Singer 20U 33 thoughts and frustrations

I am currently in the throes of a love hate relationship with my Singer 20U 33.  I am of a mind to do a compare and contrast post.  Compared it to to my Singer 15-91, which I unabashedly love, it is a temperamental beast.  I constantly break thread, drop stitches when doing zig zag and can't stand the feed dogs when doing certain jobs.  Granted, almost all of this is likely do to user error on my part or that the machine needs some service, but the 15-91 just goes.  It is great for fine work or work that I would consider delicate ( others likely wouldn't though).

The 20U though has POWER.  I love that when I push down the pedal it goes.  No having to reach up and hand turn the hand wheel or buzzing of the motor.  Just to mention, I have been working on thicker projects where even with the appropriate needle, it wouldn't go through the pile.  When it does this, it makes a horrible horning sounds as the clutch disks vibrate against one another ( at least that's what i think is going on ).

The zig zag foot and the appropriate feed dogs do some funky things to fabric when straight stitching.  Often folding or twisting a fine hem.  The best thing here has been to dig out the straight stitch dogs and change the foot.  This has helped, but it is a little irritating as one of the good things about the machine is that you can switch back and forth between straight and zig zag at will.  Another thing to note is that the tensions must be tighter when stitching straight and looser when doing the zig zag.