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General Upholstery Questions and Comments => General Discussion => Topic started by: baileyuph on July 09, 2011, 06:46:58 am

Title: Thread Tension Disc
Post by: baileyuph on July 09, 2011, 06:46:58 am
Are tension disc on the Consew/Singer machines a part that can be bought or is the tension system a requirement?  In the past, the disc could be purchased  as parts.

Not interested in parts from China.  Seiko (sp?) parts perform longer.

Doyle
Title: Re: Thread Tension Disc
Post by: Mike8560 on July 09, 2011, 08:38:46 am
To my knowlege  the whole asembly can be bought I've replaced parts in the past. 

Y old singer now has a bit of wear on the post the the disks spring and nut go on.
I may need to replace it in time. 
Title: Re: Thread Tension Disc
Post by: Mojo on July 09, 2011, 08:57:50 am
Doyle:

I believe the tension discs can be bought separately but don;t hold me to that. :)

Bob Kovar is a Singer and Consew authorized dealer and stocks Consew / Singer parts so give him a call and see what he has on the shelf. I know he will not stock cheap Chinese copycat parts and his prices are very good. He typically ships your parts right after he hangs up talking with you.

I believe he is in the shop today ( Saturday ) as they are open 6 days a week.

Here is his number - 419--380-8540

Chris
Title: Re: Thread Tension Disc
Post by: NDAV8R on July 10, 2011, 08:14:23 am
   If you are really in a pinch like I was, you can sand off the face grooves (made by the thread)on a very fine belt sander. Or you can pinch both disks on a fine double sided file with your fingers.  You can follow up by sanding them with at least 600 grit sand paper, then polishing them with rubbing compound.
 I did that late one night on a weekend on one of my  machines, and it still is going strong. You could only do that once, though.

Gale.
Title: Re: Thread Tension Disc
Post by: Mike8560 on July 10, 2011, 09:39:51 am
The  post on mine that gets the groove it was so bad once is gi
ot by by placing a cut piece of straw  from a drink over the shaft  to ack like a bushing for the thread to ride on I'd have to replace it before I replace the whole thing  not it's starting to wear again 
Title: Re: Thread Tension Disc
Post by: 206RB on July 10, 2011, 10:19:10 am
Quote from: Mike8560 on July 10, 2011, 09:39:51 am
The  post on mine that gets the groove it was so bad once is gi
ot by by placing a cut piece of straw  from a drink over the shaft  to ack like a bushing for the thread to ride on I'd have to replace it before I replace the whole thing  not it's starting to wear again 

My boss says the thread doesn't need to go around that post.
I say then why did they put it there?
Title: Re: Thread Tension Disc
Post by: sofadoc on July 10, 2011, 01:04:31 pm
Quote from: 206RB on July 10, 2011, 10:19:10 am
My boss says the thread doesn't need to go around that post.
I say then why did they put it there?

Are we talking about the threaded post, or the little pin? Many people go around the pin. I never have.
Title: Re: Thread Tension Disc
Post by: baileyuph on July 10, 2011, 02:36:26 pm
I am told, the thread isn't required to go over the little off centered pin.  If you want to do it and can get your tension adjusted, it won't hurt a thing.

The little pin plays a role in alignment of the asembly of parts at the tensioner.

This has come from guys in the machine maintenance business with a good amount of experience, they may have technical manuals to support what say, I never asked.

Let us know if you have a good technical argument that there is benefit for routing the thread over the little pin.



Thanks,
Doyle
Title: Re: Thread Tension Disc
Post by: Gregg @ Keystone Sewing on July 11, 2011, 06:17:49 am
Quote from: NDAV8R on July 10, 2011, 08:14:23 am
  If you are really in a pinch like I was, you can sand off the face grooves (made by the thread)on a very fine belt sander. Or you can pinch both disks on a fine double sided file with your fingers.  You can follow up by sanding them with at least 600 grit sand paper, then polishing them with rubbing compound.
 I did that late one night on a weekend on one of my  machines, and it still is going strong. You could only do that once, though.

Gale.


Oh gosh, we haven't done that one in a long time around these parts.  My I remember my dad always doing this.  Not a bad idea, since the quality of original parts is often better, and you know the originals work as intenended. 

Both genuine and generic parts are available seperate for thread tensions for Consew, Singer, and Seiko.

Title: Re: Thread Tension Disc
Post by: lamx on July 11, 2011, 06:24:53 am
The Parachute Rigger who taught me to use my Singer 111W155 told me to run the thread over that pin and I have always done that.  But in looking at the figure 7-04 threading diagram for a Pfaff 1245 linked in another thread, it clearly shows the thread bypassing that pin.  I checked the threading diagram for the Singer 111W155 and it is so fuzzy I can't tell whether the thread goes over that pin or not, but the written instructions say nothing about passing the thread over the pin.  The threading diagram for the 111G157 also shows the thread going directly to the thread controller without mentioning the pin.  The Juli 562 threading diagram definitely shows the thread bypassing the pin, so my guess is that it's not necessary.

Looking at all these threading diagrams shows me that I have been threading my 111W155 incorrectly for the past 35 years!  I have been routing the thread through the lower side of the tension disks, up over the pin, and down to the thread controller.  I should have been routing across the top of the tension disks, bypassing the pin and directly down to the thread controller.  The good news is that the top half of my tension disks have not been used for those 35 years and if I begin threading correctly, I can probably get another 35 years out of the upper half of those disks.

Ed

Title: Re: Thread Tension Disc
Post by: Gregg @ Keystone Sewing on July 11, 2011, 07:35:31 am
Quote from: lamx on July 11, 2011, 06:24:53 am
The Parachute Rigger who taught me to use my Singer 111W155 told me to run the thread over that pin and I have always done that.
Ed


Lots of repairs come in with that tension disk pin half cut off with a thread groove cut into it over the course of many years of service.  This can cut the thread, and I don't ever recommend to 'thread' this pin, although, as you can see, many, many do.  I used to repair this pin with high quialty music wire of all things, as the stock part number would never 'press in' and stay there, as it was always too loose.  As the cost of good quailty tension assemblys complete have come down, and the fact that if the pin is worn like that, is't likly other stuff is worn out, missing, and or broken, I have not done a repair like that in a while, but it brings back memories!