Age Dating Your Futura 900/920, Athena, Touch Tronic Machines

THESE ARE SERVICE MANUALS, NOT OWNERS MANUALS

VERY IMPORTANT - READ THIS: All Manuals are download only - no shipping involved - you will not be sent a hard copy - there are no refunds for downloaded material - manuals are as received - some may have been redacted to reduce file size for downloading - if you are not sure about what to download - ask first - 500 & 800 Series Manuals normally apply to Archer & Brother Bicor VX1005 Series. Some Fashion Mate Series Manuals are poor in picture quality...that is factory and not me, again, no refunds on manuals offered.

Futura 900/920 Manufacture Dating Serial Number The serial number of the machine is located on the underneath of the bed casting, at the head end of the machine, and is visible through an opening in the bottom cover. An AT prefix identifies machines built at the Elizabeth factory in New Jersey. A BB prefix identifies machines built at the Anderson factory in South Carolina. A later serial numbering system at Anderson uses single letter prefixes to identify the production line. The first numeral indicates the year built. The next three numerals indicate the calendar day of the year, and the last three numerals the number of the machine built on the production line that day.

Example: S4131053

S = Line that produced the machine

4 = Built in 1974

131 = 13lst day of the year (i.e. May 11th).

053 = 53rd machine built on line S the 131st day.

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Athena 1200, 2000, Touch Tronic 2001, 2005 Manufacture Dating Machine Serial Number

All mainly produced at Anderson, South Carolina Plant The serial number of the machine is located on the underside of the bed casting, at the head end of the machine, and is visible through an opening in the bottom cover. The serial numbering system uses a single letter prefix to identify the production line. The first numeral indicates the year built. The next three numerals indicate the calendar day of the year, and the last three numerals indicate the number of the machine built on the production line that day.

Example: S5331053

S-Line that produced the machine

5-Built in 1975

331 = 331st day of the year (i..e. Nov 27th).

053 = 53rd machine built on line S the 331st day. This numbering system provides a quick means of identifying the age of a machine and keeping up to date with production changes and improvements. Since it is possible to have as many identical serial numbers as there are production lines, the prefix letter is most important. THE PREFIX LETTER IS THE ONLY MEANS OF DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN TWO SERIAL NUMBERS WITH IDENTICAL NUMERALS. Note (Athena 2000): If the serial number area is not painted and is stamped with I believe an X, that indicates a factory refurbished machine. It may have had an electronic issue and was returned to the factory for repair. This was the procedure before local Singer Store Repairs were made in house, and mainly applied to the 1975 release models. Later in 1976, some of Stores were able to repair in house, and replace the circuit boards locally. The store I was located at, we had undergone training and provided the necessary digital meters to perform circuit board testing.

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Touch Tronic 2001* - 2010

The serial number of the machine is located on the underside of the bed casting, at the head-end of the machine, and is visible through an o in the bottom cover. The serial numbering system uses a single letter prefix to identify the manufacturing source. The first numeral indicates the year built. The next three numerals indicate the calendar day of the year the machine was built. This is followed by a letter which identifies the individual assembly line. The last three numerals indicate the number of the machine built on the production line that day.

Example: Al061C027

A = Manufacturing Source (Anderson)

1 = Built in 1981

061 = 61st day of the year (i.e. March 2nd)

C = Assembly line that produced the machine

027 = 27th machine built on assembly line C that day.

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This information is extracted from the Factory Service Manuals. The Singer 600 & 700 T&S's, Stylist 400 & 500 Series, and Fashion Mates may have had their own system, but to my knowledge...there was no serial number dating other than what is listed in the little Blue Book produced by Bobette Industries for all machines before the Futura, Athena and Touch Tronic. Models produced after Singer sold the sewing machine division....I have no knowledge on how to age date those machines.

* The 2001 may have 2 different serial number types. At one point, which I don't recall just when, Singer made a change to the harness wiring connections from the servo to logic board. And they are not interchangeable to my recollection.