Recently my 6600 has a brief squeak, usually at the beginning of stitching. I cannot tell if the sound is coming from the foot pedal or the needle area.

I have read online about squeaks coming from the bobbin area and solved by a drop of oil on the felt bobbin hole, but I have only sewn 4 lap-size quilt tops and quilted 2 of those. Would it need servicing/oil already? Can any of you Janome owners relate? THX

Just touch your pinkie to the oiled cotton under the bobbin,if you see nice oil on it ...its good to go but if the oil on your pinkie is faint..add a drop of clean sewing machine oil. What foot are you using? sometime I put a dab of oil on my finger and oil my walking foot elements too...Anything metal can benefit from a drop of oil.Rub your oiled finger on the shaft also,never hurts.

I find that Janomes in general need to have the lint cleaned out from the bobbin area and underneath the bobbin quite frequently. Mine will start to squeak if that area is dirty.

I have had my Janome Magnolia 7330 for a couple of years now & haven't had a squeeking yet. I clean my bobbin area pretty often as lint build up in there fast.

My Elna (a sister to Janome) also needs the lint cleaned out of the bobbin area frequently. But I've never noticed any squeaking.

Mine did that once...take your bobbin assemby out and clean out from under there. Oil your machine...that fixed mine.

I have had a problem with the squeak you're posting about, and I took it in to be serviced. The repairman put a tiny drop of oil in the bobbin area. I have a picture of the same problem and the oiling location on my old Kenmore. It's the same place on the Janome. Just a tiny drop, and I think you'll see a big improvement.

I wanted to clean my 6600 and took the bobbin apart. I thought I saw something on the bottom in a hole, so I tried to take it out. It wouldn't come out so I left it. Good thing it was the felt you put the oil in.

Granny Kay

Check your manual before oiling. Some Janomes are not supposed to be oiled except when professionally cleaned. Or do they say that just to make us pay for servicing?

Mine (6500) was making a noise. Now I am pretty good about doing my cleaning and maintenance. But the noise would come and go and it sounded like it was coming from the bobbin area. Took it to the 'doctor' and it ended that my belt needed to be replace. I had asked him "Why was the noise coming from the bobbin area?" he said "that with the loose belt, it 'altered' how the pulley ran and the noise reverberated through the machine."

My 6500 was noisy with one fmq foot but the other was much quieter. There's a wick for a couple of drops of oil in the bobbin area. Many machines said at first NOT to oil them but later determined they do need oil. Old Janomes also had a pad to oil in the bar that that hold the feet and you had to open the side to get to it. I put oil on a q-tip and rubbed along it. Many walking feet need a drop after much use. Be sure you cut your thread at the spool and pull it down thru the needle. Thread has a nap an lint is collected inside when you pull it out toward the top.
Look close to the bottom of this page to see fmq feet discussion.
http://www.gloriahansen.com/weblog/?cat=18

Give your baby a drop of oil on the wick in the bobbin area..she will thank you for it.
I have the 6600..i clean her out after every quilt..sometimes more..if i seem to be seeing a lot of lint. i use a sampler mascara brush to clean in between the feed dogs..

I buy tiny disposable mustache brushes and they do a great job of cleaning. Mom used pipe cleaners because they attract lint. My Juki needs to be kept very clean and oiled to keep purring.

That's a good idea. My Kenmore always liked a drop of oil in the bobbin area after I cleaned all the gunk out I should take a look at the Horizon - I wonder if the problem I've had have to do with the need for this little "extra".

My Horizon should be home tomorrow. I've had it since October and skips stitches and a tiny loop of bobbin thread every few inches. Then a screw fell out of the top so the needle wouldn't line up so it was too far in front of the hole. Costs a bundle to mail but I'll ship it back if it doesn't work better. Miss my 6500. It needed cleaning and regular oiling but sewed great. I know I put more miles on machines than average so need to treat it well.

You had to mail it EvelynB? Yikes. that would cost. hope you get it back soon.
I also put a drop of oil on the bobbin wick. Singer machine oil is what i have to use. i have a Janome mc4800.
tried to use the quilting bar for straight lines and it would not stay put! most frustrating. i ended up "eyeing" them.

No local dealers here. I bought my 6500 on vacation out of state so knew they're great machines. I gambled buying my 7700 in Houston at the quilt show. The dealer is paying return postage. When the warranty is out I'll use a local repairman or drive 2 hours to Amarillo dealer. We do gamble when buying online.