Sailrite WorkerB model - anyone have it?

[chowdan]

Hey all,

Looking to purchase a sailrite to make my stackpack(doyle wanted $1900+ for one!).

Looking at the models over the years, it seems like Sailrite came out with one called "Worker b" that has some electronics on it. Curious if anyone has this model and if so would they buy it again? Priced it out and figured it was worth having all the doo-hickeys as i wouldn't mind doing cushions and what not down the road.

Open to suggestions, but am pretty sold on the Sailrite due to resale value of it, just unsure if i should go for the Worker B model or not.

[vikingwoman]

Yes just installed it on my 2017 zigzag model.LSZ I have the monster wheel so it is possible to hand crank the machine plus wonderfully slow when doing corners with the worker B. .

Works great on the 110v ac shore power. Had problems with the electronic controller putting an E10 error code on my Xantrax Prowatt SW 600 watt or our Prowatt SW 2000 watt inverter.. With an inline ammeter it only draws 1.5-3amps.

Remove the ground on the cord and everything works great no tripping of the inverter. I have put a polarized 2 terminal plug on the end on a standard computer cord that plugs into the controller cut short the green wire and the white wire to the silver screw and black wire to the brass screw. Wonderful.

Some of the chopping in the controller for speed control must make the inverter think it is seeing a fault.

A pure sine inverter is what to use for your AV and other ac equipment when you do not have shore power.
As they are on sale I bought two WorkB kits for spare parts.

Hope this helps.
Charla

[rls8r]

The Worker B is the power pack motor system. I think that it now comes standard on both the LS and LSZ machines. I had an older machine and replaced the old power pack with the Worker B system. The Worker B is a great improvement. Among other things, it allows you to adjust the maximum speed of the machine. With my older model I controlled the speed only with the foot pedal. I can still do that, but the Worker B allows me to set a maximum speed for the foot pedal. That has made all the difference in the world for my ability to (successfully) sew corners, curves, and bindings.

If you want to save some money, you might think about buying an older Sailrite machine and upgrading it with the Worker B system for $199 (for the 120 v only system - until 12/31 when it goes back up to $275) or $395 (for the 100 - 230 v system). Note that the Worker B power pack will not work with a pure sine wave inverter, and the 100-230 v system will only work with an inverter that puts out 110-120 volts (although it will work OK with 230 v shore/household current). My Victron inverter puts out a pure sine wave, and all my 110 v outlets come through my inverter. So - I don't sew while underway, and when I'm at a slip I simply run an extension cord to a dockside power outlet to power the machine.

The LS just sews straight lines; with the LSZ you can sew zig-zag stitches. For most projects the straight stitch will be fine, but zig-zag stitches are good for seams that may need to stretch a bit, for very light sailcloth, and you can use them to serge the edges of fabrics that you don't cut/seal with a hot knife.

I've made a bunch of things for my boat using the LSZ with the older power pack and with the Worker B upgrade. I'd certainly buy it again. As Vikingwoman noted - get the monster wheel. Having it in addition to the standard wheel will give you more control options.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by rls8r

The Worker B is the power pack motor system. I think that it now comes standard on both the LS and LSZ machines. I had an older machine and replaced the old power pack with the Worker B system. The Worker B is a great improvement. Among other things, it allows you to adjust the maximum speed of the machine. With my older model I controlled the speed only with the foot pedal. I can still do that, but the Worker B allows me to set a maximum speed for the foot pedal. That has made all the difference in the world for my ability to (successfully) sew corners, curves, and bindings.

If you want to save some money, you might think about buying an older Sailrite machine and upgrading it with the Worker B system for $199 (for the 120 v only system - until 12/31 when it goes back up to $275) or $395 (for the 100 - 230 v system). Note that the Worker B power pack will not work with a pure sine wave inverter, and the 100-230 v system will only work with an inverter that puts out 110-120 volts (although it will work OK with 230 v shore/household current). My Victron inverter puts out a pure sine wave, and all my 110 v outlets come through my inverter. So - I don't sew while underway, and when I'm at a slip I simply run an extension cord to a dockside power outlet to power the machine.

The LS just sews straight lines; with the LSZ you can sew zig-zag stitches. For most projects the straight stitch will be fine, but zig-zag stitches are good for seams that may need to stretch a bit, for very light sailcloth, and you can use them to serge the edges of fabrics that you don't cut/seal with a hot knife.

I've made a bunch of things for my boat using the LSZ with the older power pack and with the Worker B upgrade. I'd certainly buy it again. As Vikingwoman noted - get the monster wheel. Having it in addition to the standard wheel will give you more control options.

I have an older LSZ with a monster wheel… they talk about the monster-2 wheel and I guess I’m out of luck? It sounds like something I want…