I talked with a Viking dealer at the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo here in Florida. In fact, I copied your original post and had her read it. She looked at one of the FMQ fee she had and noticed that the spring thingy does not come off the new ones. So difficult to judge the foot without seeing it. Does the wire at the top of the spring come off or it welded into the shaft of the foot? It was her opinion that possibly what is happening is that since the spring has been disengaged then the foot no longer jumps up and down as it should but stays in a down position and presses too hard against the quilt prevent it from moving. Let me suggest that you look on the internet for the Viking website and see if they have an address where you can write a question. There should also be a place where you can make an inquiry or a site for their headquarters. It appears that the foot should not break and it might be useful to take the problem directly to headquarters.