Thermal Arc 211i - beginner issue with some 1lb spools

I'm not sure what the setup is like on other welders but I found one small problem which isn't necessarily the fault of the Thermal Arc but they could probably have mitigated it.

There is a large spring which provides tension to keep the spool from unraveling on its own.  The image below is a snippet out of the manual.

The issue is that some 1lb spools (not sure of the larger ones) snag on the openings in the spool sides. 

Some spools have open areas on the sides of the spool which can catch the spring and will cause clicking and other really annoying feed issues which are time consuming and wasteful to cleanup after.  Below is a picture of 2 spools where one has has solid sides and therefore no issue while the other does have openings and caused feed issues.

The workaround I found is to take a piece of sheet metal (I think 20 gauge is what I used here) and make a small backing plate to place between the spool and spring.  This has eliminated the feed issues I ran into.  There is likely a bit more friction with the plate compared to the solid plastic spool but I don't think it will make a large difference.  The metal plate did make it a little more difficult to mount the spool though - maybe thinner sheet metal would be a little easier.  I'm sure other solutions exist but I would recommend that anyone working with small spools keep something handy in case you can't get your normal brand.