The thumbar on this Royal won't engage at the 1:00/2:00 position and go into free spool mode. It will work if I rotate the knob a little bit more, but I wouldn't want to try fishing or casting it with this problem. Serial # is 820200 so it's probably about 35 years old. I got it for 5 bucks, mostly for a parts reel. Taken it apart and cleaned and re-lubed it, and didn't see anything missing or worn. Has anyone ever encountered anything similar or have any idea what could be wrong? I have two more of these, one red and the other champagne colored that work fine.
Sorry, no help on that particular reel, but, I have learned to look at similar posts referring to the same type of problem. Even if it's a different brand.
I am currently working thru a similar problem with a Shimano Calcutta. If I figure it out I'll post what I found. 5 bucks or not, I'm a sucker for ads that say 'not working'. It gives me a brain work out.
I'm looking at the pinion engagement / yoke....
Hi Festus, would it be worth striping down, one of the others, side be side, with the reel your having trouble with, should tell a story, good luck, cheers Don.
Don, sometimes the obvious answer is best! Good thinking.
Quote from: Donnyboat on November 09, 2017, 10:38:55 PM
Hi Festus, would it be worth striping down, one of the others, side be side, with the reel your having trouble with, should tell a story, good luck, cheers Don.
Yes, I had one of my other reels side by side but everything looked in place on the problem reel. Also had the brake plate hooked up to the frame without the right side plate and testing the thumb bar and still couldn't figure it out.
on some models, there is a long pin that runs the width of the thumb bar. it needs to extend out far enough to move the jack. sometimes, in assembly the pin is push to the left and then will not engage the jack properly. pulling it back out and to the right will fix that.
is the thumb bar up when you attach the right side plate?
It could also be the little nub that automatically engages the pinion gear by turning the arm that is blocking the engagement of frees pool.
The only interaction between the handle and the clutch mechanism that I can come up with is the contact point between the maingear and the pinion.
I would be looking for signs of deformity or corrosion on an isolated point on the maingear which might block the pinion travel at your 1:00/2:00 position.
Best I can come up with on the spot?
~
I've been reluctant to disassemble the parts from the brake plate because it's different from the latter model brake plates with plastic yoke and brake release. Got it torn apart now, only thing I see out of the ordinary is one spring is a little out of whack, but I don't think that's the problem.
i don't see that much of an issue either. i'll bet when you put it back together, it will work just fine..... :-\
Quote from: alantani on November 12, 2017, 10:47:15 PM
i don't see that much of an issue either. i'll bet when you put it back together, it will work just fine..... :-\
I thought so too, Alan, but it still has the same problem. ??? Oh well, at least I learned how to service that type of brake plate. ::)
crud!!!! i actually went back to re-read your post. there is a pin for the kick lever in this reel. when the handle is at the 1-2 o'clock position, the pin is in the way and the lever won't work, right? otherwise it works fine.
it's hitting a pin somewhere. ;D
no, that's not right, either. the thumb bar moves a kick lever and that kick lever must be hitting a burr or something somewhere. it's hanging up at that one spot.
Still haven't resolved the problem.
I own low profile Shimano, Daiwa, Quantum, and Mitchell baitcasters with thumb bars that have never given me any trouble. Wonder why every time I have issues with a thumb bar it's always from a round Abu? ??? ::) :-\
Some old Shimano have thumb bar problems too but the problem is getting the reel out of gear. It's usually in the thumb bar shaft or where the shaft wears the frame.
I can't help and do not want to side track the thread, but what-the-heck is with that pinion? Is it supposed to be asymmetrical like that? Does the pinion never turn inside the yoke?
-steve
I found the problem. Looked at a photo of a brake plate assembly from my Abu 4600 AL I'd saved for reference, and noticed a spring was in a different place. Moved the spring to the other spot and now the thumb bar disengagement works fine. Had tried a little of everything, even swapping out pinion and main gears from another reel which didn't fix it.
Not sure if someone had serviced this reel in the past and mis-assembled it, but it works fine now, one of the best distance casting 4600 reels I own.
This site has helped me so much, I'm constantly reading old posts about Penns, DAM Quicks, Mitchells, Abus, Shimanos, Okumas, Daiwas, and other reels. Before I joined this site in August or September, I didn't have the confidence to change bail springs in a Mitchell. Now I've rebuilt a box full of reels, but still have lots to learn.
Glad to see you got it working! Those Abu's are indestructable, looks like it's time to go fishing!
Cheers,
Andrew
That other post with the groove looks like it is for a spring as well. Wonder what goes there.
-steve
Quote from: oc1 on December 05, 2017, 01:18:03 AM
That other post with the groove looks like it is for a spring as well. Wonder what goes there.
-steve
Yes, it still has me wondering. I put the dern spring back there for a few minutes as a test and came up with the same obnoxious symptoms. ::)
My Abu 4600AL has a brake plate of the same design. Next time I take it apart, I'm going to move the spring over to that groove and see what happens. ???
Quote from: oc1 on November 15, 2017, 08:46:36 AM
I can't help and do not want to side track the thread, but what-the-heck is with that pinion? Is it supposed to be asymmetrical like that? Does the pinion never turn inside the yoke?
-steve
Sorry, didn't see your question until now, Steve.
Yes, most of my Abus that were manufactured during the early to mid 1980s had these oddball pinions with the plastic half sleeve around the center.