from the left needle, for the sample machines it was 7mm. I had to guess on my machine. The needles do pass between the little pinchers in front of the looper.

When you rotate the handwheel the lower looper and upper looper's will pass very close to each other, they almost seem to fit together like a puzzle. There is probably a specified distance for this as well. The picture below isn't that great. Just think puzzle pieces.





Finally it is important to remember that when you thread the machine the thread that goes through the lower looper lies on top of thread that goes through the upper looper. If you thread the machine and you can't get the lower looper thread above the upper looper thread then its not going to work. In my case it wasn't too hard to get the loopers timed because I knew that the upper looper only needed to be moved forward, or back (not left or right) and the lower looper only needed to be moved left and right (not forward or back) and when you ruled out all the positions in which they ran into stuff it only left a couple of options.
Sewing machine technicians have exact measurements for where the loopers are supposed to be positioned in relation to the needles and each other, but this doesn't seem to be freely available information. So if your timing hasn't been disrupted too much hopefully the above information will be helpful.

If this article helped you and you would like to offer monetary reciprocation I would gladly accept paypal donations, or amazon.com gift certificates.  Even a dollar would be nice. ;) Thank you.


83 comments:

--donna said...

Cool article. Put a link up in the Wefixit links so that we can refer other Serger fixers to it, OK? Or hang around and help people, you might become our resident serger expert.

Anonymous said...

Great job, Laura! I am going to file this for future reference!
Bonnie in ME

Unknown said...

Good work thanks for posting it !You have the same serger as I do I saved it & will be very helpful.
Mary

Anonymous said...

Thanks I was the original poster of looper timing off and this really helped. I foyu don't mind I would love to post this link to other moms outhere in my groups. They almost all have segers as they make diapers. This soo helped!! :)

Momof8 said...

I have been trying to find a serger repair manual. Is the one that you have called: SERGER REPAIR FOR THE HOME SEWER by Reuben O. Doyle?
I've been wondering how helpful this book is. I have an old Babylock serger that starts to slow down after a few minutes of sewing. Did you ever come across a technician's training manual?

Laura said...

No I don't have O'Doyle's book but have been wondering if it is any good. I actually have his sewing machine repair book on hold at the library. I was going to see if it was any good and if it was maybe purchasing the serger one.

There is a link to an online industrial serger repair manual on this page of my blog. http://bangerlm.blogspot.com/2007/02/sewing-machine-and-serger-repair.html

Anonymous said...

You have saved my life, and my money!! I have been hunting everywhere to find this information, and it is helping me fix a serger that is a White. So far, so good!! I'll let you know how it goes!!

kk said...

my upper looper seems to be going too far to the left, past the needles, hitting the foot. any ideas how to adjust that? I was serging multiple strips of fabric and the serger made a grinding sound and I noticed the looper seemed a bit out of synch. please help if you can. thank you

Laura said...

kk - I've been meaning to add a post on how to adjust the upper loopers for a while. Unfortunately with 2 kids I haven't gotten to it. In the second picture there are two red arrows pointing to the screws to loosen the lower looper. If you look off to the right there is another vertical bar and the corresponding screws on those bars will allow you to adjust the upper looper.

You want the upper looper to go just to the left of the needles. If you put a piece of thread in the lower looper and use the hand crank to lower the needles the thread should catch around the needle.

Hopefully that makes sense and someday I can do a full tutorial.

Deb said...

In my case the needle seems to have this sticking sound when you rotate the wheel. When at its lowest poing the needle seems to pass in front of the lower looper but then moves behind it just when you start to raise it. Do you know what may be happening in this case?

Laura said...

Deb - The needle should always remain in front of the lower looper. If the needle is hitting the lower looper you could check if the needle bar is loose or the lower looper needs scooted back. I'm not exactly sure what could be the problem.

Anonymous said...

Laura, sounds like you did a great job. I have a White Speedylock serger. The left needle thread will not pick up the looper thread. Any ideas? Thanks

Anonymous said...

Please can someone help me, my serger wheel cannot turn more than 2-3 turns someone said that the shaft is jammed, the wheel wouldn't turn, if someone knows why please send me an email. Thanks.

