Kenmore 158 ? - About to Buy? What to look for/inspect? Manuals? Maintenance Procedures?

[-c0de-]

So... After messing with my wife's Brother CS6000i, and it strictly being a light-duty sewing machine and giving me issues with multiple fabric layers, I have decided that I would find a heavy duty machine to use.

Lo and behold, I have found a Kenmore Heavy-Duty Sewing Machine Model 158.13200

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Here is my question: How can I check to make sure it's fully functional, or whether the person selling it has a lemon? The person says that he ran some thread and cloth through it and it appeared to work fine. Condition of the unit is supposedly in good condition, especially considering the age. Granted, this thing is only being sold for $25, but I want to avoid my wife giving me grief if it turned out to be a dud.

Also, does anyone have a manual for this machine? I haven't looked on Google yet, as I wanted to try and get some info before I meet up to see the machine in a few hours.

Plus, does anyone have the maintenance procedures for these machine? Knowing those might also give me some things to look at and inspect.

Thanks~!

c0de


EDIT: I bit the bullet and bought the machine. It was actually in great shape, and as far as I can tell it is 100% functional. It was purchased from an estate sale, along with 4 other sewing machines. The internals look good, but I still plan on stripping it down and giving it a good cleaning and lube job. There is some fine thread debris on some of the parts, as would be expected. The foot pedal is in great shape as well, and it ran just fine at full speed without issue.

I also could not find the actual manual for this version of the Kenmore 158, so I went ahead and bought both the user manual and the service manual if anyone needs them.

These manuals are good for the Kenmore 158.1320, 13200, and 13201

[Rifleman]

My advice is to take some material and thread that you intend to sew and give it a whirl. The machine appears to be well taken care of and free of obvious damage. You should look at the wiring and motor to see that they are not melted or appear to have a short. Running the machine will tell you most of what you need to know(ie timing, etc.) I am anxious to hear what the "thread injector gurus" have to say too.

[-c0de-]

My advice is to take some material and thread that you intend to sew and give it a whirl. The machine appears to be well taken care of and free of obvious damage. You should look at the wiring and motor to see that they are not melted or appear to have a short. Running the machine will tell you most of what you need to know(ie timing, etc.) I am anxious to hear what the "thread injector gurus" have to say too.

Yeah... this was more of a "lunch-time" browsing of Craigslist for some other materials, and the thought of looking up sewing machines hit me. I'll have to look around for some fabric here at work (most likely wont have anything), but the guy selling it said we could run some stitches.

I do have a packing blanket in my car... i suppose that would let me know how heavy duty this thing really is. Run a stitch or two through it as a single layer, and then doubled over. That would be pretty darn thick material.

[Countrybois]

Yeah... this was more of a "lunch-time" browsing of Craigslist for some other materials, and the thought of looking up sewing machines hit me. I'll have to look around for some fabric here at work (most likely wont have anything), but the guy selling it said we could run some stitches.

I do have a packing blanket in my car... i suppose that would let me know how heavy duty this thing really is. Run a stitch or two through it as a single layer, and then doubled over. That would be pretty darn thick material.

Just realize that many of these older machines are gummed up from sitting with no use. The old oil solidifies and can significantly slow, or stop, some of the functionality. I just recently went over a Kenmore just like that. The feed dogs were froze due to said solidifying. Took a little help from a hair dryer to free it up. Relubed it all and I gave it to a friend of my wife who sews a lot. She loves it! Seemed very solid to me, quiet and smooth.

Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

[-c0de-]

Just realize that many of these older machines are gummed up from sitting with no use. The old oil solidifies and can significantly slow, or stop, some of the functionality. I just recently went over a Kenmore just like that. The feed dogs were froze due to said solidifying. Took a little help from a hair dryer to free it up. Relubed it all and I gave it to a friend of my wife who sews a lot. She loves it! Seemed very solid to me, quiet and smooth.

Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tip about any gumming. did you just use a regular sewing/machine oil, or did you also use any grease for any of the parts?

[Countrybois]

Grease on gears, oil on everything else. Go easy.

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[-c0de-]

Grease on gears, oil on everything else. Go easy.

Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

Gear grease brand recommendation?

[Countrybois]

Tri-Flow. Their grease and oil are great!

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[Countrybois]

If you can't find a manual,or what you need online, I can probably get what you need. That machine I went through had the original manual.

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[-c0de-]

If you can't find a manual,or what you need online, I can probably get what you need. That machine I went through had the original manual.

Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

I'll reach out and let you know. So far, what I am finding online, is for other 158 series machines, but I am hoping that the internals are close enough that it will at least work enough to let me get it up and running.