The tension knob came off, have I broke it? Or just push down on the spring?

many presser foot shafts have a adjuster knob around the top that increases the spring tension that pushes the foot down
check around the top and turn that ring

Having the same problem. This is the second time that the rod gives out on me. It's just not built for this type of wear, which is very frustrating, because it should be! I paid 400$ for this bike, and it has failed twice within a year! Come on Schwinn! Have to wait another two weeks to receive a new part... there goes my workout plan.

So to preface this, I am not a technician and I am not familiar with all of the technical terms. I am simply a home tinkerer whose schwinn IC2 bike tension stopped working after a year and a half. I was frustrated to find no solutions online so I decided to have a go at it myself (bike was broke either way, might as well try and fix it, right?)



I have identified the problem. I am going to try to explain this as clearly as possible.



The tension assembly is basically a round rod that fits into a square pipe. At the top of the rod is the red knob and at the bottom, it is nested against the brake assembly. So when you push the knob down, this pushes the brake against the flywheel (emergency stop). The mechanism to adjust tension works like this: Inside the square pipe, the rod is threaded on about the bottom 2 1/2 inches (with about a half inch unthreaded at the bottom). On this threaded portion, there is a square nut with a spring on top (the spring acts to allow you to push down for the emergency stop, but to hold it in the "on" position normally). As you turn the knob, and therefore the rod, the nut moves up and down the rod. So when you crank up the tension, it moves down, pushing against another round nut (this one you can see at the bottom), which pushes down on the brake. When you turn it back to let off the tension, the nut moves back up, and the tension is released. Got it?



So what seems to be the problem? The square nut inside is not catching on the rod. It will kind of move up and down, but it seems to be stripped enough that you can\'t get enough force to push down on the brake by turning the knob- it just slips and your are stuck with no tension.



After some tinkering (and a lot of frustration) I figured out how to get the rod out (which was actually quite easy in the end, of course). You have to remove the brake assembly by removing the two bolts that attach the whole thing to the frame. Then, you can just unscrew the round nut from the rod (using a wrench, while also holding the rod in place) and the turn the knob towards "+" until you can get the square nut off. Then the rod will slide out the top.



It was immediately clear... The rod is almost COMPLETELY STRIPPED. There is little to no threading left on about an inch of the threaded portion, rendering it useless. So the rod needs to be replaced.



Good news and bad news.



Bad news first. This part does not seem to be available anywhere online. Schwinn (hereby called Nautilus, their parent company) does not officially sell it online. And I\'m guessing it is not profitable for anyone else to, either, because no one else seems to be selling it either.



Good news is that Nautilus will sell it over the phone. The part itself is $2.69 but with shipping, it came to about $13.00 (yeah... that\'s right. $10 to ship a metal rod because their quality sucks just because). The part was not covered under warranty. Maybe it would be within the first year? I don\'t know.



I didn\'t order it myself yet. I am heading to the hardware store tonight to see if I can rig up a custom fix because I don\'t appreciate having to pay to replace parts because their quality is lacking and they couldn\'t figure out how to make a threaded rod that wouldn\'t disintegrate. But that\'s just me.



If you want to order it from Nautilus the number I called was (800)605-3369 (listed on the schwinn website, it was different than that number in my user manual).



This was posted back in January, so you\'ve probably replaced the bike or gotten rid of it by now. But I wanted to post this in case anyone else came across this question (like I did) so they don\'t have to be met with no solutions (like I was). I hope this helps someone!

So to preface this, I am not a technician and I am not familiar with all of the technical terms. I am simply a home tinkerer whose schwinn IC2 bike tension stopped working after a year and a half. I was frustrated to find no solutions online so I decided to have a go at it myself (bike was broke either way, might as well try and fix it, right?)

I have identified the problem. I am going to try to explain this as clearly as possible.

The tension assembly is basically a round rod that fits into a square pipe. At the top of the rod is the red knob and at the bottom, it is nested against the brake assembly. So when you push the knob down, this pushes the brake against the flywheel (emergency stop). The mechanism to adjust tension works like this: Inside the square pipe, the rod is threaded on about the bottom 2 1/2 inches (with about a half inch unthreaded at the bottom). On this threaded portion, there is a square nut with a spring on top (the spring acts to allow you to push down for the emergency stop, but to hold it in the "on" position normally). As you turn the knob, and therefore the rod, the nut moves up and down the rod. So when you crank up the tension, it moves down, pushing against another round nut (this one you can see at the bottom), which pushes down on the brake. When you turn it back to let off the tension, the nut moves back up, and the tension is released. Got it?

So what seems to be the problem? The square nut inside is not catching on the rod. It will kind of move up and down, but it seems to be stripped enough that you can't get enough force to push down on the brake by turning the knob- it just slips and your are stuck with no tension.

After some tinkering (and a lot of frustration) I figured out how to get the rod out (which was actually quite easy in the end, of course). You have to remove the brake assembly by removing the two bolts that attach the whole thing to the frame. Then, you can just unscrew the round nut from the rod (using a wrench, while also holding the rod in place) and the turn the knob towards "+" until you can get the square nut off. Then the rod will slide out the top.

