Bernina 800D Serger Frozen, to FIXED!
Bernina 800D Serger
 |
| Bernina 800D after deep cleaning, oiling, and retiming, with stitch samples. The white thread was the chainstitch still in the serger, when I purchased it, which told me that it had been working properly, when it was left with the needles in the lowest position, then left unused, for years. Usually, the secret to whether a serger is going to be fixable, is - did it have a thread chain still attached, even if the thread cones were no longer present? If it did, it is more likely to be fixable. |
VIDEO TUTORIAL LINKS
 |
| After repairs and oiling, test stitching, shown with 4 different colors of threads, shows that it works correctly, that the timing is right. Note, I had not put the front door back on, after timing it, when I sewed this stitch sample, and took this photo. I did put the door back on, afterwards. |
My hubby helps me fix sewing machines and sergers, it is the only reason I have been able to have good sewing machines, sergers, coverstitch that I couldn't otherwise afford!
 |
| Lint is the enemy of sergers, left inside your serger, especially if you live in a humid environment, it will cause rust to form. Lint absorbs the oil and lubricants from the metal, and then holds moisture it absorbs from the atmosphere, causing rust. Time, of course, also causes the old oil to dry up, and turn into a lacquer, or glue, which can also freeze your sergers and sewing machines, into solid blocks of metal. This isn't actually a large amount of lint, it looks so nasty, due to the rust! |
These are photos of the Bernina 800D serger, with all of the plastic covers stripped off, it shows you the MANY inner working parts, which require oiling, to keep it running for years. There are 2 separate videos, showing the inner metal parts.
Normal serger manuals do not give you instructions for a deep oiling, like you would normally pay a service technician to perform for you. Some techs charge $100 to $200 for this kind of a service, but considering the hours that can go into cleaning and fixing a machine in this deplorable condition, is definitely worth it!
Notice that while this serger was assembled in China, for Bernina, it is all metal mechanical working parts, inside. Plastic is only used on the exterior of the serger.
After deep cleaning, repair, and oiling, I show a video of me serging with it, showing that it is correctly timed.
 |
| This photo is after hours of cleaning! PB Blaster (beware, I had breathing problems using PB Blaster, so use what you know is safe for YOU) is what I finally had to use to clean off the majority of the rust, but then I had to remove THAT, and oil it, run it, to help work the oil into the moving parts which need it. Several cycles of cleaning, oiling, running, cleaning, oiling, running, eventually had it running very smoothly, despite some remaining visible minor rust markings. (North Carolina has high humidity, so it is important to oil metal parts regularly, and run the machine, periodically, to keep it functional, if possible. |
 |
| Upper looper bearing was frozen solid, so we had to remove the timing screw underneath the lowest point of the upper looper, but it still wouldn't budge, even after hours of soaking with TriFlow oil, cleaning, and soaking, using PB Blaster! My hubby, Rick, a college trained mechanic, recommended it, and used a C clamp to carefully, gently, force the upper looper up through the pivoting bearing, so I could clean off the rust and dried oil. Notice, that with the front door cover removed, and the plastic bottom covers, we could fit the C clamp through the opening in the frame of the serger, to screw the clamp so it could push the upper looper, up from the bottom, by slowly turning the screw on the C clamp. |
 |
| Rick sprayed PB Blaster into a spare lid, for me to dip my Qtips in, to apply it to all the rusty, frozen parts |
 |
| Even with the pliers, and a rubber protective cover, I could not get any movement out of this serger, unril we did a thorough cleaning and oiling. |
 |
| Rust often forms where old lint sucks all the oil out of the metal, a good reason to CLEAN YOUR SERGER, after sewing, before storing your serger for long periods of time. |
 |
| This Bernina 800D serger needed a new light bulb, of the narrow base screw in type. |
 |
| Side view of lint buildup |
 |
| Front view of serger as we received it |
 |
| Rear view of dirty serger, as we purchased it |
 |
| Simple Green and paper towels allowed me to clean most of the outside of the serger. The differential feed adjustments, stitch length adjustments and stitch width adjustments were all functional, despite the main linkage of the machine being frozen, along with the needlebar bearings and the upper looper bearings. |
 |
| This is after a lot of cleaning and oiling. We ran the serger for several minutes, to help work the oil in, then cleaned off more rust, and dry oil, then oiled again, to try and remove as much rust as possible, and to allow oil to get into all of the working, moving parts. |
| With many used machines just need lint and thread cleaned out, dried oil, small amounts of rust (if any), and then oil the serger. I sometimes have to replace light bulbs, belts, electrical cords and pedals, but because we had to take the upper looper out of timing, in order to free it. Once everything is unfrozen, and oiled, we need to TIME the needles and loopers, with each other, on the the serger. Timing is all about the needles and loopers carrying their thread to the exact right position, at the right time, to create stitches on the stitch fingers, and fabric. Stitch fingers are part of the needleplate, which the needles and loopers form the stitches on, and attach it to the fabric.
|
Bernina 800D Serger, from frozen, to fixed! (NOTE- I am NOT a professional sewing machine mechanic, I am a hobbyist, so please use your own judgement in following my blogposts and videos of fixing my sewing machines and sergers.)
Oil isn't always enough, to free up a completely frozen serger. Because there are so many functions, which need to happen simultaneously, when a serger is allowed to sit for years, or decades, without being used, especially in a non temperature controlled environment, like a barn, shed, or storage building, for years, or decades, the bare metal mechanical linkages can rust in place, as well as the oil drying out, becoming a lacquer glue.
It takes penetrating fluids, and proper oils to remove the dry sticky oil. I mostly use rubbing alcohol as my solvent, and TriFlow oil, or sewing machine oil, as the lubricants to get metal moving against, and through metal.
Alex Askaroff, one of my online vintage sewing machine collector buddies, made a YouTube video, explaining that the needlebar bearings, and the upper looper bearing, are the parts which usually seize up, and those indeed, were the main sticking points, preventing this Bernina 800D serger from working at all.
Worse, the needles were in the lowest position, so it prevented me from removing the front cover, to be able to unfreeze the needlebar, despite adding oil, and even WD40 (which I don't usually use, unless oil doesn't free mechanical parts)!
I had to have my husband loosen some of the tightest screws, which included the needleplate screws, and the upper looper timing screw, because the upper looper bearing seemed to be the most solidly frozen part. He had me clean rust off, with
PB Blaster, which I've never used before, he sprayed some in a lid, so I could dip the Qtips in it, to apply to all the rusty points. PB Blaster does an excellent job removing rust!
We finally resorted to using a C clamp, to slowly get the upper looper moving, after loosening the timing screw. The C clamp was a safe way to slowly move the upper looper rod, through the pivoting bearing, enough that I could begin clearing out the old sticky oil, and finish removing the front of the serger. The upper looper bearing was one of the most frozen parts. I continued cleaning with PB Blaster, then cleaned that off, with TriFlow Oil.
I repeated the the cleaning process on the needlebar, it has two bearings that the needlebar must slide through, to create every stitch. The main mechanical parts are all metal, steel, brass, and stainless steel, so clean off as much rust (if any), and old sticky oil, as possible, before adding fresh sewing machine oil, or TriFlow oil.
