Bernina 802 motor capacitor replacement

Mepnel · Feb 16, 2024

Hello, I repair and restore vintage sewing machines and I’m struggling to find a replacement capacitor for a vintage Bernina802 sewing machine.
This is a common problem on these vintage machines and i’d rather not replace it with a genuine vintage part, but find a way to rebuild The capacitor, so perhaps I can help the rest of the vintage sewing machine community as well.
I will attach a picture of the capacitor and a drawing I’ve done. Can I build one of these myself out of various components?
thank you so much I really appreciate any help I can get.

kellys_eye · Feb 16, 2024

Closest I can find - you want original, you have to pay the price:

Bernina Sewing Machine Genuine Motor Capicitor | eBay

Bernina Sewing Machine Genuine Motor Capicitor. Used but in very good working condition. Very rare to find . Proper genuine...

www.ebay.co.uk

This looks like the perfect opportunity to 'stuff' the original package. Common process in restoration jobs. Buy the individual component parts, wire them up and 'stuff them' in the original housing. Probably the only way to fix this......

Martaine2005 · Feb 16, 2024

Mepnel said:
i’d rather not replace it with a genuine

Yes, rebuild and stuff it in the original housing as already stated.
Very common process to it looking vintage.

Bluejets · Feb 16, 2024

It's likely only rf suppression.
Forget it and move on.

Delta Prime · Feb 16, 2024

Martaine2005 said:
Yes, rebuild and stuff it in the original housing as already stated.
Very common process to it looking vintage.

Wouldn't that be dishonest?
Or perhaps some kind of disclosure would be in order. I claim ignorance,had no idea it was a common process to make it look vintage.

Mepnel said:
This is a common problem on these vintage machines and i’d rather not replace it with a genuine vintage part, but find a way to rebuild The capacitor, so perhaps I can help the rest of the vintage sewing machine community as well

Sounds reasonable and practical, do you tell the customer? Forgive my curiosity.

Martaine2005 · Feb 17, 2024

Delta Prime said:
Wouldn't that be dishonest?
Or perhaps some kind of disclosure would be in order. I claim ignorance,had no idea it was a common process to make it look vintage.

Sounds reasonable and practical, do you tell the customer? Forgive my curiosity.

Dishonest?, absolutely not. It’s not cheating anyone. It’s simply more appealing to the eye.
If the item is for resale, its description would say “restored “.
In fact, if you restore and don’t try and keep the vintage look, it may not have the same appeal.

kellys_eye · Feb 17, 2024

Mepnel said:
i’d rather not replace it with a genuine vintage part, but find a way to rebuild The capacitor,

(my bold)

Te OP has entirely the right attitude. Rebuild it. Modern components are easily up to the task and, being smaller than their older counterparts, readily fitted into the original enclosure/housing. As far as component values are concerned, provided you maintain or exceed the rated voltages, the values could be +/- 25% and make no difference to the end result so 'float your boat'.

you would be looking for Class-X rated capacitors for ACROSS the line and Class-Y for capacitors going from line to GROUND. Sleeve the exposed leads, test on the bench, sleeve overall (large heatshrink) and slide into old component package. Close off end with silicone.

Mepnel · Feb 19, 2024

kellys_eye said:
Closest I can find - you want original, you have to pay the price:

Bernina Sewing Machine Genuine Motor Capicitor | eBay

Bernina Sewing Machine Genuine Motor Capicitor. Used but in very good working condition. Very rare to find . Proper genuine...

www.ebay.co.uk

This looks like the perfect opportunity to 'stuff' the original package. Common process in restoration jobs. Buy the individual component parts, wire them up and 'stuff them' in the original housing. Probably the only way to fix this......

Thank you so much for the reply. Just wanted to clarify that the reason I don't want to use an original is that they are scare and expensive and they are always failing so will become a bigger problem as time goes on.
However, I am a total newbie to electronics and only took it up to allow me to understand what I was looking at when one of the old machines blew.
I would love to be able to confidently find the parts and stuff them into a housing to make this repair but don't know where to start. Sad face :-(

Mepnel · Feb 19, 2024

Bluejets said:
It's likely only rf suppression.
Forget it and move on.

Apparently it is also a controller for the foot pedal otherwise I would have because this is what a lot of sewing people have suggested.

Mepnel · Feb 19, 2024

Delta Prime said:
Wouldn't that be dishonest?
Or perhaps some kind of disclosure would be in order. I claim ignorance,had no idea it was a common process to make it look vintage.

Sounds reasonable and practical, do you tell the customer? Forgive my curiosity.

These machines are restored and when parts are not available we manufacture them where possible. They are always sold as restored and no attempt is made to make them look vintage, it is simply using newer parts to replace old ones as they become unavailable.

kellys_eye · Feb 19, 2024

You have all the component values shown (the 'missing' resistor is 390 ohms) and the wiring diagram already.

Simply purchase the new equivalent parts and wire them the same as the diagram - then 'stuff 'em'.

2 off X-class capacitors (0.02uF and 0.06uf - values not critical, nearest equivalent will do - 0.022uF and 0.056 or 0.047uF will do)
2 off Y-class capacitors (2000pF - or 2nF or 0.002uF - again, value not critical, 2200pF commonly available)
2 off resistors (2.2M ohm and 390 ohm, 1/2 or 1W watt)

Mepnel · Feb 20, 2024

kellys_eye said:
You have all the component values shown (the 'missing' resistor is 390 ohms) and the wiring diagram already.

Simply purchase the new equivalent parts and wire them the same as the diagram - then 'stuff 'em'.

2 off X-class capacitors (0.02uF and 0.06uf - values not critical, nearest equivalent will do - 0.022uF and 0.056 or 0.047uF will do)
2 off Y-class capacitors (2000pF - or 2nF or 0.002uF - again, value not critical, 2200pF commonly available)
2 off resistors (2.2M ohm and 390 ohm, 1/2 or 1W watt)

Thank you SO much. I'm off to find them now

. Slowly learning and I managed to work out the resistor value and I'm happy that I came to the same 390ohm value you did

Bernina 802 motor capacitor replacement

Bernina 802 motor capacitor replacement

Similar threads