It was immediately clear... The rod is almost COMPLETELY STRIPPED. There is little to no threading left on about an inch of the threaded portion, rendering it useless. So the rod needs to be replaced.

Good news and bad news.

Bad news first. This part does not seem to be available anywhere online. Schwinn (hereby called Nautilus, their parent company) does not officially sell it online. And I'm guessing it is not profitable for anyone else to, either, because no one else seems to be selling it either.

Good news is that Nautilus will sell it over the phone. The part itself is $2.69 but with shipping, it came to about $13.00 (yeah... that's right. $10 to ship a metal rod because their quality sucks just because ********). The part was not covered under warranty. Maybe it would be within the first year? I don't know.

I didn't order it myself yet. I am heading to the hardware store tonight to see if I can rig up a custom fix because I don't appreciate having to pay to replace parts because their quality is lacking and they couldn't figure out how to make a threaded rod that wouldn't disintegrate. But that's just me.

If you want to order it from Nautilus the number I called was (800)605-3369 (listed on the schwinn website, it was different than that number in my user manual).

This was posted back in January, so you've probably replaced the bike or gotten rid of it by now. But I wanted to post this in case anyone else came across this question (like I did) so they don't have to be met with no solutions (like I was). I hope this helps someone!

So to preface this, I am not a technician and I am not familiar with all of the technical terms. I am simply a home tinkerer whose schwinn IC2 bike tension stopped working after a year and a half. I was frustrated to find no solutions online so I decided to have a go at it myself (bike was broke either way, might as well try and fix it, right?)

I have identified the problem. I am going to try to explain this as clearly as possible.

The tension assembly is basically a round rod that fits into a square pipe. At the top of the rod is the red knob and at the bottom, it is nested against the brake assembly. So when you push the knob down, this pushes the brake against the flywheel (emergency stop). The mechanism to adjust tension works like this: Inside the square pipe, the rod is threaded on about the bottom 2 1/2 inches (with about a half inch unthreaded at the bottom). On this threaded portion, there is a square nut with a spring on top (the spring acts to allow you to push down for the emergency stop, but to hold it in the "on" position normally). As you turn the knob, and therefore the rod, the nut moves up and down the rod. So when you crank up the tension, it moves down, pushing against another round nut (this one you can see at the bottom), which pushes down on the brake. When you turn it back to let off the tension, the nut moves back up, and the tension is released. Got it?

So what seems to be the problem? The square nut inside is not catching on the rod. It will kind of move up and down, but it seems to be stripped enough that you can't get enough force to push down on the brake by turning the knob- it just slips and your are stuck with no tension.

After some tinkering (and a lot of frustration) I figured out how to get the rod out (which was actually quite easy in the end, of course). You have to remove the brake assembly by removing the two bolts that attach the whole thing to the frame. Then, you can just unscrew the round nut from the rod (using a wrench, while also holding the rod in place) and the turn the knob towards "+" until you can get the square nut off. Then the rod will slide out the top.

It was immediately clear... The rod is almost COMPLETELY STRIPPED. There is little to no threading left on about an inch of the threaded portion, rendering it useless. So the rod needs to be replaced.

Good news and bad news.

Bad news first. This part does not seem to be available anywhere online. Schwinn (hereby called Nautilus, their parent company) does not officially sell it online. And I'm guessing it is not profitable for anyone else to, either, because no one else seems to be selling it either.

Good news is that Nautilus will sell it over the phone. The part itself is $2.69 but with shipping, it came to about $13.00 (yeah... that's right. $10 to ship a metal rod because their quality sucks just because ********). The part was not covered under warranty. Maybe it would be within the first year? I don't know.

I didn't order it myself yet. I am heading to the hardware store tonight to see if I can rig up a custom fix because I don't appreciate having to pay to replace parts because their quality is lacking and they couldn't figure out how to make a threaded rod that wouldn't disintegrate. But that's just me.

If you want to order it from Nautilus the number I called was (800)605-3369 (listed on the schwinn website, it was different than that number in my user manual).

This was posted a while back, so you've probably replaced the bike or gotten rid of it by now. But I wanted to post this in case anyone else came across this question (like I did) so they don't have to be met with no solutions (like I was). I hope this helps someone!

it would be a good idea to take it to a repair shop and let the check
to see if they can get a new spring.

Follow the cable.. It's the white piece that the cable connects to. Some kind of spring doesnt push the white piece forward far enough to select a hot temperature. You can adjust it yourself from the driver's seat at a red light. It feels like flat lever against the dash/transmission tunnel. Push forward for heat, pull back for AC. There's a spring busted or something and the knob can't overcome the required force... Just manipulate it manually. You can see the white lever mechanism clear as day if you open the driver's door, crouch down and look for the big white piece. My guess is that it has a internal tensioner or spring that crapped out.

be a little more force full the spring is suppose to pu a lot of tension on the knob so the the setting doent change with the vibration. just make sure you push down ans start it straight.

Remove/open cover on the right side of belt assembly housing. push downward on tracking knob left side top of unit.Belt is spring tensioned to remove slack.Push down remove old belt,push down again for new belt.With belt running adjust belt track(centering) by turning knob,top of unit,toward or away from you,Arrow on inside of new belt governs direction of rotation of belt.

make sure the needle is pushed in properly.