Kenmore Sewing Machine Frozen Stretch Stitch Regulator Repair
Kenmore zigzag sewing machines often sew beautiful decorative stitches, especially with cams. Sometimes, these decorative stitches won't stitch properly, either making too long of a stitch, or too short of a stitch.
To make it easy to fix these issues, the manufacturers added a stretch stitch (reverse stitches, two stitches forward, one stitch back, repeated) regulator dial, or lever, sometimes it is located on the rear of the sewing machine, at the top, other times, it is on the front of the machine, on a dial.
Kenmore 1753 stitch modifier control
To make it easy to fix these issues, the manufacturers added a stretch stitch (reverse stitches, two stitches forward, one stitch back, repeated) regulator dial, or lever, sometimes it is located on the rear of the sewing machine, at the top, other times, it is on the front of the machine, on a dial.
Kenmore 96 stitch modifier
The stitch regulator will either have a +/- on, or near it, or it will say S-M-L, for Short, Medium, Long (not small, medium, large), and controls how much extra reverse stitch length is added to each of these stretch stitches.
Kenmore 96 stitch modifier
Sometimes, these dials become frozen, and either won't turn at all, or the dial will turn, the rod inside it, will not, so it won't actually make any adjustments, despite what the selector seems to indicate.
To remedy this issue, I take a Qtip dipped in rubbing alcohol, and gently clean the metal parts on the inside, and remove the grub screw from the outer dial, so the outer dial can be removed, so the rod going through the wall of the machine, can be cleaned and freed up. I alternate adding sewing machine oil, and cleaning the old oil off, and gently trying to turn the rod, until it is freed, then add new oil, and put it back together.
158.17530 stitch regulator on back of machine. Rod through machine wall was frozen, dial lever bushing turned, but rod did not, due to dried oil. This rod is completely round, does not have a flat spot for grub screw to gain better purchase. Loosen grub screw to remove dial, then dip Qtip in rubbing alcohol, or odorless kerosene, and clean rod through wall of machine, add a drop or two sewing machine oil, or Tri Flow oil, wrap rod in a rag, or protective rubber, grip with pliers, or lock grip pliers, and gently work it, turning it 1/8" to 1/4" each direction. Clean again, oil, and replace dial knob, tightening grub screw. Test, to be sure you have it correctly adjusted, it needs to turn both directions, equally. Sew test stretch or decorative reverse stitches, adjusting knob by loosening grub screw, turn dial, tighten screw, if you didn't get it right the first time.
Test to make sure the adjuster is working properly, by sewing a few different stretch stitches, and see if the stitches can be made shorter, or longer, based on the adjustments.
I originally made a video for a fellow vintage Kenmore sewing machine enthusiast, in a Facebook group, to help her see how these mechanisms worked, so she knew how to free up the one in her machine, but realized this information is helpful for anyone working on these vintage sewing machines.
Kenmore 1802 stretch stitch modifier needs reverse pivoting cam follower freed up, or it gets stuck sewing only in reverse, or only forward.
Reverse lever on 1603, 1703, 1803, 1818, and similar models, develops a sticky problem, where it pivots, so after cleaning with rubbing alcohol, did not free it up, I used WD40 as a penetrating solvent, immediately followed by Tri Flow oil. The WD40 MUST be removed, once the old sticky oil is dissolved, or it will break down to a sticky waxy mess, over time. Use pressurized air, to blow it out, or flush it out, with sewing machine oil, or TriFlow oil, then wipe up all excess oils, and test to ensure reverse lever is freed up.
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The stitch regulator will either have a +/- on, or near it, or it will say S-M-L, for Short, Medium, Long (not small, medium, large), and controls how much extra reverse stitch length is added to each of these stretch stitches.
Kenmore 96 stitch modifier
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| Kenmore 96 (158.960) stitch regulator mechanism inside the back of the machine. The dial for the 96 is on the back of the machine. The rod through the 96 back wall does have a flat spot for the grub screw to grip, so it is easier to replace the knob lever in the correct position, after cleaning, without needing to make adjustments, than the 1753 (158.17530 ), with the completely round rod. |
Sometimes, these dials become frozen, and either won't turn at all, or the dial will turn, the rod inside it, will not, so it won't actually make any adjustments, despite what the selector seems to indicate.
To remedy this issue, I take a Qtip dipped in rubbing alcohol, and gently clean the metal parts on the inside, and remove the grub screw from the outer dial, so the outer dial can be removed, so the rod going through the wall of the machine, can be cleaned and freed up. I alternate adding sewing machine oil, and cleaning the old oil off, and gently trying to turn the rod, until it is freed, then add new oil, and put it back together.
158.17530 stitch regulator on back of machine. Rod through machine wall was frozen, dial lever bushing turned, but rod did not, due to dried oil. This rod is completely round, does not have a flat spot for grub screw to gain better purchase. Loosen grub screw to remove dial, then dip Qtip in rubbing alcohol, or odorless kerosene, and clean rod through wall of machine, add a drop or two sewing machine oil, or Tri Flow oil, wrap rod in a rag, or protective rubber, grip with pliers, or lock grip pliers, and gently work it, turning it 1/8" to 1/4" each direction. Clean again, oil, and replace dial knob, tightening grub screw. Test, to be sure you have it correctly adjusted, it needs to turn both directions, equally. Sew test stretch or decorative reverse stitches, adjusting knob by loosening grub screw, turn dial, tighten screw, if you didn't get it right the first time.
Test to make sure the adjuster is working properly, by sewing a few different stretch stitches, and see if the stitches can be made shorter, or longer, based on the adjustments.
I originally made a video for a fellow vintage Kenmore sewing machine enthusiast, in a Facebook group, to help her see how these mechanisms worked, so she knew how to free up the one in her machine, but realized this information is helpful for anyone working on these vintage sewing machines.
