Vintage Singer Sewing Machine Foot Pedal Repair 

I’m a 69 year old woman and I have just fixed my vintage foot pedal with your excellent explicit video! Brilliant pace for me to follow! Can’t tell you how thrilled I am. Especially after ringing a sewing machine engineer and them waxing lyrical that they don’t make them anymore etc etc! and not acknowledging anything about the capacitor sending it mad!!! This Singer 90 has such sentimental value to me as it was my late mums and sews so well!! Have also been told that my 20 year old Bernina isn’t worth mending! Not so sure I believe them!!! Thanks again Sue👍🏼👏👏👏

This helped me so much! my machine now runs so much more smoothly. Thank you!!!

This video was a life saver... As you said, I just removed the old capacitor and the pedal came back from the dead ...Thanx a lot!!!!

Brilliant explanation.....foot pedal had a mind of its own, following your explanation I ditched the capacitor now machine works perfectly!

Thank you so much! It solved my problem. Almost had a heart attack when my machine suddenly started running on its own at full speed! I would have never thought this little thing could cause such trouble :-)

Brilliant video. My 201K took off on its own this evening, so I’ve removed the capacitor following your video and all is well again 👍

Many thanks for this brilliant video! The instructions were given clearly and with great care. A well-prepared video for all of us in need of your expertise. Today, my 55-year-old Singer 317 sewing machine suddenly started working in an out-of-control fashion all on its own. The foot pedal was hot and giving off a pungent electrical smell. I saw this video; opened up the foot pedal; removed the 'deep fried' capacitor; screwed the foot pedal back together and my sewing machine is working perfectly. I'm so pleased. You've saved me time, trouble and money. Huge thanks for your excellent instructions.

Great job showing every detail, you saved me from having to buy a new footpedal. Thank you so much!

I come back to this video again and again to freshen up my memory. Excellent explanation and video. I’m on my 5th pedal resto now and very much appreciate your guidance. It makes a tremendous difference in the operation of the machine. Smoother, quieter and more responsive. Especially at slower speeds. Thanks a million brother!

Great help!! My 1953 Singers machine pedal literally started smoking last night. The smell of bakolite will be forevermore !! Followed your video, start to finish and now works better than it has in years. Many thanks for your time and effort in helping us all.

It is great to have a UK- based familiar expert showing us step by step videos of sewing machine repairs. There are a number of very good US based sites, but it's good to have you showing us through UK/IRL machines. Keep up the excellent work, Curio! From an avid follower in Ireland.

Thank you so much for doing this .I had given up but now you've given me hope.

Thank you sooo much for this tutorial! I just serviced my foot pedal and it works perfectly 👏🏻

Thank you thank you thank you for uploading this! My sister got an old singer and it started sewing on its own literally 1 day after she got it. She was extremely upset when she couldn't fix it, but then we found your video, and now she fixed the pedal all on her own! We danced around the living room with joy, it absolutely made her day! Thank you again!

Fixed it by taking out the condenser, no one had a clue...top advice. Keep it up! Greetings from Croatia

Well done video. Very clear step-by-step instructions. I've just spent 4 hours looking on line and making calls for screws for the foot pedal to no avail. It would have been nice to see a picture of the screws. Off to the hardware store. I take the one reaming screw with me knowing that I'll be able to reassemble the foot pedal even with one screw.

Many thanks for this, it is so clear and detailed. As you say the caps are so cheap I tend to replace them as they do still stop RF interference getting to your radio - especially on MW and LW. Never knew you could take the carbon stack apart this simply.

Really well explained and thorough, best I have seen. I believe the fiber washers are asbestos, use care in handling.

Brilliant. I thought my Mum's old Singer would have to be scrapped because of the faulty foot pedal, but now it's working as new again. My wife is delighted as she can now continue her projects while her own new machine is away at the repairers (can't fix those at home!)

I just got my new to me Feather Weight home to find it running all by its self. I was advised to take it to get the wiring checked... BUT .... I FOUND YOU. Thank you very much, it was just the capacitor. Working like a dream. new sub.

The best repair instruction video I've ever watched on RU-vid. The instruction is very clear, methodical, and thorough. Thank you!

Brilliant! I 'inherited' the sewing machine 20 years ago and could never use it because it ran on its own. I have removed the capacitor from the pedal and it is running properly now. Thank you so much!

That is a really excellent video. I have a foot control that goes to full speed with no control other than on and off! I will certainly use these instructions.

