Singer Sewing Machines pre-date the era when electricity was commonplace in every home which lead to a lot of variations in the wiring design of the vintage Singer machines. While researching these quirks can be a lot of fun, we are only here to discuss one variation today. The difference between cabinet models and portable models on machines that are equipped with Singer classic 3 prong terminal block #192797.
If you do not have one of these on the side of your machine, then this post will not apply to your machine. If you do have one of these, read on to see your options.
Cabinet Models are wired so the foot control/knee control is permanently connected to the machine. This is often wired through the lift assist filler plate on the side of the machine making it seem difficult to remove the machine from the cabinet that it is in.
We see a lot of machines that were originally wired this way for a cabinet, but have since been moved into a portable case. While this works just fine, the down side is that it can be a bit awkward having that controller flopping around as you are already trying to move a heavy machine around.
Portable Models are wired so the foot control is wired to the power cord side in a “Double or Dual Lead Cord”. This means you can easily unplug the foot control with the power cord and wind them up for transport.
Because the wiring is attached to the back of this block via thumb nuts, this block is interchangeable between wiring choices.
The plug on the other side of that block is different however. This terminal comes in two versions. The power only plug has a smaller oval hole to accommodate the single power wire, while the dual lead version has a larger round hole to allow room for both wires to pass through. Either of these are suitable for our Rewire Services.
Modern replacement plugs with molded cords are available in either configuration.
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