And here is yet another use for that wonderful product...."Duct Tape"

This was probably a "one in a million" event that happened to a sewing machine recently.

Pictured below, is a motor pulley and the air vent for the motor. Some how, a piece of thread from the spool holder, directly above the vent, got sucked into the vent and several yards were tangled up on the motor pulley and belt. This caused the machine to completely stop working. The LCD Screen showed "ERROR" and nothing would work.  

After removing the thread from the motor pulley, I proceeded to look for a fuse that may have blown.

Opening up these machines can be frustrating.

The arrow points to the location of the fuse I found to be bad. Unfortunately, it was on the other side of this circuit board. These main boards have small plugs lined up all the way around them going to different parts of the machine. I really didn't want to unplug them all just to get to that fuse.

Taking out 4 screws gave me just enough room to get a new fuse in there.

The arrow points to the fuse on the back side of the main circuit board. There are actually 2 fuses side by side. Replacing that fuse got the machine back in working order.

So, How do I keep this from happening again?

I must block the vent but still allow air to pass through. This is what I came up with.

Good old duct tape. I stuck 2 pieces together so they wouldn't stick to anything and then taped that over the vent opening in a way that would still allow air to flow.

It seems to work fine. Only time will tell and if a problem does arise, it can be removed easily.

I am sure the owner of this machine doesn't want to pay for this repair again.