Penn SS Series

Doug · October 16, 2014, 09:59:48 PM

Daron I have used these reels for years since they first came out. The 550ss is a good spinner used within its specs If you put size aside the weakness is in the aluminum gears especially the cross wind gear. I have had the cross wind gear strip faster than corn thru a goose on just a few 15lb blue fish. I would try it with all cf washers first you might be surprised on how much usable drag you get. Like everything else a lot depends on how you fish, I am impatient and I guess I tried to horse the fish in before its tired out. Fred and Sal are my experts I am sure they can give some good advise Nice job on rebuild. If you are looking for a tank in 550ss size take a look at a 712z Doug

Shark Hunter · October 16, 2014, 10:30:10 PM

Thanks for the tip Doug. I forgot about the aluminum gears in this one. I better leave it stock. I did put the stack back in and it has considerable drag even with that Teflon on the bottom. I will feed this goose no Corn!

fsrmn · October 17, 2014, 02:16:37 AM

Are you going to use a delrin washer on it? I am going to try it on my 6500ss to see how much difference it makes. It worked so well on my 4/0

Shark Hunter · October 17, 2014, 03:35:09 AM

That's a good idea!

fsrmn · October 17, 2014, 05:43:04 AM

Actually it's wallacewt's idea. I was asking him about putting it in a 420ss and he said he has done several ss spinners and it works well and doesn't compress.

Doug · October 17, 2014, 12:22:11 PM

Sal recommended it when he was first experimenting with Delrin month's ago . If you want to improve the drag on the 420ss and 430ss you can also change the large Teflon drag washer over to carbontex. Dawn has size #48 for the 420ss /716z and # 54 for the 430ss/714z The penn # 56-440 might work in the 420ss but it has 3 ears on it. Dawns are a finer weave than the ht-100 Doug

Keta · October 17, 2014, 01:52:09 PM

Quote from: Three se7ens on October 04, 2014, 11:40:05 PM
I'm working on a solution to the spring not working on the upper dog on the 9500ss.

In the mean time, I had a customer send me a picture of the engagement of a stock silent dog with my 16t ratchet. It fits better than I expected, and would likely function well under normal use.

You need to reduce the OD of the ratchet slightly, this "problem" is why I put the last batch of ratchets into my scrap tub.

Three se7ens · October 17, 2014, 04:51:41 PM

Care to elaborate? My ratchet is the same OD as the original one.

Shark Hunter · October 21, 2014, 11:44:39 AM

Picked up a nice power handle for my 9500.

foakes · October 21, 2014, 05:04:05 PM

Hey Daron --

That 9500 is a beautiful set up with that power handle.

Do you think that big leveraged handle will put too much stress on the crank arm? -- or is it going to be OK?

Check it out and let us know --

Best,

Fred

Shark Hunter · October 21, 2014, 08:11:25 PM

We will see Fred. It has ball bearings in the Handle shaft.
The Aluminum has to be better than the Pot metal Arm. I have been hearing a lot about them snapping off.

Shark Hunter · October 23, 2014, 11:19:23 AM

After getting the Sand Trap, This 8500 came Yesterday. Very Nice! Brass gears and in mint Condition!

I wish there was a way to tell if the 00 series has Brass gears inside. I wanted the 8500 because of the beefier handle pivot and just a newer reel besides the SSG Series.
I now have a 9500, 8500, 7500 with brass main gears. My 6500 has the alloy main gear. I like it though. It is therapeutic cranking that reel.

The Sand Trap is another entity. I will Prevail!

Keta · October 23, 2014, 11:43:07 AM

Quote from: Three se7ens on October 17, 2014, 04:51:41 PM
Care to elaborate? My ratchet is the same OD as the original one.

A smaller OD will allow the top dog in the photo to fully engage.

Shark Hunter · October 25, 2014, 11:39:15 AM

Lee,
I don't mean to butt in, but that top dog is a stock one. The bottom is one of the pair Adam makes for this kit. This particular gent used a stock dog on top instead of the other one like is on the bottom.
I had no problem with the dog on top and the original spring. Adam is reworking a plug and play spring for the bottom dog.

Alto Mare · October 25, 2014, 12:34:20 PM

Not to confuse things, Lee was talking about the angle of the ratchet where it makes contact with the dog, not the spring. He believes that making the ratchet ID smaller would take care of it, but Adam was able to make it work by changing the dog design.
As for the spring, not all SS are the same the housing that I'm showing at the beginning of the thread below will need a custom spring, that one is from a later model. The housing that Adam is showing on page four will not, you should be able to get away with a stock spring.
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=10216.msg96456#msg96456

Sal