Janome my excel 4123 sewing machine stitch selector broken. When changing the stitch, can hear the click and see the needle arm move, but the stitch does not change.

Yes, you can do free motion sewing and quilting with the Janome Decor Excel 5018. Look on the back of the sewing machine behind the needle and bobbin case section. At the bottom of the free-arm section of the machine, more or less in line with the needle bar, is the feed dog position switch. Move the switch towards the motor of the sewing machine to lower the feed dogs. Move it away from the motor to raise the feed dogs. For pictures, see the manual for the Janome Excel 5018, available from Janome here: https://www.janome.com/siteassets/support/manuals/retired/other-models/inst-book-5018-ennose.pdf . Look at page 2 (item 22), page 6 and page 22. (These are pages 8, 16 and 48 of the PDF.) This is a retired machine for Janome and the manual is listed among those here: https://www.janome.com/support/retired-machine-manuals/ .

I hope this helps. Note: you will have to adjust the tension carefully before starting your quilting.The darning foot, https://www.sewingpartsonline.com/janome-darning-foot-200349000.aspx , will help you see where you are sewing better than any of the included accessory presser feet.

Cindy Wells

The manual may be helpful. Try page 18:


Janome Decor Excel II 5024 Instruction Manual

Preferably straight stitch. Otherwise, the widest of any stitch will need to fit through the presser foot and needleplate. Stitches that are too wide will result in broken needles and possibly a machine knocked out of time.

The U shaped clamp usually hooks "around" the needle screw. Yes, usually the walking foot may need oil (just a tiny bit) where the parts move against each other.

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I bought a Janome 627 from a second hand shop in Melbourne, Australia. The pattern selector on that machine was stuck - you could select the right-most stitches but it would not move to the stitches to the left of the button holes. I opened the machine and lubricated the stitch selector plate, and lubricated the other the nylon gears, with Triflow clear synthetic grease. I also gently raised the arm connected to the selector plate to the left a little with my finger to help ease it across as I turned the selector button towards the stiches on the left. I could see how the arm needed to raise a little to click into each stitch so I gently helped it do the raise movement. After a few uses the stitch selector would move through all stitches on its own and weeks later it still does.

it sound like the broken needle caused the machine to go out
of time & needs to be serviced at a repair shop

I bought a Janome 627 from a second hand shop in Melbourne, Australia. The pattern selector on that machine was stuck - you could select the right-most stitches but it would not move to the stitches to the left of the button holes. I opened the machine and lubricated the stitch selector plate, and other the nylon gears, with Triflow clear synthetic grease. These plates/gears are white. I also gently raised the metal arm connected to the selector plate to the left a little with my finger to help ease it across as I turned the selector button towards the stiches on the left. I could see how the arm needed to raise a little to click into each stitch so I gently helped it do the raise movement. It is clear which arm, as it was the one moving as I changed between the stitches that were able to be selected. After a few uses the stitch selector would move through all stitches on its own and weeks later it still does.

It is very possible that the timing is off, which often occurs with broken needles. A common symptom is that the needle will not pick up the bobbin thread. Missed stitches aren't necessarily timing related--be sure to install brand needles often and use the correct needle for the fabric & thread you are using. Using the wrong needle will often cause skipped stitches.

What to Do If Your Sewing Machine Is Skipping Stitches

10 reasons for skipped stitches

Here What to Do if Your Sewing Machine is Skipping Stitches

Basic Maintenance Tension Skipped Stitches

You can search for sewing machine timing or take it for service.

You can download a manual for your White machine from the Singer website, link is
http://www.singerco.com/uploads/download/1111_white-1760-xl-x.pdf

Here are the relevant pages from the manual:



Straight stitch settings as follows:
stitch length on 2.5 (selector marked with blue arrow)
stitch width on zero (no swinging of the needle) selector marked with red arrow
stitch selector on A - selector marked with green arrow

Generally all sewing machines will have a similar three controls, because all stitches are a combination of moving the fabric forward a certain amount between the needle going through the fabric - the stitch length; and moving the needle from side to side - the stitch width.

And then a stitch selector for different stitch forms such as a blind hem or shell stitch where the needle is going through a series of different moves in sequence to form a special stitch. You still have the width and length controls to vary this formation.

For general sewing machine information www.sewing.about.com is excellent, there is lots of pages on general tips, cleaning, threading up and sewing machine know how. Try this page to start http://sewing.about.com/od/sewingmachineindex/ig/Sewing-Machines.--9k/

If you are a beginner, then I'd recommend printing out the instruction manual for your machine and putting into a binder, placing beside the machine, and carefully read from the beginning going through all the instructions to wind a bobbin, thread up, three or four times until you can do it without reading the manual, then practice stitching out each of the stitches your machine does. Buy a cheap exercise book and on each page, write the name of the stitch, staple the stitch sample in and either write down the settings used or glue in a photo taken of the machine controls you used. This way you can quickly flick through and refer to your settings next time. ADjusting the top tension dial will also adjust the stitch formation so read the manual and set the tension dial to the setting it suggests but sometimes you'll need to adjust it slightly to get the stitch looking even (balanced between top and bottom thread), especially for zigzags.

Practice a bit and you'll soon feel much more confident using the machine. Also, refer to the cleaning and oiling instructions and do it regularly, along with changing the needle for each new sewing project, about 4-6 hours sewing time. The needle is the most important part of a sewing machine, always use the right sized needle for the fabric. Refer here for info http://sewing.about.com/od/sewingmachineindex/ig/Sewing-Machine-Needles/

I hope this helps you with your White sewing machine, there are lots of great sewing machine books on the market too or in your public library to refer to. Also taking beginner sewing classes will really help you learn how best to use your machine. I've been sewing for over 38 years but still enjoy going to a class and learning a new technique from another enthusiast - life long learner!!

that sounds like the button is stuck. You may need to get it looked at.