Janome Sewing Machine Manual Decor Excel 5018
I found a mechanical Janome Decor Excel 5018 for $9.99 at a thrift store. It appears to be in near perfect condition.
Janome Sewing Machine Manual
I was surprised to see it was originally sold by dealers and is currently being sold for over $500 on sale in Canada. It is a discontinued, sturdy little mid-level machine and my first ever (except for one I bought new and gave a student).modern. mechanical. The manual I have says explicitly NOT to dismantle it further than cleaning the bobbin case and feed-dogs. It also says the machine NEVER needs oiling. There is of course the oiling felt hole under the bobbin case which I oiled.
I oiled what I could with the needlebar area. Why would the say: 'Do not dismantle the machine other than explained on this page.' It's a mechanical machine with gears and all that, so Is there any real reason I can't take the front off? I would like to get in there and check it out, but not if it will break something. There should be a reason the warning is there. In the past I've read that some of you might take such a machine apart anyway as it logically needs oil and maintenance. Everything appears to have real screws and nothing hex.
Hmmm it's not broken and I hate to mess it up, but am curious why they would say that? They wouldn't use oil impregnated metal (sintered) in these? Any thoughts appreciated. Edited on 1/23/15 at 8:24 PM. Ok, just guessing here, but it looks similar to my janome 6019. A repairman told me you don't need to open these 'clamshell' machines for cleaning or normal maintenance because the design is such that everything stays very nice and clean inside. It may also be self oiling, though I don't actually remember how that works.
Hello Kitty Janome Sewing Machine Manual
I once opened up a different machine (Bernina serger) and didn't put it back together properly somehow and it didn't work right after that. I still don't know what I did, but I had to take it apart and put it back together a few times before it was back to normal. All this to say that you probably have a very nice machine there, so try to resist the temptation to take it apart if it is not necessary. If something goes wrong, well then, go for it. From what little I can see peering into any exposed works, it is very clean. There was a teeny tiny bit of lint in the feed dogs and a little glue on the spool pins from the labels on the spools of thread as the only indicators of use.
As far as wrong with it - the little screw on adaptor on the needle bar that holds snap on feet, doesn't want to snap onto the bars of the presser feet as easily as I'm used to, and the bobbin winds OK but slightly full on one side, so I'll have to adjust that.:) I only have one other modern machine so it's a little different than what I usually work with.