I have just cleaned my Elna 660 and replaced the bobbin holder - now the bobbin rewind icon is showing on the screen I have replaced the bobbin holder three times!

are you sure you've moved the bobbin winding mechanism back to the right spot? if its still pushed over against the bobbin spool holder it may be stopping the normal functions from working. If that isn't the problem then it may be something for the tech at the Elna dealers.

I'm pretty sure these have a wick in the rotary hook under the black plastic bobbin holder where the bobbin sits. Everything else is nylon gears or designed to be lubed during your annual recommended service by an Elna technician.

You can oil the wick yourself (don't do what I did and pull it out with tweezers, dooh). Take out the bobbin holder black bit (your manual should cover this in cleaning) and see if there is a depression/hole in the middle of the metal rotary hook. If so, just put a drop of oil in there once every couple of months.

More important is to clean out the rotary hook well regularly and everywhere else in there, just use the little brush to collect the lint, then wipe it off on a piece of cotton fabric waste to clean the brush, then clean a bit more until no lint remains. Now put the bobbin holder/case back into position lining up the marker point against the stopper. Done.

Hope this makes sense to you and matches what your machine looks like. Happy Sewing, Tally Girl

not unless you can find another swiss elna, like star series su. check bobbin in right way, holes on top to wind and load. you havent bought anothet type bobbin??? go to www.arizonaexpressionz.com and download a manual for supermatic. then read bobbin winding and threading carefully and rewinf bobbin and thread up again. make sure thread goes into tension spring all the way. bobbin should turn anticlockwise when yoou pull thread. also please brush clean bobbin holder area and check for any threads caught there. now a drop of quality clear machine oil in middle hole and gently run for 30secs to work in. do this every time you get your machine out. there are several oiling points shown in manual. oil them. these machines are quality but yours may need love tlc from a elna tech especially if it has not been serviced in a while. but a well maintained elna will out stitch a new plastic machine any day in my humble opinion. if you want to join yahoo group elna heirlooms, experts who service their own and share photos info manuals and love these vintage classics.

There may be threads jammed up in the bobbin holder area causing the jam. But removing the inner bobbin holder is a bit tricky if you haven't done it before. There are two little screws holding the silver inner down onto a black ceramic piece (inner guard ring), and you need to get these lined up the right way to get the bobbin holder back into position afterwards.

I would suggest that you join the Yahoo group Elna Heirlooms, then check out the files and photos loaded up by other members who work on their Elnas.

You shouldn't need to remove the feed dogs, just give them a clean with a little brush. But internally the machine may need a good clean and lube and without a service manual or good guide this can be challenging.

If you go this link http://www.arizonaexpressionz.com/elna_service_manuals.html you can down load the manual for this machine, the Star Series SU. Go to page 7 of the first part to see about removing the bobbin holder and inner guard ring.

It is a case of lining up the cut out of the black plate to the front, then putting the bobbin holder on top with the little arms facing front also, then replacing the two screws.

I'd suggest you take photos with a digital camera before you start to help you get it back in the right way.

I hope this helps you with the Supermatic, did you get the discs and accessories with it too? lovely Swiss quality machine with great stitching so if you can't get it unjammed, you may wish to find an experienced Elna Technician to take a look.

White Sewing Center stock lots of parts for these machines too, www.whitesewingcenter.com

The manual should show you how to clean out the rotary hook area by brushing it out with a little brush provided in your tool kit. It should also show you how to remove the bobbin case and clean under it. Important: if you haven't removed the bobbin case before, then please take photos beforre you start so you can get it back into the right position when you have cleaned underneath. There may be two red marks on the case and surround to match up but I couldn't actually get a close up image of this model to check this.

Here is image from my Janome 6500 manual for this procedure, it should be similar on your Elna 740.


There is probably also an oiling wick in the centre of rotary hook under the bobbin holder. Remove the needle plate, pressure foot and needle, then take out the bobbin and bobbin holder and underneath is a circular metal part with a hole/depression in the centre. Wick will be inside there, don't mess with it!!. Just brush the whole area out, removing the lint from the brush into your bin. Don't try to blow the lint out with compressed air either.

You can add a drop of good quality clear sewing machine oil to the wick every couple of months or so, but keeping the area clean is equally a good preventative measure.