Thank you so much for this video. Like some of the other commentators, I was really surprised when the sewing machine started on its own. This is a brilliant video.

My daughter wanted to start using my mother's old sewing machine today. Got it out and it worked fine for a few minutes before the "running on its own" problem started. Hadn't yet seen your video, so opened the controller (mercifully, the feet were in better condition than on the one in your vid!). Thought "Hmm, wonder if the capacitor has short-circuited?" disconnected it and measured about 7 Ohm, which is as good as a short circuit. Machine ran perfectly without, but I was left thinking "Maybe the capacitor is essential in some way" so went online to find somewhere to buy one and fortunately came across your vid, explaining that I didn't need it, so you've made both me and my daughter very happy! We've arranged that she just won't sew when I'm listening on shortwave :-D

Thank you sooooooo much. My machine started running slowly and jerkily. The pedal capacitor had already been removed but I stripped and cleaned the pedal following your instructions not knowing if it would work. Three hours later it's running properly again. Your video is fantastically clear and your voice and the music are so soothing!

Thank you Sr. I have a Singer vintage 201. The pedal has to be rewired and clean up. With your explanations now I know how to do.

What a brilliant video I purchased an old Singer 99k today and the foot pedal would not stop the machine I found you on You Tube and followed your instructions. It works perfect now Thank you so much love my old machine

Extremely useful. Glad I found this. Thank you!

This is absolutely amazing!!!! I did mine tonight. The pedal now gives heaps more control even at low speeds!!! Thank you so much for sharing !

Great video...very clearly spoken and easy to follow. Made cleaning this foot control simple for me, otherwise it would have been a complete cluster. Cheers Curio.

Absolutley fantastic - removed capacitor and machine working beautifully again. Have been in touch with Singer as feel this should have been their first bit of advice given its simplicity. Have now also got your link in my favourites. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

You really pleased a lot of troubled Singer machine users. Excellent video. Mine started running by itself, at first slowly and now at full speed. It happened after I oiled the machine and thought maybe some oil had gone inside the motor and short circuited the contacts. It seems it may be the capacitor in the foot pedal that has slowly decayed. So, if removing the capacitor fixes the problem why did they place a capacitor there in the first place? OOOps... you answered this question in your video. Electric noise suppression for the old TVs and radios... Thanks

Thank you!!! I was confident to go through the cleaning process because of this video. 76 carbon disks in each stack! Kind of a bear to adjust afterwards, but it is done!

Absolutely brilliant. I have just followed your video and restored my motherinlaws Singer which was just speeding the moment you put the power on. Foot pedal now works Many thanks A great video Neil Kennedy

I have several machines with this foot control. Thank you for your clear instructions! Im inspired. 😊

Thank you for posting this video. Just did this today.

Thank you for an excellent tutorial. Yes, it was my capacitor that was the problem - thanks to you, problem solved. I've saved time and money, and feel like I know a lot moe about how my pedal works too.

Thank you so so so so so so soooooooooooooooooo much, I got same machine as yours, it was not switching on I checked the plug i noticed the wires are misplaced but I wasn't really idea how to fix it, I struggled for an hour but it's no result, then I open the you tube and open your video and in really start of video I found the solution of my problem thanx alot sir thank you sooooooo much

Just what I needed! Thank you!

Great exposition of this procedure.

Excellent video! Thanks so much for putting it together. Machine is running better now after following the steps. A few of the discs were broken and a lot of carbon dust on the contacts making it hard to control the needle speed. Still not perfect but a good improvement.

Thank so much for a clear and invaluable video, best thing I have watched in a while. Better yet my peddle works and it did not cost a Penny to repair. You are a legend.

A clear and well made tutorial thank you.

Excellent video, just what I was looking for.

Thank you so much, you sir are a gentleman and a scholar!

Wonderful! Solved the problem straight away. Thank you 😊

Very clear instructions, I bought a 221 and the foot pedal went like a rocket 😕 I tried to get a replacement but couldn't find an original singer one so haven't been able to use it ! But I might be able to repair it with the help of your video 😊👍💖 Thankyou for your kindness in sharing your excellent knowledge.