Deanna said...

hi, I have a kenmore 16555 - that i've had for 7 years without any service or problems. I did something silly while sewing a Halloween costume, heard a loud bang- needles broke...... when I came back to my machine, I changed needles and the machine would not hold a chain stitch. I took the machine in (I figured it was time anyway_ and they said I through the timing off. so I paid and have brought it back two other times. The problem: the lower and upper lopper thread is off everytime I stop and then continue sewing or randomly every several inches. Sew, it sews fine about 85090% of the time. I do not feel this sewing repair shop (with an excellent reputation and I've used them before) can fix it. I'm thinking of sending it through Sears for repair- but will ask for a large refund first.
any suggestions? I'm not sure I want to fiddle around with the adjustments at this point if they are so close. the problem is that I have 14 fleece blanket pillows to sew- which I need decorative stitching. I would not be so worried if it was on the inside.
thank you, thank you

Laura said...

deanna - when you say the upper and lower looper threads are off, do you mean that they don't connect at the seam edge? Do you know if any parts were replaced? I had an upper looper replaced and it was the wrong part and almost worked, but not quite.

Benjamin said...

Hi I'm a sewing machine mechanic, I can help you out if you run into any problems.

Ben M
www.sewingmachineryrepair.com

sergerhappy said...

Hi Laura,
I had to create this blog account just to thank you so so so very much for showing that you found out on serger timing. You saved me a lot of hassle and time wasted. My serger is a little different so it took a while to figure it out. But It sews like a champ now, no skips, no binding, no breaking threads. With your help I was able to get mine back on the sew. THANK YOU! Woot!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this, it gave me the confidence to try to thread it correctly, and it worked again!!! yay!

myf said...

thanks so much for taking the time to put this post together. i will be having a go at fixing my own serger.

Anonymous said...

Laura! You are a Godess among sergers! Thank you soooo much! I used your advice and after having repeated trips to the repair shop every time I broke a needle, I can now adjist my own timing! My machine is sewing like new!
Trish in Canada

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for this article! I haven't fixed my serger yet but I know a lot more about how to now.

I also found this website while searching and it seems to be helpful!

http://www.sergerparts.com/index.html

Molly said...

I'm a sewing machine mechanic here in Western Washington, and I'm focusing on learning about the sergers a little more in-depth. I'm consider buying some repair manuals and just seeing how other fix-it folks are managing. The Baby Lock I'm playing with now is not turning freely. There is a terrible drag 2/3 through the turn, and it appears very clean and thread free. I've had it opened up so I could view most joints as it turns and watched the movements, but I haven't spotted and thing binding, yet.
I also ran into a slightly wrong looper put on a machine by a repair shop, and that was interesting. :) Nice work here!

Laura said...

Molly - Yes I had a local Sears repair shop put in a incorrect looper in mine as well. Drove me nuts I couldn't figure out why the machine wouldn't work. Finally put the old looper back in and it worked great.

Anonymous said...

My machine (actually my MIL's) is a Simplicity Easy Lock 804. I've rethreaded, cleaned, oiled, and replaced needles and it is better, but not quite right. The two threads that run perpendicular to the fabric edge (the looper threads, I think) stay right next to each other in parallel fashion, rather than an almost zigzag. I'm thinking the timing is off on the upper looper. Any thoughts? The right needle is lower than the left - I can't find anywhere to verify it is supposed to be. Is that right? (They are both as far in as they will go.)

Laura said...

Yes the right needle is supposed to be lower than the left. In a previous comment there is a link to sergerparts.com that has some great illustrations on how a serger is supposed to work. You could look at those and compare how your MIL's is working to see if there is a discrepancy. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

I just pulled my New Home Serger out of the basement and haven't used it 10 yrs. Should I try to use it without getting it tuned up or is it an easy thing to lub and get working again!?!?! It lights up and runs smoothly , but no loop chains coming out. thanks, kathy lee

Anonymous said...

Hey thanks Laura, I agree with your hunch that they want you to buy another machine. I paid $99 for my Singer Serger and it was barely used. I forgot to lower the lever and broke a needle. After changing the needle it would not serge. I was told it would cost $75 to fix it, repair man noted the timiing was off. I thought surely there must be some help out there somewhere. I am looking forward to my Christmas break to have time to use your suggestions. Thanks for everything

DumpstaDiva said...

I have a White Serger 503 with a cracked looper timing gear. I've got the bottom off and have removed 8-9 screws trying to remove the shaft to replace the gear and it doesn't want to pull out the back. Any suggestions? Thx!

Laura said...

