Penn Fathom LD 2-Speed: Service Tutorial and First Look.

Started by johndtuttle, September 06, 2014, 12:31:12 AM

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johndtuttle

Quote from: lonehawkstation on August 15, 2015, 10:04:39 AM
Thank you SO much for this.  I know it's a lot of work to do a tutorial.

Question on the bearings.  Is the left side Ball Bearing (55L) the only one that should have the shields pulled, cleared, and lubed with oil?  For the other bearings you packed with grease, if I don't have Alan's grease packer yet, what would you recommend?  Pull the shield on 1 side and pack with my thumb?  If so, which way should I reinstall the bearings when done?

Much appreciated.

If you are looking for max speed and freespool then the left and right spool bearings should have their shields pulled and then lubed with your choice of speed oil. The right side pinion bearing is ideally treated with removing both shields (they really do nothing to protect from corrosion long term, though you could argue in general (non-fishing) applications they reduce dirt). Then thumb pack the bearing from both sides with grease and replace.

The bearing packer is just a convenience thing and saves you the hassle of removing shields (and the small risk of bearing damage when you do so). It is not used to save the shields in any sense :).

lonehawkstation

Quote from: johndtuttle on August 15, 2015, 03:50:24 PM

If you are looking for max speed and freespool then the left and right spool bearings should have their shields pulled and then lubed with your choice of speed oil. The right side pinion bearing is ideally treated with removing both shields (they really do nothing to protect from corrosion long term, though you could argue in general (non-fishing) applications they reduce dirt). Then thumb pack the bearing from both sides with grease and replace.

The bearing packer is just a convenience thing and saves you the hassle of removing shields (and the small risk of bearing damage when you do so). It is not used to save the shields in any sense :).

Perfect, thanks.  Is there any bearing I shouldn't pull the shields and packed with grease?  I heard having at least 1 side might help keep the grease in place?

johndtuttle

Quote from: lonehawkstation on August 16, 2015, 09:09:32 PM
Quote from: johndtuttle on August 15, 2015, 03:50:24 PM

If you are looking for max speed and freespool then the left and right spool bearings should have their shields pulled and then lubed with your choice of speed oil. The right side pinion bearing is ideally treated with removing both shields (they really do nothing to protect from corrosion long term, though you could argue in general (non-fishing) applications they reduce dirt). Then thumb pack the bearing from both sides with grease and replace.

The bearing packer is just a convenience thing and saves you the hassle of removing shields (and the small risk of bearing damage when you do so). It is not used to save the shields in any sense :).

Perfect, thanks.  Is there any bearing I shouldn't pull the shields and packed with grease?  I heard having at least 1 side might help keep the grease in place?

TBH it's hard to say. You can pretty much do anything as long as you are taking regular looks, but a shield might hide soggy grease that you would replace sooner etc. If they are both off there are never any secrets.

Sealed bearings (rubber) I leave on the one to the outside of say, the handle bearing in a spinning reel because it will prevent some water intrusion....basically everyone comes up with w/e they are comfortable with in balance with their vigilance...we have no data to really tell us more than that.

word-doctor

John, you provided good stuff about the 25nstar on another board. Looking at prices, I'm thinking that a 25n in ld2spd would be a beefier, safer option for Gulf YFT. But how does it cast in comparison to the star? The guys who get on fish are the ones who can really wing it.

johndtuttle

#34
Quote from: lonehawkstation on August 16, 2015, 09:09:32 PM
Quote from: johndtuttle on August 15, 2015, 03:50:24 PM

If you are looking for max speed and freespool then the left and right spool bearings should have their shields pulled and then lubed with your choice of speed oil. The right side pinion bearing is ideally treated with removing both shields (they really do nothing to protect from corrosion long term, though you could argue in general (non-fishing) applications they reduce dirt). Then thumb pack the bearing from both sides with grease and replace.

The bearing packer is just a convenience thing and saves you the hassle of removing shields (and the small risk of bearing damage when you do so). It is not used to save the shields in any sense :).

Perfect, thanks.  Is there any bearing I shouldn't pull the shields and packed with grease?  I heard having at least 1 side might help keep the grease in place?



To expand on this further.... Some do leave one shield to help theoretically reduce "wash out" of the grease (ideally this would be done on the inner side of a bearing that sits in a "receptacle" of some kind but I can't say I have seen a greased bearing spreading goo far from itself in any case or any real washout.

Generally speaking, we oil spool bearings for max free spinning of the spool because on the west coast we have to cast very light live baits (Sardines or even Anchovies) and any bit of speed is needed. If the reel was doing dedicated iron casting you could easily grease the spool bearings for a poor man's cast control if the iron was of the heavier variety.