Have you cleaned and oiled the bobbin holder area firstly? brush out the bobbin holder area removing all the lint with a small brush. Then add a drop of good quality sewing machine oil right in the middle of the bobbin holder and run the motor for a few seconds to spread it. There is also a little black piece of metal just to the right under the bobbin holder and you should be able to see this moving during stitch formation, give this a drop of oil too. And change the needle.

If the machine still sounds noisy after this and it definitely sounds like its coming from the engine then it could be a worn hook or pinion gear. You should be able to source these parts still or find a dealer who will do this for you and replace them.

If you are in the USA try www.whitesewingcenter.com for spare parts and advice on Swiss Elna repairs.

On the Stella, you should be able to remove the top cover/accessory holder tray fairly easily to get a look into the gear area, just open the accessory flap, take out all the loose accessories and you will see four screws, one at each corner, plus one near the moveable thread eye close to the tension device. Unscrew each one a bit at a time, until you can remove them. And just loosen off the fifth one a bit, until the tray can lift out. Now manually turn the flywheel towards you and check out where the noise is coming from.

Visit http://www.arizonaexpressionz.com/elna_service/stella_service_manual.pdf for more info on this machine.

I've always taken my Elna to a trained technician for anything more involved than basic cleaning as I am happy to pay the $ for their experience with these great Swiss machines and they are very compact inside. But this info may help you to at least identify where the noise is coming from.

If you can hear a click then I'd say the needle is touching some part of the hook mechanics which could mean timing is out. However, it is possible that the bobbin case has just moved a little so as first trouble shooting steps, I'd suggest the following:

clean out the bobbin holder area as per manual (ie. remove the needle plate, bobbin, sewing foot and needle, take out the bobbin holder, clean the race area out, then put bobbin holder back in as per your manual, there is usually a stopper and knob or two red marks to line up. This is held by a magnet so it is possible to knock it out of place during a jam up.


Replace needle plate, bobbin, sewing foot and put in a new sharp needle, flat shank to the back and make sure it is fully up into the holder, thread up and very slowly using the needle up and down button, test sew a couple of stitches again.

If no stitch formation or you can definitely hear/see something touching then I'd say timing is out and no, its not something fixed yourself; best left to a trained technician.

Do you have a manual for this machine? You need to follow the cleaning instructions and remove the needle plate, and clean under the bobbin holder. I've attached an image from my Janoma 6500 manual, it looks very similar to this Elna so I'm thinking its the same design bobbin and race. There may be a little triangular shaped tool in your kit but any short flat blade screwdriver will remove the two setscrews. (always good idea to unscrew off the pressure foot and take out the needle first so you've got room).

PLEASE NOTE: If you've never pulled this bobbin area apart before, good idea to snap pics with your digital camera as you go to refer to and for reference next time!!

This uncovers the bobbin holder area, you'll see there is a black plastic holder which your bobbin goes into which has the tension device on the side and this then sits inside an outer metal casing which is the hook race. The bobbin holder is held there by a magnet underneath it and sits up against another little stopper. Look at the bobbin case and the stopper, there should be two red marks that must line up. Are they???

If the answer is no, then you need to remove the bobbin case, clean out any lint and fluff using your little brush that came with the machine, and you may also have pieces of thread caught in here too. Once clean, place the bobbin case back into the outer surround, under the other piece and lining up the two red marks. This is where photos are so helpful.

Now replace the needle plate and screws, pressure foot, pop in a new needle and thread everything up again.

If the thread continues to catch then you may have managed to damage the bobbin case; as they are plastic if they move out of position the needle can catch and burr or pierce them. If this has happened you could try to smooth out the burring with an emery board or similar. Or you may need to replace it if damaged badly. I've changed mine twice so far because I've pierced it with the needle several times.
I hope that this helps you out, good luck with your machine.

try www.sewingpartsonline.com

they have the Elna bobbin holders available (I'm assuming yours is a Swiss Elna with the top loading bobbins?)

Perhaps the bobbin winding mechanism is stuck. Probably needs service.

Also, check the bobbin and bobbin case. Perhaps there is some thread stuck or it is not securely threaded through the tensioner.