Okuma Andros 511 Tutorial

[ReelSpeed]

Here are some pictures to start off with.. very nice looking reel and very smooth. Decent freespool throughout the drag range.. I am getting around 15 seconds out of the box.





Ok lets remove the screws... oh wait.. there is only one! Just like the old Jigmaster... This is a T10 torx head screw. And good news.. it is greased.

After you remove the screw just turn the sideplate counter-clockwise and it should turn to open just like the jigmasters did...sometimes.

Remove the frame and you will find a very light coat of grease/oil on the inside of the left side plate.  Also a well greased clicker

Also, this reel features a cast control on the left side plate.  There is a spring where the spool shaft seats that seems to push the spool into the drag washer as a means of cast control.. ok. Probably not for me, but at least you can turn it completely off.


Next remove the reel seat screws.  Also T10 head.  Note the two screws on the bottom are longer than the two on top.  Okuma seems to have gone the way of loctite on these, but I will be greasing them.  There is grease on the frame and seat though.. so A+ for Okuma there.


Grease the screw holes & body foot and torque the screws down nice and tight.


I will also put a better coat of grease on the inside of the left sideplate. 

Ok, put that to the side and we are done there..
Now on to the spool assembly. 
A light coat of grease of the bottom of the spool is a good thing.

Remove the two phillips head screws attaching the clicker assembly on the left side. 

Loctite on these two screws is not the greatest thing.  Having these get stuck would be a terrible problem for someone.

Remove the shaft pin and don't lose it!

Remove the c-clip on the shaft & the Belleville washers, they are configured ( )( ).

Remove the drag knob assembly.

Pull the spool assembly out.  Open oiled spool bearing.. good start. Lightly greased drag washer... Check!  The other spool bearing is still in the drag plate assembly. You can pull it out.

Remove the Drag plate & Anti-Reverse mechanism. Here is an open, slightly greased bearing.  Double dog anti-reverse is good.  Nice washer to try and keep water intrusion out.. although unlikely to work...


Pull the shaft assembly out.  This is the shaft with all components on it in case you get lost.

Remove the Drag washer retainer

remove the drag washer.  There is a slot to stick small flathead in to pry the washer up.  Be careful!  It is pressed in well and at first I thought that Okuma had gone the way of Avet on gluing the drag washer!   luckily it popped up and we have it lightly greased underneath.

I am going to wipe off the OEM grease and put on a little thicker layer of Cal's drag grease.


Also, grease up both sides of the drag washer with Cal's and carefully re-install.

Take a rag and wipe all the excess grease off the top of the washer.

Re-install the wire retainer ring..


So now we have one oiled open spool bearing, one closed greased spool bearing (Bottom) and one open greased spool bearing (top, drag).  I will be cleaning these out with carb cleaner and adding TSI 301.

Here is the bottom bearing.. had grease smeared on the outside, but when we open it up, it is like many others and has air gaps which will cause corrosion.  I will be doing as Alan and lubing this with TSI301 so water can get in & OUT!

FYI - I use a razor blade to get underneath the inside bearing shield and then use a little pick to pry the shield up.

Next two, open oiled (right) & open greased (left).  Clean these out and add TSI301.

Now install the main shaft back into the spool.  Spool spins around 60 seconds by itself now.

Re-install the rubber O-ring and pin, grease the spool and screw back on the clicker assembly.  Also grease these screw holes.


Ok, spool assembly is finished.  Set it to the side.

Carefully use a hook (or your tool of choice) to remove the retaining ring and remove the two speed button.

Unscrew the two phillips screws holding the button housing on.  Found more Loctite on these...


I would recommend not trying to take the remaining nut off that you see... It is REALLY torqued down and you could do damage trying to remove... There is grease there so hopefully it will remain corrosion free underneath...

Turn the sideplate over and remove the small phillips screw holding the gear cover on.  More Loctite...

Unless you have to, I recommend not trying to remove the next c-clip... but I will for the tutorial.   Be careful!

Remove the two gears.

Remove the square pin and plastic/metal washer


Now you have a c-clip to remove.  Again, tread carefully.  Once removed the handle will pull out and you can get to the handle bearings.

Now pull the handle bearings & sleeve.. we will open them up and check for grease.

as suspected...very little.  Lets repack these with your favorite marine grease and make them last a long time!


Now remove the sideplate bearing.  Lets see how much grease is really in there...

as suspected...very little.  Lets again repack these with your favorite marine grease and also add some grease to the bearing cup.


Now to finish the sideplate, I am going to add a nice coat of grease to the whole inside. Now to reassemble...

Install the handle & shaft

Next the c-clip, washer & key

Install the high speed gear

install the low speed gear & washer

Install the c-clip

grease the screw hole and install the gear cover.

Flip it over and grease the area under the two speed housing

Grease & install the speed change lever & housing.  Also, lets grease the screws here are well.

Grease the inside of the speed change housing and install the button top.


Flip it over, install the pinion gear, grease the anti-reverse and install it and the drag plate.

This can be a little difficult, but line it up and make sure the pawls are on the anit-reverse gear.

Now slide the spool shaft back into the sideplate.  Make sure the bearing that goes in the drag plate, gets there..


Grease under the lever arm. 

Put a little grease on the ratchet ball under the arm.

With the lever drag in the free position, grease and install the drag knob assembly.

Now lets connect the left side plate with the right side plate. Align the tabs , push together and turn clockwise till it locks.

FYI – the drag lever needs to be in a “on” position (not freespool) for the spool to seat properly.

Now that it is seated, last step is to grease and install the T10 single screw!

And we are done!!

But wait...and I am sure Alan would agree with me on this... no reel is truly complete without one of these!!!

[alantani]

fabulous work!   