DumpstaDiva-
Have you tried sewing machine oil? or using pliers to get some extra leverage? Honestly almost of my experience with fixing a serger is posted in this post. Good luck.
-Laura

Anonymous said...

Because of your article I was able to get my sewing with nancy ez lock serger fixed. Since the day I got it its never acted right. I discovered the whole shaft for the lower looper was loose. Using your article as a jumping off point I was able to tighten the shaft and position the lower looper correctly. Now it stitches beautifully! Better than it ever has. thanks fir sharing your knowledge.

Anonymous said...

http://www.managemylife.com/images/4381/original/38516655100serger.jpg?1295268579

Well Laura,

I can't believe this blog. It is as if I wrote it myself...LOL Especially the part where there may be a conspiracy going on here, and how there is no info for serger / sewing machine repair books or classes on the internet? It is a bit unsettling considering it is just a sewing machine repair question but, I could find a billion websites on how to hack into anything you could dream up in your head...but, no serger / sewing repair manuals or websites! It baffles ones mind really and for someone to become a sewing repair tech you either must have been brought up in that line of work or must have been apprenticed for that work? Because I can't find any type of repair classes to take whatsoever? Also, why are all the sewing repair technicians always vacuum repair technicians as well? It always says Vac and Sewing Repair??? LOL...Well, with all the research internet referencing I have done and this diagram link I posted above that gives reference to measurements and needle size, a spark plug gap measuring tool I had, and your blog article, I think I will be able to fix my serger for good! I just wanted to thank you for your blog and your time!!! Also, if you find out anything about this conspiracy going on...I would love to know! LOL! Well, Happy Sewing!

Donna S. said...

I'm in agreement with ya'll abt the conspiracy!!! My problem is that my Baby Lock Pro Line serger's feed dogs work sometimes. Today I sewed on broadcloth and noticed the deferiential feed dog setting was on "Normal". I have no idea about how to adjust the pressure foot adjustment but tried thinking that might be the problem because sometimes the feed dogs work when the pressure food is in the up position but not always! HELP ME PLEASE... any suggestions? I have never oiled this machine and thought I read where it didn't have to be oiled. Is this correct?

Denise said...

Hey Laura. You probably don't believe it but I googled serger timing and got nothing. Then i went to ask and got your post. Your post was the most informative thing I have found on fixing sergers. I was almost about to give in and pay the 89.00 but I thought I would try one more time. Please see my post at http://denisesewingroom.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

The baby lock sergers the older ones, if they sew and start to slow down it is a common but fixable problem,the stich length adjuster on the left side (bottom) has a quarter size cam and it gets dry and hot then seizes up after a couple of minutes. I had to disassemble mine and use emery cloth on it to smooth it out and relube it. Works great except now the loopers started to touch necessitating retiming which is why I am here.

Anonymous said...

There are three or four threads that must interlock for the machine to work well.I will focus on three of them with the needle in the left position which is the most critical. Remove the throat plate so that you can see the needle travel at the lower looper. (Make sure the needle is the correct size some are shorter than others)
1. turn the hand wheel in the correct direction until the needle is at the bottom of its stroke.(towards you or counter clockwise for baby locks). As soon as the needle starts up the tip of the bottom looper should be just above the eye of the needle. (enables the machine to catch the thread). This looper should pass behind the needle.
2.Raise the needle to its highest point. As it starts down the upper looper should pass just in front of the needle and the tip of the needle should be just behind the eye of the looper (it enables the thread catch).
3. Now for the last point in this triangle, that place where the loopers intersect. Look at the lower looper carefully and you will see and indention on the back side of the about 1/4 inch behind the eye of the lower looper. The upper looper passes behind the lower looper in that indention. If it is too far away it will not catch the thread. The upper looper passes behind the lower looper but in front of the needle this is a close encounter.

There are basically 3 pivot points to loosen to correct timing a: a screw to raise or lower the upper needle bar (not visible unless the face of the machine is removed)
b: two points on the bottom the left side pivot controls the lower looper timing (1/8 allen wrench) and c:flat blade screw driver on the right pivot point controls the timing for the upper looper. Oh yeah one more a 6 mm hex nut which holds the upper looper on its shaft kinda controls in and out and is finnicky.

Biggest thing to remember as you sew because they are mechanical is sew only about half speed, this prevent major damage if something becomes loose and the loopers for instance strike head on.

