Cleaning and oiling the Bernina 8 Series machines

If you’re used to the Artista line of Bernina’s, getting used to the Bernina 820/830 takes a bit of time before you find yourself comfortable with it.  Old habits die hard, and it seems the older we get the more we struggle with change!

These are thirsty machines, and with the big “M” size bobbin, they really need oiling at every bobbin change.  You’ll hear the difference right away, and if you’ve gone several bobbin changes without cleaning and oiling, you will see the difference in stitch quality as well.

Sometimes fuzzy bits of thread lint get caught up in the bobbin area, and it’s really hard to see unless you rotate the bobbin and look closely.

Can you see that wad of lint? All I could see of it at first was a wispy bit, barely detectable.  As I rotated the bobbin (turning the hand wheel clockwise) and pulled on the lint, more of it came into view.  I actually had to get a pair of tweezers to get it all out, this was just a bit of it.  So look carefully if you’re having any problems!

Another area you should check each time you clean and oil, is the cutter.

To access it, remove the presser foot and the stitch plate.  Press the soft touch setup icon on your machine.  Select the Tools icon (middle icon, bottom row).   Over on the left side, press the #1.  See how the cutter moves out to the right?

In my picture (sorry it’s a bit blurry) I have green arrows pointing to two pieces of blue thread stuck in the area.  I wasn’t able to get them out at this point, but if you will click the #3 icon now, the cutter will move to its fully extended position, making a terrible noise as it does so (thought I would warn you!).  If you cycle the cutter a few times by alternately pressing #1 then #3, any thread bits that are stuck should work themselves loose.  You won’t usually have anything stuck, but check it as part of your routine maintenance.

When you go to oil the machine (only after you’ve cleaned it!) it’s far easier to get a drop of oil where it needs to go by first rotating the bobbin as you would to change the bobbin tension, by turning the handwheel clockwise, then turn the handwheel a bit counterclockwise, so that the bobbin swings out a bit.

Place a drop of oil where indicated by the pink arrow.

Close the bobbin door before replacing the bobbin, so that it resets itself into the proper position for threading.

After awhile, it becomes 2nd nature.  I now find the 830 easier to thread for embroidery than the Artista machines (mainly the oscillating hook machines, that finger is a killer to thread for me)!