Need Help with 201 Tension
 

My daughter has my MIL's 201 singer and we are having trouble with the upper thread tension. I have printed out the pages from the manual but I don't really understand how to redo the tension setting. The tension is too tight but when we try to turn the nob left, the dial will not move. It sits with "0" right in the center of of the indicator.

If anyone owns a 201 model and has resolved a similar problem, I would certainly appreciate your help. Of course, our antique experts advice is always welcomed.

I remember my MIL sewing with this machine and the tension was always an issue and every time the Singer man was in town he was there doing adjustments. I know there has been lots adjustments done which never seemed to resolve the problem. My antiques are all models 15-91s so I know little about these machines, but I will keep my personal opinion of this one for myself!

On the 201, it should be the same as other Singers of the period. I've found this link helpful for troubleshooting, taking apart, and putting back together the tension on 66s and 99s, both old style and newer style with the number dial.

TFSR manual.

Hope it helps!

Bennett you beat me to it - that manual is wonderful - tensions especially - it will walk you through it. If you can follow directions to make a quilt or a dress you can follow those directions.

I have four 201-2's and don't have any problems with the tension. My husband has taken the tension controls apart on different vintage machines, cleaned them and reinstalled them. This might work in your case.

Thank you for your advice and I will look at the manual. I have the 201 machine manual, just need to get my nerve up to do this.

This manual link has so-o-o much information on not just the tensioners but also just about everything else that you need to know about antique/vintage Singer sewing machines. I've just solved 2 problems that I'm having, with two separate machines, by reading through the different sections of that link.

Hi,

Don't remove the stud and little spring unless necessary. Between the manual and a little trial and error this isn't bad.

Jon

Hi Samantha, if you're certain the top tension is too tight and you wish to alter the settings so you can adjust the dial to allow a looser setting:

Understand that the thread tension number indicated on your dial is an arbitrary number that you can easily re-adjust. Here's how: Using your thumbnails at 3 and 9 o'clock on the dial (just the black plastic part with the white numbers on it), push it in. Once you've got it pushed in you should be able to use your thumbnails to rotate that black dial to the left or right, changing that "0" to "5". Then let the dial pop back into position. You should now have a little more "wiggle room" to adjust your tension.