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I just wondered if you have your sewing/ embroidery machines on battery back-up units or surge protectors.

Seems like any power glitch wouldn't be good for the machines so I will plan on adding one. Plus it will be easier to have all the plugs in one place.

No, but its the only thing in the outlet and its right beside my chair. If I'm suspecting any problems, I just unplug it.

Surge protectors yes. But I don't trust them. I generally unplug everything. But just in case - that's why the surge protector.

We have a fancy-schmantzy whole-house surge protector wired into our main breaker box. I know it works because we're on our 2nd or 3rd one -- lightning took out the others!

I never keep my sewing machines plugged in, not unless I'm using them. (Same with a lot of other electrical things around here.) If a storm is anywhere on the radar, I cease all electrical or mechanical operations (don't wash/dry, cook, etc.) & unplug whatever I can. I even unscrew the cable connection to the TV, as we've had lightning hit the cable box outside (as well as hit our house).

As you plug in your equipment to your surge protector, take some of the plastic bread tags and mark what the cord belongs to and then put it on the cord that way you will know what cord you will want to unplug at any time. Yes I have all my machines on surge protectors.

Yes, I do but I don't trust them. I never unplug my machine, but I need to start doing that.

My problem isn't power glitches or surges...my problem would be the power going completely out when I'm in the middle of doing an embroidery design and I don't know the exact location where I was. Fortunately for me this has never happened, lol!

I've got all my electronics on surge protectors. Spent more on each than I did on my printer. The wind is bad around here and hits transformers causing power surges. But even so I unplug them when weather comes up. My aunt had her featherweight plugged in all the time and because of the age of the cords they'd heat up. She didn't notice it until her house burned down. The rug caught fire because of the heat from the cord. Costly learning experience. Surge protector wouldn't have helped.

Most definitely to both!

Yes, all are on surge protectors, but I too unplug them when I'm not using them. No sense courting trouble.

quote:

Yes, all are on surge protectors, but I too unplug them when I'm not using them. No sense courting trouble.

DITTO here....

Mine is on a protector. Ditto the iron, computers, tv's, etc. When there is lightning I unplug my machine and my computer. Everyone else is on their own. When we had the "Old Fire" a few years ago my machine was the 1st thing into the car...

Thank you for the great tips and information. Great idea to unplug the machines when not in use.

Better to be prepared as they say!

Thanks Again.

On one of the home improvement shows they said that surge protectors should be replaced about every year. That seems excessive to me. But if you are in an area that gets a lot of surges, maybe not. sandy

My surge protector is velcroed (industrial type that you can buy at hardware stores) to the side of my sewing machine cabinet. I unplug the proctector when storms are in the area or I won't be using the machine for the rest of the day! The end of the plug can rest right on top of the protector when not in use.

My sewing machine are not on surge protectors but I unplug may embroidery machine after each use. I guess it would be good practice to unplug them all.

Ima quilter--I'm impressed with the surge protector on a vertical rather than a horizontal mount. I also like that cord corral you have there, where did you find that??
Beaus' Rose, thanks for mentioning this, I'm going to look into doing something like this for my machine. Right now I have to crawl on the floor to plug and unplug, my dog thinks it is play time when I'm on the floor.

Just saying Thanks Again ladies!

I appreciate your replies and all the pics that have been posted. Love the way Ima's is set up.

Welcome to all. Funny that I was hesitant to ask but thought "it's how we learn".

Many Thanks!

Now I am off this computer since the rain and thunder is right over head!

(East Coast of Sunny FL)

great topic! Mind if I share ImaQuilter's photo with our HGTV Quilters on facebook ??

Imaquilter..I think that Spiral Book Binding rib is perfect for taming those cords..I'm taking a couple of mine home from the office to try.

Bonnie, it would be fine to share the picture.

As far as the cord protector goes, my husband got it from someone at work. I can't find anything exactly like it on the internet. We did go to a hardware store last evening and I did find some cord protectors there near cables/cords that you can buy for your electronic items. They look like corregated tubing with a slit in them. They come in different sizes (so you could put a group of cords or cables through them). They can be easily trimmed. You could probably use industrial velcro to attach them or other strapping (sold in same area). They are heat resistant. I would be concerned about book binding things because they are probably not heat resistant. I googled a few things that my husband told me to try, but didn't find the exact thing that was given to him (you may try words such as cord protector, cable channels or wire ducts). Be safe and make sure what you use is heat resistant! He has seen these type things in electronic stores or electronic departments of places like hardware stores. I do love the set-up.

I have to show you one more set-up in this area. I got these small sets of plastic drawers from (wal*mart) and they are velcroed (industrial) together so that they roll as a unit, but I can break them apart too. They didn't come with the wheels, but I had lots of sets of them from other similar units. These draw units are sold lots of places by various companies, but this one is the only one that was the correct size to fit! So if you want to do something like this be sure to measure first and try more than one store if you can't find the right size! If you have lots of units like this and are tired of them slipping and sliding apart try "valcroing" them together--I love this too! I have baskets inside the drawer to organize my stuff!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ImaQuilter,

A battery backup would help with the electricity going off during the middle of a project. You could get it to a specific stopping point. Turn the machine off then restart at that point later.

An electronics guy is the one who told me not to trust the surge protectors...and to replace them every year (which I don't).

They are not made for big appliances and can actually cause problems. But for our computerized sewing machines and computers, they are IMHO a must. If your lights dim and brighten during a storm - it's happening to your machine too. A surge protector helps with that. It does absolutely NOTHING for a lightning strike. Turn off and unplug.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: KeepYouInStitches,

One more picture of the entire piece! The drop-leaf is opened. In the very lower left hand corner of the picture you can see a tiny bit of my kitchen table. I pull the table up to the sewing cabinet so that it forms an L (the kitchen table covers my plastic drawer unit, but I can still open the drawers and reach under! Pulling the kitchen table up to match the cabinet provides support for large quilts and makes them much easier to quilt.

Certainly do have the protectors. We have power surges all the time and I wouldn't be without them. I haven't replaced them for a few years, but might be time. Thanks for the reminder.