I would replace the broken part. I'm not sure which part you mean, I got cofused in the descriptions. There are two springs in the tensioner, both go on the tension stud; the inner made of a fine wire is the check spring for the thread, the outer is cone shaped and made of thicker wire. The check spring is a must for even stitching, I'm not sure how much play is allowed on the outer, but it's there to give the tension disks just the right pressure.