Thanks so much for this wonderful video I followed your instructions and were able to repair my foot pedal

Thank you thank you very much just got my machine working again excellent video keep up the good work

Hi Thanks for a lovely clear video. I just purchased a lovely 1955 electric 99k with box case and extra feet original screwdrivers etc for £10. Ladie seller said the pedal doesn't work so I copied your video and machine still doesn't work lol. I will subscribe to your channel for your nice clear video's. Thanks

I thought the cat sat on the pedal when the machine started to run slowly without me pressing the pedal. Then I saw the smoke and pulled out the cord. It doesn't look exactly the same as yours but I hope it too contains a capacitor that I can simply remove. Thanks for a very informative video.

Great presentation! Thanks.

Mate you are my Hero!!!!!!!!

obrigado...excelente video...cumprimentos de Portugal...

great VERY helpfull Thanks

Thanks a lot. You are very patient. They are differentt in Brasil. :(

Thank you very much.

I LOVE YOU WILL YOU MARRY ME? I looked at the price of replacement pedals and asked myself, "Do you really need curtains after all?" I'm so glad I kept googling. The ghost has left the machine.

Thank you for this video! It was very clear, thorough and easy to follow. My Singer 348 is almost in tip-top condition again. However now I cant seem to get it to run on a slow pace. It only goes fast no matter how gently I try to use the pedal. Do you think greasing the mechanical portion of the pedal with a bit of vaseline would help?

Great video thank you, I found it very helpful, so well explained. I took my pedal apart to check it, and noticed the two brass contacts had snapped off. But they can only make contact when button is fully pressed down, which I rarely do, so are they necessary? as pedal still works!

Thank you.

For safety fit new mains plug, with black coating on brass that go into mains socket. Old type plugs not fitted from about 25 years ago.

Thank you for this! My machine runs fine but noticed the petal squeaks a little. Can I oil without disassembling the ceramic housing? Would that help?

Love your video. I cleaned my pedal like instructed, but it still overheats. Any idea why? I did change the old cable with a new one.

Great instructions, ready to get going but I need to replace the 4 rubber feet as these have perished - any ideas of where to purchase in the UK now we have exited EU?

Would this help with a 201-2 that is running slow. Rewired the two motor leads to the 3 prong block and rewired the pedal. The light cubes on, machine runs but slow. The machine has been cleaned and liberated. Could this part of the pedal be part of the issue? Thx. Great video.

Hallo! Thanks this has helped me tremendously with a clam-shell pedal! I have a question - the inner carbon discs of my stack are fine but the two large end pieces have crumbled away. Any advice of how to get hold of replacements? I'm in the UK. Feel it would be a shame to chuck the pedal if it can be prevented

Thank you for an excellent tutorial. Question: What is a RCD?

Is there any way to restore the old brittle wire covers? Everything else on the old machine is workable but not sure about using it with the exposed wires. I could use electric tape but I really want it to look nice.

I've just done mine and its working much better. Curiously, the thicker carbon disk was not present on one side - neither whole nor in pieces. I ended up with 54 + a thick one in one stack, and 56 in the other stack. How many disks is too-few ?

Useful video, but in my case the ceramic disks in the carbon stack were so brittle they broke if you just looked at them the wrong way! Nobody seems to have replacements so I guess the unit is trash. 😢

Hello do you have any idea where I can find the knob for pressing on the pedal? Want to restore mine, would be thankful for any information on it

Hi thanks for the tutorial I removed both capacitors but the machine still runs on its own when plugged in! Any advice please? Thanks

What a great video, thank you! I have one of these pedals and it is making crackling and popping noises. Do you think that this type of restoration would solve the problem?

Can you order the inside which is the white piece on your video

If there is smoke from the foot pedal, you only need to replace the capacitor. I have a singer sewing machine 316g. The foot pedal on the singer sewing machine 316g has a capacitor of 0.08uF installed. But another pedal has 0.05uF inserted. Simply buy the 0.05uF from the eBay repair kit and connect it to go.

Very helpful, thank you. My plug had a 13 A fuse, but the plug on the outside says "13 AMP". Just wondering why it would be a problem in this case (in a 1956 later version 201K)?

Please tell me where I can bring this

Thank you for a excellent video I have learnt so much from you and the four other videos you have done that I've watched up to now you get strait to the point instead of waffling on Lol, I wonder if you can help me? do you know any where in England that I can buy Grease wicks for Singer 221k motor? I have seen only one seller on eBay in the USA that want £2.50p for the wicks and £18😡 posting which I think is taking the Micky, please can you help me? Thank you again I will definitely carry on watching your videos

Hi, where did you get the new feet rubbers?

