So glad I found your channel this is EXACTLY the video I needed ~ I thrifted a vintage sewing machine built into a table and these pieces ALL fell off during transport and I had no idea how to reassemble I appreciate you so much!!
Thank you so much for your excellent and extremely helpful videos. Without them I surely would not have had the courage to disassemble and reassemble the tension unit on my Necchi Supernova Ultra. Unfortunately, even after cleaning it and smoothing a very small indentation in one of the discs, I'm still having big problems with my upper thread tension being *too tight*. I can only sew with the tension at zero, and even then the fabric is puckered. When I use a stitch length of 4, it gathers the fabric. The stitches themselves are still beautiful, but the fabric gathers with every stitch length and every tension setting. I have a hypothesis and I would really appreciate your thoughts on this. The problem started recently, after the machine sewed several projects beautifully, without any tension issues. I was recently trying to fit a vintage Greist tucker attachment which was sitting too low, so that there was almost no clearance for the fabric underneath. (The tucker came with an adapter for high shank, but it obviously wasn't a perfect fit.) In order to get the adapter to work, I had to adjust the height of the presser bar. This worked, and I was able to use the tucker and it produced beautiful stitching. I had carefully marked the presser bar position with a pen before I changed it. After I removed the tucker attachment, I returned the presser bar back down to its original height. After messing around with the presser bar height, I was relieved when the SNU sewed my next two projects (on stretchy jersey fabric) normally. The upper thread tension tightness became evident only when I started my next project on a light and a medium weight cotton. I did some troubleshooting on the usual suspects that cause tension issues and nothing seems to explain it easily: my bobbin tension seems good, I'm using the correct needle and thread sizes, the presser foot pressure seems fine, I've rethreaded the machine multiple times. The tight tension is worst on lightweight fabric (as one would expect), but it is still too tight on medium and heavier weight fabric. The problem seems to be coming from the tension assembly. When the presser foot is down and I gently pull the thread, it doesn't move at all. There is total resistance at the tension assembly. It feels like the discs are clamped together. When I raise the presser bar up to the first position, the thread glides through nearly normally. I'm wondering if the presser bar height is perhaps a tiny bit off the correct height. As you demonstrate in your video, when I raise the presser bar, the tension assembly *does* push out. But it seems to me that the connection between the presser bar and the tension assembly is the main potential source of the problem. But I've tried moving the presser bar a tiny bit up and a tiny bit down, and I can't find any difference. I fear that messing with the presser bar has led to the tension issue, but I can't quite understand how. I adore this machine and I feel responsible for messing her up! I appreciate your incredible knowledge and generosity, and I will be even more grateful if you would like to consider this problem. I hope you are having fun on your own projects! With thanks, Samantha
I have the supernova ultra mk 2 and Mt tension wheel is different. I need help with the dial/knob not being attached to the screw/shaft...manual has it as one piece and I wonder if my can be glued.
So glad I found your channel this is EXACTLY the video I needed ~ I thrifted a vintage sewing machine built into a table and these pieces ALL fell off during transport and I had no idea how to reassemble I appreciate you so much!!
Glad it was helpful!
Hello! Thanks for showing how to clean the tension. I like to watch the before and after. It's amazing.
Thanks! 👍
Glad you liked it!
I love your videos !!
Thank you so much for your excellent and extremely helpful videos. Without them I surely would not have had the courage to disassemble and reassemble the tension unit on my Necchi Supernova Ultra. Unfortunately, even after cleaning it and smoothing a very small indentation in one of the discs, I'm still having big problems with my upper thread tension being *too tight*. I can only sew with the tension at zero, and even then the fabric is puckered. When I use a stitch length of 4, it gathers the fabric. The stitches themselves are still beautiful, but the fabric gathers with every stitch length and every tension setting.
I have a hypothesis and I would really appreciate your thoughts on this. The problem started recently, after the machine sewed several projects beautifully, without any tension issues. I was recently trying to fit a vintage Greist tucker attachment which was sitting too low, so that there was almost no clearance for the fabric underneath. (The tucker came with an adapter for high shank, but it obviously wasn't a perfect fit.)
In order to get the adapter to work, I had to adjust the height of the presser bar. This worked, and I was able to use the tucker and it produced beautiful stitching. I had carefully marked the presser bar position with a pen before I changed it. After I removed the tucker attachment, I returned the presser bar back down to its original height.
After messing around with the presser bar height, I was relieved when the SNU sewed my next two projects (on stretchy jersey fabric) normally. The upper thread tension tightness became evident only when I started my next project on a light and a medium weight cotton. I did some troubleshooting on the usual suspects that cause tension issues and nothing seems to explain it easily: my bobbin tension seems good, I'm using the correct needle and thread sizes, the presser foot pressure seems fine, I've rethreaded the machine multiple times. The tight tension is worst on lightweight fabric (as one would expect), but it is still too tight on medium and heavier weight fabric.
The problem seems to be coming from the tension assembly. When the presser foot is down and I gently pull the thread, it doesn't move at all. There is total resistance at the tension assembly. It feels like the discs are clamped together. When I raise the presser bar up to the first position, the thread glides through nearly normally.
I'm wondering if the presser bar height is perhaps a tiny bit off the correct height. As you demonstrate in your video, when I raise the presser bar, the tension assembly *does* push out. But it seems to me that the connection between the presser bar and the tension assembly is the main potential source of the problem. But I've tried moving the presser bar a tiny bit up and a tiny bit down, and I can't find any difference.
I fear that messing with the presser bar has led to the tension issue, but I can't quite understand how. I adore this machine and I feel responsible for messing her up! I appreciate your incredible knowledge and generosity, and I will be even more grateful if you would like to consider this problem. I hope you are having fun on your own projects!
With thanks,
Samantha
I have the supernova ultra mk 2 and Mt tension wheel is different. I need help with the dial/knob not being attached to the screw/shaft...manual has it as one piece and I wonder if my can be glued.