and the 5 push buttons tuck, etc. don't stay engaged.
I changed the sponge bar on knitter and ribber, and got the card trip lever engaging, but the punch pattern does not show up in needles. only a sporadic few needles make a pattern. Is there supposed to be a sponge bar of sorts in the trip bar that the card trip lever engages?
Should the tuck buttons stay engaged? (the 5 on the carriage)

I think a technical manual might help, but I'm afraid I am back to disassembly and guesswork.

Linda (frustrated in plain stockinette), April 2013

Have a look at www.machineknitttingetc.com there is a service manual for the KS787 there that I have uploaded recently.

Adriaan, July 2017

Hi Linda,
I had one of these machines many years ago. I will answer as far as I can remember. This model is now about 35 years old.
There is no sponge bar in the trip bar, it had a type of cloth covering.
The buttons on the carriage should stay in until you cancel them but not all of them at once! You have two for partial knitting (slip) and two for tuck - one for each direction of knitting. It was possible to have either both tuck, both part or one of each. I can't remember what the fifth button was for!
The problem with the needles not showing the pattern sounds to me to be a problem within the needlebed. There are a series of very fine plates which have to do with needle selection and over time they stop working. As frustrating as it sounds you might be limited to stocking stitch or hand selected patterns.
Sorry I can't give a more encouraging answer.
Regards,

Sue, April 2013