Nancy said...

HELP - I left my Baby Lock serger set for several years and now it is frozen. I can't move the wheel to get any of the process going. There is no broken needle inside somewhere. No one has evern touched this machine. Where can I start on repair?

Anonymous said...

Great job on this article. I have fixed my own serger the same way-trial and error. I figured I had nothing to lose since I did not want to pay the money to have it fixed. If you have the understanding of how the threads interlock with each other then you just have to align the needles and loopers to cross when they should. I have always found when threading a serger to be sure to thread the loopers first then the needles so the needle thread are not looped over the loopers. It will not sew that way. A few drops of oil on moving parts and maybe some grease on sliding parts is all you should need.

Judy B. said...

Bought a 2/3 thread serger at the second hand store, but would not form stitches. I decided to return it,but they would not take it back.Good thing it was only $14.00. Then looked up serger repair and found this blog. I can't believe I fixed the serger. The upper looper was not set right. Thank-you

Anonymous said...

I own a White Model 534 serger with a broken gear. Because shop repairs are very expense, I decided to tackle the project. Although the replacement gear was purchased some time ago, your in depth info spurned me on! With the new gear in place, I'm currently working on timing. Thank you so much!
KJ

Anonymous said...

Wow! Thanks so much. My upper looper came loose and I couldn't figure out where to place it so I could tighten it. Thanks for the help :)

Marlene D said...

Laura
Great thing you have started, please help me! this is a singer Serger it was ok until last week, the hand wheel freze stuck .Any sugestion?
Thank's

Marlene D.
August 13,2011 3:40PM CST

pam said...

I also have an inherited old Baby Lock. I have cleaned and lubed it and spent 7 hours doing that! I am mechanically minded and thought I had really done a great job. Put it away -covered completely - and took it out today to use it for the first time. Stewpidddd me forgot to raise the thread 'holder thingy' so the thread broke after 30 seconds. That was 4 hours ago and I'm about to throw it out the window. It's broken 2 needles at 2 different times, I've re-threaded upteen times, I've lubed it using 2 different kinds of spray and see that the feed dog does not always work. Does fine most of the time when you are using the manual knob but turn on the power and nothing - which causes a big wad of thread and more frustration. I am so happy to find like minds. This machine is the most frustrating thing I've ever worked on. It was free so that's the only impetus to fix it. Please share your ideas about this feed dog inconsistency! thanks. Pam

Corri said...

Thanks to you, I fixed the timing on my serger this morning while still in my PJ's. I cleaned and oiled it while I was at it, so it seems like it has just come back from the shop. Still, I hope I don't have to remember this info anytime soon!

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I have a Savant 3-4 thread serger, it is about 10yrs old. Up until about a year ago I never had a problem with it. I was serging on a pair of fleece pj pants when the upper looper bent towards the front of the machine. I took it to a local repairman, it cost me just under $100.00. Now it is sewing fine on minute, then bam it grabs the material, pulls it towards the looper and stops dead. The material gets jamed and also torn. HELP

Anonymous said...

I have a White 1600 Serger that needs some parts for repair. My repairman as well as myself have not had any luck finding them. Do you have any websites I could look to for help?

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain and provide pictures. I inherited a Huskylock and when I accidentally broke the upper looper, I had the same problem you described. I didn't know where to take it for repair without being railroaded into buying a new machine. I'm soooo happy and now I know what to do in the future. It's a good solid machine and I hated to part with it. God Bless you!

~~anna~~ said...

