Thank you for your reply Kapusta.
Yes, I can turn the blue knob by hand and it returns fully due to spring tension. It is a little difficult to turn and it does snap back with some authority.
I did not set 'unlocked' compression by a knob on the poploc lever because I am actually using a pushloc lever. It has just one lever that with one push depresses the lever and locks the fork, and with a second push releases the lever and unlocks the fork. I added a link in my first post showing an image of the pushloc (
Here is it again)
I did a bit of tinkering today and I noticed that the silver, top 'nut' that has "
GATE----> +" written on it could be rotated independently. I rotated it all the way clockwise (in the direction of the arrow) fully and now the pushloc problem I originally posted about has gone! The pushloc lever returns after being released.
I may have solved my own problem or perhaps I have not. Can anyone explain what the 'GATE' does? And what opening it fully does? Was this the problem all along? As you can tell, I'm a bit confused.