Getting a “tingly” feeling from your vintage sewing machine?

Posted on by Teresa

No seriously.

You’re not imagining things.

I recently pulled out Jane, a 1935 Singer Featherweight, and experienced a slight tingly feeling as I started to sew. After a few minutes, I swapped out the foot pedal/power cord to another modern one. Same thing happened again. Concerned, I set the machine aside, thinking something was wrong with the electrical wiring.

Later on, I researched possible causes and solutions to my tingly problem. Taking Jane to see Mr. Marc – the local sewing machine repair guy – is my last resort. I wanted to try to fix it myself first. You see, Jane has been my learning machine. Last year, I took her apart and put her back together at a Sew Purty Workshop. About the only thing I haven’t redone is to rewire the machine (because it didn’t need it).

VSM discussion boards suggested that re-inserting the plug the opposite way might solve the tingly problem, (look under October 2012 heading) but I needed to use a voltage meter to test the circuit to be absolutely sure. Could not quickly locate hubby’s voltage meter, so I went to HD to pick up an inexpensive pen-like voltage meter to keep in my sewing machine tool box.

Result: Turning the plug corrected the circuit and no more tingly feeling. Just for fun, I turned the plug back the wrong way. The voltage reader showed red all over the machine. Every metal surface of my sewing machine was now live and conducting a small amount of electricity. Once I flipped the plug the opposite way, everything was green again. If the voltage tester remains red regardless of which way I insert the plug, this means the machine has electrical issues that need to be addressed. Just to confirm what I’d learned, I repeated this process with a second power cord and again with my Singer 301A. Same exact thing happened each time.

Huh, what? I’m no electrician, but let’s see if I can explain.
Modern electrical plugs have one blade slightly longer/wider than the other. It’s a safety feature. This helps you know which way to insert the plug into the outlet to help keep things grounded properly. Vintage power cords and their replicas typically have two prongs that look identical, even though one side is still wired to function as the “grounded” (i.e. wider/longer blade) side. Keep in mind, however, that your machine will still work with a vintage/replica power cord regardless of the way the plug is inserted. That tingly feeling or your voltage meter will be the only way to know if you’ve inserted it correctly. Hint: Place a sticker or make a mark on the side of the plug that that has the “grounded” blade, so you’ll always know which to insert your plug to avoid that tingly feeling.