THANK YOU!!!!!! We're missionaries in the DR and one of the feed dogs on my Bernina 700D broke last summer (No clue how)Had to wait til we were in the States to purchase replacement. (By the way, there are 2 feed dogs on this model....I thought it was all one piece.Should have removed the plate over it) Saturday I started to install them but had to remove the back cover to get at the screws. Once installed I realized the serger had frozen up in our tropical air. Since the cover was off anyway, I gave it a good oiling, but nothing worked til I gave a light tap on the base of the bottom looper. I guess I tapped it harder than I thought because when I rethreaded it, it wouldn't pick up the looper stitches. FINALLY, yesterday I found your blog and this info. Between your info and Anonymous of May 6, 2011 I retimed the looper without any difficulty! She once again sews a beautiful stitch!!! I am so excited!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for posting this blog and with your excellent help and that of your contributors I have managed to fix my Janome Mylock 643d. I bought the machine second hand for £60 late last year. I had always longed for an overlocker to give my homemade garments a more professional finish but could never afford to buy one new so when my aunt was selling hers I snapped it up. It had been well looked after and purred like a kitten. I kept it well oiled and clean but this weekend whilst doing some three thread serging for my mum the needle broke and the upper and lower loopers knocked together. Since I only paid £60 I didn't really want to take it to the repair man when it was probably a simple adjustment that with a lot of time and patience could be fixed by me. However, when I opened up the machine I did't have a clue how the needles and loopers interacted with each other. So after much searching on the internet I found your site and am so so thankful to you and all the other contributors to your blog for their advice. The problem with my serger was that the screw on the lower looper had worked loose causing the looper to slip so once I pushed it up and tightened the screw it was back and interacting with the needles again. Also,another problem which I think caused the needle to break in the first place is that the screws that hold the pinchers in place on the lower looper had worked loose causing it to wobble and hence break the needle. Again, thank you thank you thankyou

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for posting this blog and with your excellent help and that of your contributors I have managed to fix my Janome Mylock 643d. I bought the machine second hand for £60 late last year. I had always longed for an overlocker to give my homemade garments a more professional finish but could never afford to buy one new so when my aunt was selling hers I snapped it up. It had been well looked after and purred like a kitten. I kept it well oiled and clean but this weekend whilst doing some three thread serging for my mum the needle broke and the upper and lower loopers knocked together. Since I only paid £60 I didn't really want to take it to the repair man when it was probably a simple adjustment that with a lot of time and patience could be fixed by me. However, when I opened up the machine I did't have a clue how the needles and loopers interacted with each other. So after much searching on the internet I found your site and am so so thankful to you and all the other contributors to your blog for their advice. The problem with my serger was that the screw on the lower looper had worked loose causing the looper to slip so once I pushed it up and tightened the screw it was back and interacting with the needles again. Also,another problem which I think caused the needle to break in the first place is that the screws that hold the pinchers in place on the lower looper had worked loose causing it to wobble and hence break the needle. Again, thank you thank you thankyou

Vicki said...

Thank you thank you! I forgot to put the pressure foot down on my Sears Kenmore serger, and I broke a needle. After changing needles and hours of re-threading again and again, I still could not get the serger to chain. I just knew I messed up the timing. I have a client coming in two days with ten dresses to hem and I don't have the time or the money to take this 18 year old serger in for repair. I followed your instructions and fixed the upper looper with an allen wrench. Now it chains perfectly. I am so grateful to you for sharing your knowledge!

Anonymous said...

I just replaced my upper looper with much help form this post! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! You saved me $200 bucks repair cost.

Anonymous said...

I have a Janome 643d and the lower looper thread breaks after a few inches of overlocking. I have rethreaded from scratch as per manual threading lower, upper, right and left in sequence. I have taken the needleplate off and on inspection see that the arm on the lower looper is brushing against the upper looper thread guide causing lower looper thread to snag and break. Can anyone suggest how to remedy this as cannot afford to fake it in for professional repair? Where should the lower looper arm be in relation to this thread guide? Thanks in advance for any help

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to say that thanks to this post I have managed to fix my serger... again! There is really nowhere else on the web to learn about timing adjustments.

So thanks, I was at the end of my rope, and with no spare cash for a trip to the shop.

Pocky said...

Just bookmarked your article, thank you!!

Anastasia said...

Hello, your article was very helpful and you seem to know what you’re saying.
Could you please post sth about tension problems??
I have a problem with my 1034D seger.I bought my serger early July 2013, so I have it for 3 months. When I bought it the tension dials were all on 4 and the stitches were perfectly balanced. I used little and without an obvious reason the stitch became unbalanced, I mean when all dials are on 4 the chain is pulled on the wrong side and the lower looper is so tight , so I have to lower the dial to 3 on LL to achieve a balanced stitch and even then is not perfectly right. I know how to thread the serger correctly, so this is not the problem. Do you have any suggestions? I would very much appreciate.

Anonymous said...

Create with Claudia here. I have resurrected by Elna 945 which has all kinds of safety features (wont start if pressure foot is not down, easy access for needle changing too to name a few. BUT it does not cut the fabric! I have changed teh top cutter and now want to change the bottom cutter but no where in the manual does it explain how to do that. I am looking for a service manual for my machine. I wil copy and save Laura's instructions on correcting timing and changeing/tightening loopers. Thank you for this site and for her blog.

