It's beginning to sound as though many Sidewinders are defective, but a number of them are not. I know that I tried mine every way possible, all the ways mentioned here. Nothing worked on either one that was purchased. Mine both came from the same lot at Joann's. My feeling is that it's a poorly made product even though the price is high enough that it shouldn't be. I wish some company would come out with a better one. The theory behind it is very good. Wind a bunch of bobbins without interrupting your sewing machine. It seems simple enough to let your kids do it for you. But, for me at least, it wasn't.
With the number of dissatisfied customers the company should be aware of what's going on. I wonder how many of us actually reported their problems to the company? :-(