Rocketeer Bobbin Winder Latch Spring

  As I was reassembling the bobbin winders on my three 500's and the 503, I noticed that on only one of the four machines did the bobbin winder latch remain snug against the bobbin winder. It was a little difficult to see why, but investigation revealed that there is a spring under the bobbin winder latch that is supposed to push the bobbin winder latch up against the bobbin winder.

That spring is hard to see because it is so small and hidden under the latch.  I see only two functions for this spring:

 - It keeps the bobbin winder latch from rattling during machine operation

 - It makes the latch snap into place if the operator engages the bobbin winder by pushing the bobbin winder toward the balance wheel but the instruction manual says to engage the bobbin winder by pushing the latch
toward the bobbin and not by pushing the bobbin winder itself.

  Fortunately, I cannot see any adverse effect on machine  performance but if the designers felt it should be there, I want to restore it to original condition.

   The spring is a simple affair having about 1 1/2 coils with an "L" bend at each end. one "L" hooks on a finger beneath and behind  the latch and the other hooks over the back side of the latch.

 The spring  is not as heavy as the bobbin winder return spring and the music wire fishing tackle I bought previously was  close in diameter, so I was going to fashion new springs from it.

  The good news is that none of the springs was broken, they had merely slipped out of place.  Problem as I see it is that the "L" that hooks over the latch is not long enough and eventually loses its grip on the latch.

  A very simple solution - take a pair of needlenose pliers and bend that "L" into a "U".  That should hold in place better than the original design.

Check your Rocketeer bobbin winders to see if there is any spring to the latch when you push it away from the bobbin winder shaft. Since 3 out of 4 of my machines did not offer any resistance, I have to deduce that this must be a common deficiency with this particular design.

NOTE: If you remove the latch, don't lose the washer underneath or the latch will not be able to swivel when reinstalled.