Anonymous said...

http://www.manualslib.com/ I was able to find the service manual for a Kenmore Serger 386-16677 hopefully it is similiar to your serger. It has all the measurments and ajustments for the machine.

Anonymous said...

I just read through your excellent blog and found lots of good info but not the serger problem I have. I own a SergeMate 5040L and the feed dogs are down and I don't have a clue how to raise them. Manual is no help. Any ideas???

Leslie said...

OMG you are brilliant my 30 Yr old Kenmore was not chaining and I followed your instructions and voila it works like a charm thank you so much!

Penny said...

Hi Laura, I love your blog and hope that you can assist with my current problem. I have a White super lock 534 serger with a cracked looper timing gear. I see that 2 other people have had similar issues and one of them did replace the gear. My question is what are the steps to remove the broken gear. There is a shaft at the bottom of the serger holding this gear and other parts in place. You suggested plyers, but I can't tell if that worked and what screws are people loosening? Thanks much, Penny

Anonymous said...

i wanted to see if u can help with my serger problem. It will not feed the fabric through.

Anonymous said...

I have a New Home serger and my left needle won't sew. It also skipps stitches. Just all of a sudden started doing this. I have tried everything to fix it with no luck. Can anyone help me?

Anonymous said...

Soooo helpful info,soooo grateful to you, becuz even though its been quite a few years since you posted this,there still isn't any helpful info on how to do this!With your info and hubbys' help we were able to get my serger up & running again ,in no time!! Thanks soooo much!!!

Anonymous said...

I have a bernina serger and the third thread keeps breaking after a few stitches. Any suggestions?

Anonymous said...

I have a Elna 925 DCX that was sewing great on minute and just stopped the next. I turned it off and back on and the light comes on and it engages but won't run. Any ideas what is wrong? Need to finish my project.

Kelly Pound said...

Oh my goodness, you saved me! Thanks for the post, it helped me get the serger I was given up and running. I was about to give up before I found this!

HouseLogic said...

I've always wondered how this was done... Now I get the general idea thanks to you.

Anonymous said...

Hi
Not sure if anyone would check but I need help with Elna 945 serger - motor is running(i think) makes the whirring sound but the feed dogs are not moving - could you pls help.

Jackie said...

Great article Laura. I had a similar problem of missing loops but everything was tight. No loose screws and they had never been adjusted. I gave it a thorough lube job and checked the tension knobs but that didn't fix it.

Finally I took out the main needle and saw that over time it had become slightly bent back so that it often missed the loop.

I changed it to a stronger needle, no 14, and it works like a dream!

The lesson? Before undoing any screws or adjusting the loopers, try changing the needle first.

suz said...


First I want to suggest a book I just found about serger repair: The Serger and Overlock Master Guide by Cifford L Blodgett. Kindle edition.

Really good. Not only novice info.

My story. Have you ever tried to repair your Brother 1034 D serger by yourself?

The little white plastic tab on the lower looper broke off mine and it seems that there is no way to fix it without spending as much money as buying a new 1034D. The lower loop assembly costs about $50. I found the schematic for the inside of the machine on line at the Brother site and was thinking about trying to replace it myself since it looks as if the lower looper assembly only has two screws attaching it, one in the front and one that may be accessed from the side panel. Two sewing repair technicians told me that this has to be done by a professional so I was NOT going to attempt to do this. The cost to just look at the machine at sewing repair shops is $75. Add the cost of the part and I would already be at $125 and there is no guarantee that will be the final bill. There are places to buy a brand new one $190 and I already have all the accessories. You see what I'm getting at.

Why doesn't Brother re-engineer the lower looper assembly out of one piece of metal, including the tab that you have to pull out and push in every time you thread the lower looper? They did re-design the guts in the 3034 and at the same time reorganized the threading, right to left: lower looper, upper looper and then the needles. Makes more sense AND you can see what you are doing when you thread the lower looper. I have found these machines brand new for as low as $350, while the 1034D is advertised anywhere from $147 up tp $299. Why?

And why is there no information on repairing sergers on the net. Conspiracy? You can find info about anything and everything else including hacking anything, making bombs (disclaimer: I haven't read of these, but I've heard :)

End of my long story: I bought a used Brother 3034D on ebay for $120, just serviced. If I need to fix it I'll come here and read all the valuable comments more carefully. Now I am psyched to try it myself!

