Older Bernina - Fixing a Broken Tension Dial

Fixing the tension dial on older Bernina's such as the 500 and 600 series sewing machines.
After a lot of use, the plastic dial's thread can deteriorate to the point where it is no longer working correctly.
I show how to replace the broken dial with a simple off the shelf washer and nut. This could be considered a temporary or permanent fix, depending on parts availability.
It's not ideal aesthetically and does mean the nut can be difficult to turn by hand but the use of a small spanner can help. You also lose the handy indicator that gives you a reference mark.
Tension can be set easily by trial and error.
Index:
0.00 - Introduction
1:33 - The plan and explaining the tension indicator
3:09 - The fix
3:53 - Initial tension setting
5:41 - An option to fix the dial
6:35 - Conclusion
My web site - www.institches.co.nz
If you'd like to support my channel, please visit - www.patreon.com/sewingmachines

[@hollymatthews7543]

Thank you thank you for posting this! I have a Bernina 600 from the 1969s (my grandmother's) and I have the same issue with the thread tension plastic cap breaking. Heading to Bunnings today to get a little nut and washer!

[@anitaswart.]

Hi I think that is a practical way to fix that problem. a real sewer doesn't really worry about the looks of a machine, what counts is cost for repairs and does it work. I bought an Italian 5 real industrial overlocker, Remoldi with cranked knobs for quite a bit of money and once I understood how it worked, not so easy, it was magic for many years and is if I was fussy I would have bought an inferior machine. Keep up the good work.

[@tomobedlam297]

I tried the nut trick but found that by the point it "took" on the screw thread the tension was already too tight. My tensioner dial's threaded sleeve bit wasn't broken like this one but the threads were too stripped to work as it should. For a quick fix I coated the stripped plastic threads in superglue and worked an M6 machine screw in and out while the glue went off. Epoxy would probably work better long term but so far the superglue has held up and I'm back sewing. 😊

[@slashnburndotcodotuk]

Epoxying the metal nut into the cap is a perfect solution. The plastic thread lasted probably 50 years, so the metal nut should last another 1000. I can't imagine the tension spring would exert much force, so, affixing the dial with epoxy (or even a hot glue gun) would retain the aesthetic, and make it better than original. i've got a 700, which, fortunately has a different tensioning arrangement built into the top plate. But thanks for posting this. Who knows when one will cross my path...

[@nataliemorgenstern5754]

amazing! so helpful...

[@CazkiwiNZ]

Watched this and bookmarking. Luckily both my 530 and 600 have good knobs (tee hee), but good to know this info, thanks for sharing! Do you… tho.. perchance have a spare spring plunger top bar for the needle position for a 600? Mine is totally busted/stuck and I’ve ruined it myself further now because I was impatient….and it doesn’t move (tho I just loosen the 4 screws and manually move it to move the needle to left or right if needed), but I love this machine and would rather it worked without that fussing around, everything else is perfect with it - and manually moving doesn’t allow me to freemotion on-the-fly use the zig-zag stitching I would like to do.

[@samirsabih2177]

شكرا جزيلا لهذا الشرح Thank you very much

[@InStitches]

Thanks.

[@neway518]

The previous owner fixed it with a wing nut