Freeing Up A Bernina 830 Presser Foot Bar

From the very beginning, when I got this Bernina 830 thirdhand, it was clear that the original owner had taken pride in her machine and had done regular maintenance on the machine. The second owner may not have ever even used the machine and it had sat in storage for several years. After a good cleaning and oiling, the machine sewed a great straight, reverse, and zig-zag stitch. My first indication that something was wrong was when I tried changing the foot to try out an embroidery stitch.  I lifted the foot lever to the top position and switched out the feet. When I went to release the foot lever the lever went down easily, but the presser foot bar did not move.  It was stuck in the raised position.  I cleaned again, lubricated with Tri-Flow, and now it moved only slightly and would not return all the way to the lowest position.  I tried applying heat with a hairdryer and that did loosen things up, but it was temporary and when the machine cooled down again it went right back to not releasing.  After triple-checking my work, I was a bit puzzled and tried to understand what could possibly be sticking.  I ended up taking the screw out from the top of the presser foot bar.

Presser foot bar screw

There is a large spring under this screw and it popped out before I was ready. I had to listen for the small screw to land after flying through the air. Next time, I'll keep my fingers over the screw as I'm loosening it.

Large spring with small screw on the end

 Looking down into the bar, I could see some discoloration that was probably dried lubricant. Using q-tips and alcohol, I cleaned as far down into the hole as I could reach.

Definitely removing something that was causing the bar to stick

Foot lever in the back always moved with ease

As I worked, I would keep trying to move the foot lever up and down. It moved smoothly from the start, but eventually the bar itself was also moving up and down freely. I know that the spring applies pressure to push the foot down but, I keep cleaning until the bar moved without any added pressure.

Looking down into the presser foot bar after it was cleaned

Here's a short clip that shows the movement inside the cleaned presser foot bar when the lever is adjusted.

Eventually, when I raised and lowered the foot lever, the presser foot bar moved in unison. I put the spring and screw back in and put the top back down. Good news, unlike the heat application that was a temporary fix, cleaning the presser foot bar has proved to provide long term results. Now we're ready to sew.