[wallacewt]

your thoughts pls,personal likes/dislikes,pros/cons.
i dislike the standard handle,prefer blue or gold knob.(fish wont know)
maintenence does look harder than some.(bit more time,thats all.)oz has got the time at the moment.3 more cyclones bearing down on us.it,ll wake the fish up.lets be positive.
rrp=$400usa is that correct?value?
magic stuff these tutorials.
thank you,cheers 

[ReelSpeed]

I will be interested to hear Alan's thoughts once he gets his reel.  My personal thoughts are...

Dislikes:
I was hoping for a better job of greasing in the bearings out of the box.  This is probably my biggest complaint with this reel.  Because of this, I still would HIGHLY recommend a complete service prior to use for the best possible service life.  Also, the many screws with loctite on them are asking to get locked up and cause some service guy a bunch of headaches. 

Likes: The reel is very light, which is a big plus. The reel seat design, is very smart to my eyes.. Good, strong, double dog anti-reverse.  Ratcheting lever drag...a nice little feature. Okuma did take time to grease the insides of the sideplates, under the drag washer and also the reel seat; although I would have preferred a bit more, as the amount of grease seemed to be the least possible while saying "it is greased" from the factory.  I LOVE the single screw takedown of the sideplate.  So while you will need an initial comprehensive service.. the follow-up maintenance on this reel would actually be fairly easy and fast.. The stock handle is just okay (big plus for not being riveted on!), but that is easily fixed with one of Alan's handles.  I need to get some line on it to test the drag ranges, but I will also be interested in seeing how changing the bellevilles might change the drag and also how the reel can handle it.

This reel can probably be used in many situations.. The stock drag can handle a very wide range of line weights, but definitely is begging me to fill it up with some 60# JB Hollow. Just change your short topshot depending on the fishing situation. 

With everything said, I think Okuma has a winner here and along with the Makaira line, should be considered a true competitor to what is currently available.

That is.. until I get a chance to design my own reel.. then everyone else will be playing catch up! 

[alantani]

people don't realize how much work these tutorials really are.  thanks for all the effort!

[riwamoto]

Any idea when these will be available to the general public?

[ReelSpeed]

Alan, I definitely agree with you.. Once it is done and posted online, it looks quite basic.. but it is not a quick easy task to get it there.  I did this one completely with my cell phone!  Need to get me a camera trigger footswitch so I don't have to try and get a good shot with one hand and hold and present what I am shooting in the other.  Oh and while I am at it, maybe someone else to type my thoughts and enter the pictures in the right spot.   

[ReelSpeed]

Just to add a little to this tutorial, today I threw on some 25# mono I had laying around to check a couple things...

1. Freespool with 25# mono was right about 85 seconds with the drag set for the stock 15-16#'s at strike.  Not too shabby..

2. The cast control... This might be a fun reel for a beginner or someone learning to cast a conventional.  With the cast control fully on, I pulled the rod till the drag started to slip at 15#'s and immediately threw it into freespool... without a birdsnest.  I figured this would be the most extreme test for birdspooling.  So throwing jigs would probably be a piece of cake... just don't know how far.

Anyway, just a little more info to throw in there.

Cheers!

[ReelSpeed]

Hey Alan, I got some good news!  I was thinking about the binding on this reel and working over some solutions in my head and one of them worked decently.  After a few different ideas, I tried putting a shim washer in front of the left spool bearing, after the bellevilles, to take some of the axial load off the inner bearing race...and then re-arranged the bellevilles to )(((|---> spool bearing and I am now pulling 18#'s of drag at strike with the same resistance as I had at 15 yesterday.  and maintaining freespool.  Now the 15# setting practically has no binding at all.  Anyway, just thought I would share.. I am still thinking of possibilities to get rid of the binding altogether..

Oops, I also added a shim washer in front of the spring going to the drag plate washer.

[Bryan Young]

Aaron, just curious, would you get the same kind of binding if the bevels were arranged ((()?  Just thiking of the bearing and contact of inner races (Not sure if that is what it's called) verse outer races of the bearing.

       Bearing
        ------  <----Outer race
        |      |
        ------  <----Inner race

        ------  <----Inner race
        |      |
        ------  <----Outer race

[ReelSpeed]

Hey Bryan, my goal was to try and take the pressure off the inner race of the bearing.  so when the belleville is facing the bearing like this ) the top rounded part of the belleville puts all the pressure on the inside of the bearing, vs if you have the belleville like this ( then it should spread more of the load to the outside/middle of the bearing... or at least that was the thought...

I am defining the inner race as the ID of the bearing and the outside track would be the OD.  Not the right and left side..

[Bryan Young]

Understood.  Interesting.  I didn't think about the qualization of the forces between the inner and outer races of the bearing.

My though was that if the bevels are in contact with the outer races, the bevels would also spin with the spool, thereby creating greater friction since the bevels are not spinning with the spool.

I need to pull apart another lever drag reel to look and consider what you are trying to achieve (yes, I'm a hands on, looky look, kind of guy). 

[wallacewt]

just to add to reelspeeds tutorial,ive added the reel seat clamp. imo this is a really stupid set up.cost 10c to fix!  in the 1st photo(if you dont mind bryan)you can see i have removed the screws and replaced  those ROUND nuts with hex ones.they were loctited in.the little allen key cant remove them!i got them out,cleaned  up,greased,everything is sweet,just need someone to show how to spring load the dogs and it will be time to boogie.they fell out of position and under the gear in transit.cheers

[kamuwela]

fantastic!!!!!!!   yes the work is hard, the tutoriol's take more work then the reel. like i said fantastic job, thank you very much.
                                                                  aloha
                                                                   kamu

[wallacewt]

thanks for the pics bryan,2 little nasty round,replaced with 4mm ss hex nuts,simple!