Cogito

I pulled one of my 301's out of hiding yesterday...one that had been donated to me. I admit I shelved it last year without cleaning it up and it was a mess. So I spent the better part of the day doing a total scrub down. Of course that included disassembly of the tension assembly. I thoroughly cleaned it and reassembled. I feel sure I have assembled it correctly and even followed the specific instructions for how to adjust. However, no matter how I adjust it I cannot get a loose tension at zero or any other setting. Any suggestions on what I need to do or what I am not doing?

miriam

Go look at Tammi's blog and watch her video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzFX...AyBQ2l-Mzkw7ew she has some good info on that type tension. Clean the center pin and post hole...
I wish a tension was all that is wrong with my 301. I have one with a frozen needle bar. Everything else at least rocks - top and bottom. It is in time out and soaking... That bad boy better work - no bobbin case in it... I think I might have enough parts to build one though. I already rebuilt the tension while it is in time out... it might some day sew.

SunlitenSmiles

so....the presser foot is up.....right?

miriam

adjust the tension when the presser foot is DOWN so it is engaged.

Rodney

I thought I had the site bookmarked but Tools For Self Reliance has an excellent tutorial on rebuilding sewing machine tensions on their website. I'm not sure if the 301s have any special quirks though.
Rodney

Cogito

Thank you Miriam for reminding me of Tammi's videos. I am subscribed and I love her tutorials. Thanks Tammi! Well I dutifully watched them again. I confirmed that I have at least assembled in the proper order. I took it all apart and did it again, just in case. What I don't understand is that in order to reduce the twnsion enough so that I don't get extreme resistance, I have to have the knurled nut halfway off the post. The really weird thing for me is that when I have the tension set at 4-5 ( with presser foot down) I can barely pull the thread for fear of breaking the needle yet the stitches indicate the top tension is too loose!

Update: I admit I don't get it....I had to loosen my bobbin almost 3/4 of a turn and tighten up the top tension quite a bit and NOW I'm getting a nice stitch. But if I were to do the tension test of pulling top thread it doesn't act like it is correct. Go figure.

Cogito

Thank you Rodney. I have their manuals in print. I swear I know them by heart anyway. Lol! Not really but I have referenced them many, many times. It's really just that my brain can't remember from one time to the next.

ArchaicArcane

Cogito - you are very welcome. I'm so glad to hear when people get stuff out of those posts.

One thing that people miss when they watch that video is the comment in the description "after the jump" - i.e.if you click "Show More".

It says "Note: The "2 setting" I mention toward the end of the video works for most full sized tensioners. For the smaller tensioners, like the 301 and the Featherweight, I find that the setting is full tight when the post is flush - between 9 and 10."

That would put the knurled nut part way off the post when it's at a 4 - 5.

If you reassemble like that, I bet your bobbin tension is now a little loose.

I grinned like the village .... uh,.. not so smart person ... when I read that you adjusted your bobbin tension and didn't even cringe!

Cogito

Yes I did miss the "show more". Now I'm curious and will have to go back and look. About that bobbin.....yes I'm not afraid to adjust it when it becomes obvious that no amount of top adjustment is bringing me close to where I need to be. Then it's down below I go! I figure at that point I can't make anything worse. Lol!