And finally, this last photo shows that the rubber bobbin wheel -can- be lifted away from the handwheel, by lifting "up" on the bobbin-winding "axel". So it is physically possible to cease contact - but there is not any apparent mechanism by which to keep it latched "up". Any ideas? By the way, sorry that in the previous post, one photo appeared twice.

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Many thanks in advance! I am hoping that the other Phoenix machines out these are similar enough that someone can help me.

Would the part that holds the bobbin in place go UNDER THE BOBBIN? Would a little push take all of it off the wheel?

Thanks Barny, but unfortunately not. The curvy metal part and the squarish button move in tandem, and the squarish metal button has firmly bolted hardware the dictates its parameters of movement. It is very hard to explain and I am sorry I can't seem to find the right words. As I 'lift' the bobbin rubber wheel away from the handwheel, I could either stick a wooden wedge between some of the hardware, or use a very strong small clamp to keep it up and away - but it just seems really odd to me that there is no built-in way to snap it to 'engaged' or 'disengeaged'.

#6 the Elna, have you tried contact cleaner? I've used it on my kenmore and that stuff is like magic on metal. I squirt the can in a continuous mode and quite literally all the gunk melts off. I like having a towel in place to catch run off.

When I got my first Kenmore she had sticky yellowed gunky oil inside on the main cam and there was bits of black goop in it. I sprayed the cleaner on it, lo and behold, the metal was shiny silver within moments. I tested it on a tiny corner to make sure it wouldn't kill the paint. And i avoided plastic because i was a bit worried but for the most part, magic in a can. if you're working with metal parts. They're like 4 bucks a can at walmart and auto parts store. :D

Also welcome! LOL i started with one Kenmore and now have a total of 3 Kenmores and one Singer <-- my newest one, which is in the process of de-gunking and fixing up. :D I'm about finished with my first quilt using my Kenmore 50 :D *dances* i'm excited.

I don't think the thread is supposed to go through the little circle at the end of your tension wire. That is just a way of ending the wire so it doesn't stick you with a sharp end. Try just dropping the thread directly between the disks.

Thanks, redmadder. I thought so, too - so I tried it as you suggested, and unfortunately when I did not thread it through the tiny loop, the whole spring just flopped down and to the left and did not provide tension.

This threading seems really unusual -- and quite a pain! Has anyone seen threading such as this on other machines?

While on the topic of tension, I am also wondering whether the tension knob looks as though it is missing a cover screw, to sort of hold things in place a bit more firmly? I am wondering because when I simply turn the numbered knob, the whole tension assembly wants to turn. When I stabilize things with my fingers and then turn the numbered dial, then indeed only the numbered dial turns. Seems to me that I should be able to simply turn the dial itself and not have to stabilize other bits so as not to have them travel as well. Any ideas, anyone?

Thanks!

Also, I wanted to say - I was sewing today, testing out stitches on leather. Wow, it stitches nicely! I did notice I had to reduce the tension -hugely- in order to sew zig zag on leather and not have the top thread pucker up. Does this sound typical? I have no experience sewing leather. Not much experience sewing anything at all, to be honest - I am still a novice!

Thanks in advance for any comments. :-)

Why would you sew zig zag on leather. I think if I were going to sew leather I would do it on something less rare like a 15 clone.
I don't know about the tension unless I had the machine on my bench. Does the manual have any info on the workings of the tension? Some times they have a drawing of the tension. Then you would have to look and compare. I would probably take the tension apart and put it back together but I do them all the time. If you aren't used to doing it you might want to get it serviced.

I was just doing the zig zag on leather to test out the stitching and see how it would look cosmetically. How come you would suggest doing it on something less rare - is there something about zig zagging (or sewing in general) on leather that might wear the machine?

I think I might disassemble the tension at some point; that is a good idea. There are no drawings in the manual, but I might keep looking... Otherwise, I figure if I take it apart carefully, one piece at a time, what could go wrong? ;-) Famous last words!

Thanks a lot for your input :-)

Hi Cecilia
Now that I've looked at your pics I'm pretty sure the bobbin winder and tension assembly is the same as my Phoenix 250, so I will take pics and look into your questions and post back tomorrow when there's time and daylight. We'll get to the bottom of this! Mine has been driving me mad.... but I am 90% sure I'm getting a manual from Germany so I'll be sharing it with the world when I finally get this machine going!!
(PS - mine's called "River" - hehe)