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Oil leaking from machine head


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Help!  On occasion I've noticed that there was oil on my light tube.  I wiped it away and went along with my quilting. 

However, now it's pretty incidious.  Has anyone else ever had this problem? 

 

I check the oil every time I power up the machine and usually add a couple of drops to each wick.  Recognizing that I may have over oiled the machine, I now only add oil if the wick is completely dry.

How do you check your oil?  When do you determine that you need to add more oil to the wicks?  How often does the machine need to be oiled? 

Lastly, is there any way to drain out the excess oil and start fresh? 

 

Thanks in advance for all of you sharing  your wonderful insight and helpful tips. 

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How have you been checking the oil?  It definitely sounds like you have been over oiling. 

 

For my Freedom, I was told to swipe a different finger over each wick.  If oil is visible on a finger, that wick does not need oil.  By using a different finger for each wick, it is easy to know which wick may be dry, and not to confuse oil from one wick with the results from another.  Generally, our machines do not need oiling every time they are used, and only a drop or two when needed.

 

I don't know how to remove excess oil.  Hopefully someone else can help you with that.

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Just took a look at my machine head.  I'd have to take off the IQ (or at least the mounting bracket) and the new light kit.  Doesn't look horrendous, but I'll proceed with caution. 

Anything special I should be looking for other than excess oil?  Would I just clean out the inside of the head with a Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol? Would something else work out better? 

 

Thanks,

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I don't know...but when I first got Lucey, I must have over oiled because oil started dripping out by the needle.....all I did was wipe it off and then checked it frequently and wiped off when I saw more....I always stop and park the head off to the side and not over the quilt.  I think I left a little scrap of fabric/batting under the needle when not in use and soon the oil stopped dripping.  Couple of days I think.  Now I just check with my fingers....but if I haven't used it for quite a while, I sometimes go ahead and add a drop even if I see a sheen....seems to run smoother.   Lin

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One swipe of each wick (5) with a different finger (4 on top, one on the side).  If it is shiny, don't oil.  If it is dry add only ONE drop of oil and then run your machine to get it running through good.  Then you can start quilting.  I check each day that I quilt  and I find that only one or two wicks need a drop.  Never leave your needle over your quilt when you leave it  for any length of time.  You don't want an oily spot on your quilt.  

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If it's dripping, I would first wipe off the needle bar often, maybe with each bobbin chance. If you are continuing to see excess oil, take the side cover off and clean out the excess with a piece of cotton batting or Q-tip, but I would not use alcohol.

I picked up a little oil bottle with a needle and it helps me dispense 1-2 drops.

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This happened to me once too. I thought I was oiling my wicks the right way, but my light bar had a line of oil too. When I opened her up, there whole thing was coated in oil and it was dripping inside too. I took a soft t-shirt and wiped it all out. I am much lighter handed with the oil now.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Janice:  The hand wheels I installed on my Ult 2 were a one off fabrication of my own.

 

 I don't know what the ends of the Lenni rollers look like.  The Ult 2's extended about  two inches beyond the roller tube, and went in holes in the roller rack "buck boards".  When I rebuilt my table, I replaced the "buck boards" with pillow blocks.  The roller ends went about an half inch beyond the pillow blocks.  I welded half inch rod stock on the ends of the roller extensions (the original ends are 5/8"), bought 4 inch hand wheels with with half inch bores, and clamped them on the extensions.  

 

If the Lenni rollers have similar ends, you could do the same thing.  If the ends are long enough to fit a hand wheel without being extended, you could just buy hand wheels with the same bore size.  If the ends aren't long enough, you'd have to add to them like I did.  I used smaller rod so as to mitigate the challenge of getting the extensions perfectly aligned with the original ends.  If on the other hand there are no ends on the Lenni rollers, the job of fabricating a method to hold hand wheels is more challenging.  I'd be happy to discuss this further if you want to try a similar modification.  Jim

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