All the best to my fellow sergers.

Thanks Laura!

Anonymous said...

Thanx a lot , you helped me a lot. NO need to take a machine to the service. Easy done with your help.

Unknown said...

Laura I admire you're willingness to jump in with both feet. Ask any of my friends and they will tell you my favorite phrase is, "I can do anything with Google!" For anybody in search of a sewing machine manual out there, I'd like to inform you of a website where you can download nearly, and I'd like to emphasize nearly, any manual absolutely free. No catches. After nearly spending $15 for a manual to download, happily, I discovered ISMACS.NET. I have a commercial Singer sewing machine circa 1912 and could not figure out how to thread it for the life of me. Frustrating, embarrassing considering I'm a professional seamstress. Hopefully this will help some of your followers. ✂✂

JP said...

It is now 2015...this is an amazingly old post! Totally relevant though because I was just loaned a 3 thread serger and it isn't chaining. I am bookmarking this post so I can take a look to check timing tomorrow!

Cheryl Anne said...

Hi Laura,
Old post but hoping someone answers it. Have a bazaar coming out and my serger is not stitching correctly. My husband loves to tinker and he looked at the pics and checked all adjustments, upper looper little wiggly adjusted that really good. I have rethreaded this serger over and over for the last 5 years and it is threaded correctly. However, on the front side the upper looper thread is fine the two needle stitches are fine. On the back side the lower looper thread is fine, the left needle stitching is fine. However the right needle stitch is just dots not a regular stitch. And the upper looper thread is at the edge of fabric not catching the right needle stitch so I have two clear rows of stitching on the back. PLEASE HELP.

bluet said...

Thank you SO MUCH!
I have a Kenmore too and there's nothing for us -as you said - on line.
I paid $100 last year to fix this problem in my other kenmore and honestly I think it's too much so I will try all your suggestions.
Please feel free to email me if you have any doubts while sewing as I am a professional tailor-couture seamstress .

abbie said...

Wow! Great post. Thank you, Laura for posting the original and for everyone contributing.

Carol said...

I too wonder why there is no GOOD info anywhere about repairing a serger. My story: I bought a White Model 1634 and never used it because it's too hard to thread. Lesson learned. Trashed it-don't want anybody to have this. Then, I bought a white 2900. Worked good for number of years until I serged something too thick (I know better) and it jammed. On shelf waiting for repair. Then I bought a Family Sew FS320 and it worked good for 3 years. Then It just quit. So since I serge everyday, I need a new one. I won't take to repair shop..Not worth the money or time. I have 6 sewing machines and I do my own repairs. Not so with serger. Just try getting one apart to see what is happening. Mine sounds like parts are dangling around inside. Can't get back off yet. Still working on that. More spare parts and it may go in trash as well. I would like to have a repair manual and I wonder WHY a good one is not printed. For a start, how do you get inside of the thing.

Cory @aquarianbath said...

Wow! Tighten a screw! What a concept. You saved my butt. Thank you so much. I didn't even need a manual.

Lori said...

Did you find a solution for this? I have a white speedylock with the same issue!

Caroline said...

Thanks for this, it was very helpful. I just wanted to comment this machine looks just like a Janome / New Home 104D, if anyone has one of those and is struggling, this how-to is a perfect match.

Unknown said...

Hi,
I have a little Singer Finishing Pro serger, and when using yesterday went over a cross seam, hear a little clunk and now it won't trim! There was a needed near, but I don't think I went over it. There is a tiny nick in the blade, but who knows when I last looked at it. I have a new blade on order, but really don't think that is the problem. Any suggestions?

Unknown said...

I'm having a lot of issues with my lower Looper on my Elna Pro 5 server it's not working right it's not making any stitches and I know I knock the timing out I just had the time the lower Looper started hitting the footplate I unscrewed some stuff so I could get the Looper to quit hitting the foot plate and now I can't get it to sew any stitches knocked out all the timing and I need some help

hsmama said...

Also you can take the front off of a serger and there are places to oil just like a sewing machine. Usually, any place that metal turns against metal I put a drop of sewing machine oil. (or Tri-flow oil with teflon) It will work better when oiled and cleaning the dust out. This is the first step to fixing a serger. I always do a new needle too.