20" bandsaw question - spring orientation

[Matt Day]

I'm in the process of taking apart, cleaning, and replacing bearings in the Powermatic 2013 bandsaw I recently bought. Everything is in good condition save for some minor surface rust which is cleaning up nicely with some Evapo-rust.

At any rate, my question has to do with the assembly of the springs for the upper wheel tensioning. I've already found a missing retainer clip that holds on the wheel's axle/shaft, so i think someone at some point has replaced the bearings, and possibly reassembled it incorrectly.

Looking at the picture below, I think the springs are on the wrong side and should be above the wheel axle/shaft. When I turn the handwheel to increase tension, the wheel basically stops, then the springs begin to tighten below the axle so as they tighten the wheel doesn't move anymore. I'm pretty sure my thinking is correct, but wanted to run it by everyone. I'm going to call Powermatic on Monday, but thought I'd ask the forum since it's the weekend.
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[Duane Meadows]

It is correct the way it is. The wheel will virtually stop moving at a point... the band just doesn't stretch that much after taught! Any further movement will be measured in thousandths.

[Matt Day]

But the carriage that the wheel slides on is just sitting on the springs by gravity alone. As you can tell by the picture, the carriage can only slide up about 1/2", then it comes to a complete stop. Turning the tension wheel only presses the springs together - it can't move the carriage anymore.

[Matt Day]

Ha! Never mind, I was overthinking it. Once the band is on, the springs will have something to push against!