Once a spring has lost it's spring I don't think anything will fix it. For the couple of dollars for a new one I wouldn't even try. Even if you could get the he old one to work it wouldn't last very long

So they can lose their sproing? Thanks. I'll get a new one.

I'm on a fix and donate spree ... the day after I got one machine, a couple of others showed up really cheap so I'm fixing them to donate to a local sewing circle.

Well ... DUH!!!!! ... it's time to bang my head on the sewing machine.

It's been so long since I took a tension thingy apart that I forgot that the loop that pushes against the thread needs to be inserted with the loop somewhere near 7 o'clock (if the tensioner were a clock face) and not at high noon like I was inserting it.

I now have some resistance in that spring. It's working like it should now.