My Bernina 440 suddenly stops sewing. The computer screen loses all the icons and only lines remain. I have to turn off the machine, turn it back on then it will stitch for awhile and again suddenly stop stiching.
See your local dealer and tell them you have a bad power board. or l-print. this is a known issue and bernina is covering it under there 5 year warranty. the 5 volt output is faulty on some some models
It appears there was a quality problem with the controller chip on power supply 'L'-prints used on Activa, Aurora and Artista 630/640 models, mostly with Chassis Numbers 46xxxxxx. The problem is manifested by the machine suddenly stopping during use, with nothing shown on the display, but the sewing light and display backlight still on. This can be 'reset' by switching off and back on again, but the problem gets steadily worse and is particularly bad when sewing for a long time or under heavy load. There was an indefinite extended warranty on Activa models in the UK that acknowledged this quality problem, but it never acknowledged that the exact same 'L'-print is also used on the Aurora and Artista 630/640. In the UK, this 'indefinite' warranty extension has now been withdrawn and the only legit option is to replace the whole 'L'-print, however it is also possible to overcome this problem by simply replacing the KA34063A controller chip on the board, since this was the cause of the problem. If you need help with this ... contact me.
Rick, I would really appreciate any help you could give me on trying this controller on my Activa 230. I brought it home from the shop unfixed because they wanted $400.00 to fix it.
I don't know if it makes any difference, but I am in the US;
Hi there, unfortunately it's unlikely I can help you, being in the UK. The problem is that the vast majority of service engineers repair this type of problem simply by swapping-out the faulty module for a new one. Advantage is you get a new 2-year warranty on the module, but disadvantage is it costs alot of money. Out of interest, the faulty part only costs about $2 and it only takes about half-an-hour to fix. The $400 price tag does sound a tad high, because in the UK, the power-supply 'L'-print retails at around $170 equivalent and it's literally a ten minute job to swap it, so maybe you could complain about the price, but I am aware that spares prices are proportionally higher in the USA. If you could find a friendly electronic repair man in your area I could send you info on what needs changing, if that would help ???
My husband is pretty good with those types of repairs. Could you please send what I need and he can look into it and see if he can do it. If not, we have a friend that does this type of work for a living.
I also am having a similar problem, but with a virtuosa 153. If so could you send me the same info on circuit board repair?
Hi, I'm Regina from Italy. I have the same problems with my Activa 230. At the end how have you solved them? Have you changed the main board? Is it possible to receive info about main board changing? Thank you!!!
I also would like more info on changing the chip on the L-print circuit board. Anyone know how to contact Rick Beament? Thanks much!
Greetings from Norway. I have now the same problem with my 440 QE Scott Barnes Jun 29, 2014 I also would like more info on changing the chip on the L-print circuit board.Thank you
My wife has an Activa 230 PE that has always had the problem Rick described. Based on his extremely helpful post, I ordered a new KA34063A controller chip after confirming my wife's Activa L-Print board had one. I unsoldered and removed the old chip, that was the hard part. I used a solder sucker to remove the solder on the 8-pin chip. Make sure you get all the solder out before attempting to remove it. Putting in the new chip and soldering it in was relatively easy. Take your time and watch some YouTube videos.
Here is where I ordered the replacement chip: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/deta...
Anyway, a huge thank goes out to you Rick Beament, It looks like her machine is working perfectly for the first time ever. The bad chip looked perfectly fine so I would have had no way to even know what to start replacing on the board without the valuable info from you.
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Thanks. I took it to my dealer today and they are getting me a new power board
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