| The Singer 201 has a worklight at the front. It uses a 15 watt appliance bulb, common to most sewing machines. These bulbs were all they had when the machine was built. They're not particularly bright or especially efficient. Modern sewing machines may not be able to compete with the 201 itself in quality and durability, but modern lighting technology has come a long way. Here's how to upgrade to an LED light that's brighter, cooler to the touch, more power efficient, and longer lasting. I was motivated to do this because my wife tends to forget to turn off the light, and I hate the thought of burning 15 watts to leave this tiny bulb running. |
| First you will need the LED bulb itself. I got this one on Amazon for $4.99: |
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| You want a bulb with a BA15D base. That's the kind with smooth sides, two little tabs to hold it (like you see in the picture) and two contacts on the bottom. It also has to be rated for 120V AC - house current. Don't make the mistake of getting an auto bulb designed for 12V DC; it'll explode. You can see from the picture that our new bulb is considerably larger than the original one. It just barely fits, and it requires a little bit of work to install. |
| To get enough clearance to put in the new bulb, start by unplugging the machine, then remove this screw: |
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| This will allow you to tilt the old bulb and its socket downward so that it protrudes out of the housing. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of that. Push the bulb into the socket and turn it slightly counterclockwise to remove it, then install the LED bulb by reversing the process. At this point it's a good idea to plug the machine back in for a moment and make sure the bulb lights up when you flip the switch. If it lit up, unplug again, and just work the bulb and socket back up into the housing. It's a tight fit. When you're done it should look like this: |
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| Now put back the screw that you removed, and you're finished. Here's what it looks like lit up: |
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| That's a significant improvement in work illumination, don't you think? This one is a cool white bulb, but they're available in warm white if this looks too harsh to you. The original bulb used 15 watts and gave off just 100 lumens of light. The LED bulb uses only 3.5 watts, but emits 330 lumens. Three times the light with less than 1/4 the power. And you'll probably never have to replace it. Best of all, this is a completely reversible modification. You can put a standard bulb back in at any time without damaging the historic value of your machine. |
| That's it. Simple tip; hope it helps. |