Grease will always be max protection and durability between services. Oil for speed but needs to be re-done often. You simply have to adjust to what you, yourself require.

johndtuttle

Quote from: word-doctor on October 31, 2015, 12:22:27 AM
John, you provided good stuff about the 25nstar on another board. Looking at prices, I'm thinking that a 25n in ld2spd would be a beefier, safer option for Gulf YFT. But how does it cast in comparison to the star? The guys who get on fish are the ones who can really wing it.

Well, that is the rub: casting.

A lever-drag reel will never be the caster that a star drag reel is and they can be difficult to control once they get moving.

The spool has all of the drag mounted on it (heavy) and this means you need heavier lures to get it moving, and it wants to keep moving once you get it going (backlashes easy). If you can learn to cast it you can handle very large fish on it.

Some are very fond of the 40NLD2 for casting wahoo bombs (iron), but lighter poppers might be very challenging.


lonehawkstation

Hey bud,

Did you happen to get the dimensions of the bearings?  I want to have a couple of spares before I pull the shields.

Much appreciated.

Rivverrat

Sorry if this has been brought up prior. But am I seeing correctly that the Fathom 2 speeds have no spring / belleville washers ?
If so how is proper spool alignment, slop kept ?

johndtuttle

Quote from: Rivverrat on February 09, 2016, 08:12:10 PM
Sorry if this has been brought up prior. But am I seeing correctly that the Fathom 2 speeds have no spring / belleville washers ?
If so how is proper spool alignment, slop kept ?

The spring on the right side keeps proper tension and centers the spool.

Rivverrat


bigggfish

John, Thanks for the pictorial tutorial.  Came in very handy when I got a new 40NLD2 off EBAy for a great price but it came with a bent handle.  It was weird because nothing else was damaged.  My only conclusion was it came from the factory that way.  The seller jacked me around for a while so for $25 I decided to replace it myself and your tutorial was excellent.  Only comment is that it took me a while what your were referring to when you talked about the retaining ring (part 67).  Once I figured it out, it was obvious, but its would be better referred to as a c-clip.  Any, thanks again for the time posting!!!!

Jim

johndtuttle

Quote from: bigggfish on March 21, 2016, 04:13:35 AM
John, Thanks for the pictorial tutorial.  Came in very handy when I got a new 40NLD2 off EBAy for a great price but it came with a bent handle.  It was weird because nothing else was damaged.  My only conclusion was it came from the factory that way.  The seller jacked me around for a while so for $25 I decided to replace it myself and your tutorial was excellent.  Only comment is that it took me a while what your were referring to when you talked about the retaining ring (part 67).  Once I figured it out, it was obvious, but its would be better referred to as a c-clip.  Any, thanks again for the time posting!!!!

Jim

Thanks for that and glad to help. The Retaining Ring (67) is named that on the schematic so I use Penn's choice for clarity. I put a little note in the tutorial to clarify it for others. :)

Vince

Thanks for the really informative tutorial- thinking of getting some beginner tools and practicing on some other reels before I tackle this 25NLD2. I just got mine in the mail today actually, and noticed that out of the box, it seems to only get about 5 seconds of freespool. Does that seem typical, or perhaps it needs some serious servicing before use?

johndtuttle

Quote from: Vince on March 30, 2016, 03:55:28 AM
Thanks for the really informative tutorial- thinking of getting some beginner tools and practicing on some other reels before I tackle this 25NLD2. I just got mine in the mail today actually, and noticed that out of the box, it seems to only get about 5 seconds of freespool. Does that seem typical, or perhaps it needs some serious servicing before use?

The factory reels sometimes have too much grease on the spool shaft and spool sleeve. It's great protection but they need some light oil in there plus some for the spool bearings.

Its not serious by any means but the design is a little "nest like" when it comes to closing the reel.

To open it and get to the spool you have to take off the LD preset lever (nothing scary in there). Then take off the Left Side plate and push on the spool shaft inside the LD preset bay where the cam sits. Leave the reel carefully on it's right side and lift the spool straight up and out leaving the reel on it's right side. Then you can get some oil on the bits of the spool after removing the black clicker gear.

Keep it safely propped on its right side while you oil the bearings and spool shaft.

With the reel on it's right side place the spool back straight back in and hold it in firmly while you get the LD preset lever re-attached. Once its in you have to line up the cross pin with the Left Side Plate before that will seat properly.

Nothing hard at all, and quite easy if you are familiar with the method. This method is important to not bend the ears on the dogs that function as the anti-reverse.