My little brothers put a needle on the air compressor to pump up balls and now i have no idea how to get it off to pump up my bike.. help?

It sounds like something is stuck inside after the stabilizer got jammed. Carefully open your machine; start with removing the needle, the presser foot, the bobbin, needle plate (if possible) and start looking around. I use a toothpick to gently (gently) remove dust balls, thread, etc from the machine. My thread was breaking and I found a little thread stuck inside. Once I removed the thread, the machine worked fine again.

That is the unloader valve and it supposed to release a little bit of air when it stops. That takes the pressure off of the pump which enables it to restart easier.

Don F

What kind of valve do you have on your bicycle tires - standard (like a car) or Presta (narrow with manual screw down valve)? If you unscrew the head of the pump you should be able to reverse the rubber gasket to fit each type - wide for standard and narrow for Presta.

It sounds like the typical "lean from the factory" problems but let's check one other thing first. Take ht air filter off the bike leaving only the backing plate on it. With the engine OFF, crank the throttle wide open. When you do this, you should see a shot of fuel squirt from the brass nozzle in the mouth of the carb. This is the accelerator pump. If you don't see a shot of fuel squirt into the carb, the pump diaphragm is bad or there's trash plugging the hole that lets the fuel get to the pump.

If you do see the shot of fuel, you may simply have a carb set too lean. I'd go with a #48 or #50 slow jet in the carb. Maybe add a 0.020 inch thick washer under the needle to raise it up just that little bit enrichening the mid-range.

Good Luck
Steve

This pump is a bit strange to use. The valve in the filler head is odd in that it controls the flow of air in both direction...which is not a great design in my opinion...but it does allow for use in different filling applications. The trick is getting the pump into its different filling "modes"

For a Schrader bike valve:
1. Make sure the pump is in "tire mode" by blowing into the valve with your mouth. If you then pump the handle you should feel air filling your mouth.
2. Put the "locking lever" in the unlocked position, the unlocked position is when the silver metal lever is parallel to the air hose, or said another way it makes an "L" with the air outlet that goes on the tire air filling stem. To verify this is correct, look in the air outlet and move the lever from locked to un-locked, you will see slight change in the diameter of the outlet.
3. Push the air filler hole over the schrader valve really hard and make sure it is seated all the way down. Close the "locking lever" (silver metal lever should now be perpendicular to the air house and be in line with the air outlet... i.e. point straight out away from the tire filler stem.
4. Pump.

For a Presta bike valve:
1. Make sure the pump is in "tire mode" again.
2. Take off plastic caps off presta valves on bike tire.
3. Unscrew the little nut on the presta stem to allow the tire valve to open when pressure is applied (you can test this by pushing the stem in a little and air should escape, the nut holds the valve closed, so it needs to be loosened).
4. Take the adapter from the locking lever (silver metal lever) on the pump and screw it on the presta valve. The adapter is the brass looking thing. Screw the rubber gasketed side down on the presta valve.
5. Press the air pump tire filler outlet onto the adapter.
6. Close the locking lever to seal the filler head on the adapter.
7. Pump.
8. Unlock the locking lever and pull it off quickly.
9. Unscrew the presta adapter and screw down the presta valve nut but just finger tight.
10. Screw on the plastic cover cap for the presta valve.

To Fill a Ball:
1. Twist the ball pin filler out by rotating the gray plastic tab around until the ball pin filler is pointing straight out (in-line with the air hose).
2. Make sure the pump is in "Ball mode" by again blowing into the filler. Sometimes shaking the filler valve really hard is necessary.
3. Put the filler pin into a ball.
4. Pump.

Hope this helps.

Hello rm26,
The majority of bike pumps have a lever right behind where the attachments fit in. When lifted so it's in line with the ball-blow-up adapter, this locks the attachment in place. When pushed down so it points along the hose, that unlocks everything and will allow you to pull out the ball-fill needle, and put another adapter in, or use it directly on a bike/car tire. It's a simple fix, but fairly common system. If you've tried that, in rarer cases they'll screw counter-clockwise out, or can be unlocked by a gear, or twist-top knob on top of the pump.
Hope this helps you! -The Chicken

Your bike tube has Presta style valves. Automotive style valves are known a schraders. To inflate the tube, you will need either an adapter, presta to schrader or a hand pump that has a head for presta valves. Any bike shop will have one for sale. To fill the presta valve style, remove the black cap(if it is there) You will see little stem with a small knurled nut. Screw the nut all the way up until it stops. Put the pump head over the stem, making sure it is pushed down. Flip up the lever on the pump head, fill to desired pressure 100 to 120psi...yes, that much pressure, it's a road bike. Flip the lever on the pump head down and remove it from the stem. The PSST you will hear is the air from the line on the pump...not the tire. Screws the knurled nut down and replace the black cap. If you do not srew the little nut down and push on the stem you will let the air out of the tire. If you need more help, you can email me @ [email protected] and I will send you pictures of the process, or the staff at your local bike shop should be able to show you how.

The switchbladenozzles web site is down, but here is the content from the trouble shooting page circa 2008 from archive.org:

(SCHWINN BIKE) PUMP
• Using the SWITHCBLADE pump nozzle (both 5-in-1 and 4-in-1):
EXPLAINING THE INTERNAL SWITCHING MECHANISM
To get best results from your SWITCHBLADE equipped pump, it is helpful to understand how the automatic switching
mechanism works. The internal switch (changing the air from flowing to the hole for bike tires to the needle for
sport balls) senses back pressure from the object you are trying to inflate. When you insert the needle into the
ball, (or put the nozzle on a bike tire valve) the back pressure inside the ball (or tire) flows into the nozzle
and pushes the switching mechanism to shut off the outlet you are not using.

PROBLEM: Air is escaping through the wrong outlet
NOTE: In the case of a new pump/nozzle OR a pump/nozzle that has not been used for a long time, it is possible
excess lubricant used in the manufacturing process and/or dirt have caused the switch to stick in place.
Don NOT attempt to block the outlet you are not using. Common sense tells you to do this, but in fact it will
only create back pressure in the channel you do not want to use and actually further block air from being
directed to the correct outlet.
FIRST SOLUTION
After making sure your nozzle is firmly attached to the tire valve (or in the case of a sport ball, the needle
is firmly and completely inserted into the ball) give three to five quick firm strokes of the pump. Doing this
should create enough back pressure in the nozzle to free up the mechanism and activate the switch.
SECOND SOLUTION
In certain circumstances, the two most common of which are a brand new bicycle inner tube (note: many new inner
tubes actually have NEGATIVE pressure inside, as they have had the air sucked out of them at the factory to make
it easier to put the tube inside the packaging) or a totally flat sport ball, rapid firm pumping may not be
enough to activate the switch. In these cases do the following:
SPORT BALL:
Insert needle is firmly and completely into the ball.
Give the ball a hard squeeze (this will force air up the needle and trigger the internal switch).

check to see if the sensor link/arm as still attatched in the rear of the car. it has a little plastic ball end on each end and the ball can rust and fall off so the pump stays running. you can unplug the compressor to stop the dead battery condition for now. there is some diagnosis involved in repairing it though.