When can you tell if the inside of your controller is bad, when I opened my up the white part it had black powder all over the pieces. I took it apart be used it popped and started smoking

Karin Buttigieg Does one have to replace the plaster over the screws on the ceramic part? Also, I read that the white washers may be asbestos. Do you have any information on that? If yes, one should be very careful handling them.

In Brazil, these SINGER pedal models do not use capacitors internally. Singer do Brasil did not install them on our Singer sewing machine pedals. I can't say why they weren't used here.

Is there any problem with speed control even if the condenser is removed from the footrest? And There are also sloping stools that have only the shape of the feet. There is a little big capacitor in the footboard. Can I remove it? (The capacitor contains 0.08uF. Can I remove this as well.)

Hi Tony I know this is an old video now and I found it very informative as I have one of these to repair so I was doing some research. However, I must ask that you do not advise people to leave out the suppressor filter capacitors. They are there for a reason and should be replaced. Its not only Analogue TV that they would interfere with, its also the whole of the AM broadcast Band, Amateur Radio frequencies, Aeronautical Beacons in the LF spectrum etc etc. There is enough issue with pollution of the RF spectrrum from PSTN and ADSL noise as well as cheap chinese unfiltered switch mode power supplies without adding to it by removing suppression and effectively turning the motor into a spark Transmitter which will spatter all over the RF spectrum. I do not make these comments lightly, I do so as an Electrical Consultant, Licenced Radio Operator and RSGB Registered Assessor with experience of these things. The suppressors are cheap enough so please use them and help to keep interference to a minimum. Many Thanks.

I have enjoyed your viseoxxx see

Thank you so much for your video. I'm wondering if you can advise me. I have been trying to fix a pedal that has no variable speed and is just acting as an on-off switch. The first attempt with cleaning the dirt, grime, carbon dust and contacts did not solve the problem. Then I followed your video and opened up the ceramic housing. I cleaned the carbon discs inside the stacks. They were very dirty but not broken. There were 56 on one side and 54 on the other. I evened these out and cleaned and polished the contacts and put it all back together. Still functioning as an on-off switch. So then I played with the adjustment of the depth of the spring/contacts into the ceramic housing. I tried flush, 1/8 deep and 1/4 inch deep. Still the machine does not go on until the spring is fully depressed and the carbon stacks bypassed entirely. In other words still no speed control. Any thoughts or advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks again for your wonderful videos!

we have a singer model 377 that started to smoke from the foot pedal, when stripped it was the capacitor that had gone, it was replaced with a new one and within minutes did the same, so you say it doesn't need the capacitor, but to blow it twice surely must mean their is a problem with the machine?

Thanks for this wonderful video a friend gave me an old sewing machine singer 317 which she inherited from her Aunt i thought it wasn't working i tried after sometime it just start by itself thought its a ghost😅

First : thank you for you video but a strange thing happens at the start of video. LOL. From the second phrase "i'm going to strip clean" the translation of automatic translator in french is "i'm going to take my cothes off" ;-) ) c'mon man. Go go go ;D

Just bought 401g - how are you supposed to use this pedal ?

Why didn't you buy a new capacitor and connect it? And the location of the capacitor connected to the foot pedal for the first time and the location of the capacitor shown in the'Repair kit for' picture are different. Is the capacitor connection shown in'Repair kit for' connected in parallel?

WONDERFUL! May I ask…what is RCD?

I followed this video to a T...other than removing the capacitor because it was already removed. After doing everything shown, my foot pedal still has very little speed control. When the bottom is first depressed, the machine makes a hum but the needle doesn't move. Then out of nowhere it takes off. I would really like to keep the original pedal but if I can't see with it, it doesn't do much good. Any idea on how to adjust this?

I usually replace with electronic pedal. He has way more patience than me!

Could you advise me of a supplier of the rubber that goes over the cable as it enters the foot pedal and enters the power plug that goes into the machine. I am in the UK and have just got hold of a 306 but the those pieces of rubber have perished and I need to replace them. Thank you! Love your videos by the way: they are so helpful and you are such a good teacher.

Muchas gracias por toda la explicación pero tengo una pregunta si él pedal no tiene ese capasitor que puede pasar muchas gracias

Thanks! Capacitor gone in mine and nearly bought the eBay scam repair kit!

If you wanted to replace the capacitor, what value please ? I can’t easily read mine … how many microfarad please