tld star 15/30 and 20/40

basto · February 16, 2016, 12:33:51 AM

I used to have the first model Torium 20...put a lapped top metal washer from Jack Erskine in the drag, carbontex washers, and a spring on the dog.
I now have four 20/40s and one 15/30. The most dependable conventional reels I own.

PanamaTom · February 16, 2016, 01:27:01 AM

I was afraid of that. I have owned both the torium and Trinidad but I prefer the Star for the kind of fishing I would use them for. I guess I'll stay tuned in on eBay.

jayde561 · February 27, 2016, 12:21:10 AM

I have a question about the side to side movement of the spool. How much is normal and when does it present a problem? I have a TLD 20/40 and a Speedmaster III, the TLD star as side to side movement of a 1/16" and the Speedmaster has zero movement.

jayde561 · February 27, 2016, 02:36:52 AM

Ok please disregard that question, I didn't realize that I had set the tension knob so loose. My second question is about the drag setting, I intend on using this reel for yellowfin in the Bahamas which range from 20-50lbs depending on the school. I use 50lb braid and 50lb leaders set at 12-15lbs of drag, are there any reports of these reels blowing up or cracking at 15-18lbs of drag?

luckyguy · February 27, 2016, 04:34:46 AM

I have 1 Shimano Stardrag 4gt and 2 Shimano stardrag 3GT, they really are one of the the best casting and durable shimano workhorses reels on graphite. I caught more than 40 lbs stringrays, i don't know if it pulls harder than a tuna, but it broke my lower end portion of the rod and still i managed to land the fish.

Copy paste this and paste on you tube search,,,another proof of Shimano 20/40 capabilities on sailfish.

you tube:
kayak fishing - two kayakers fighting sailfish, sailfish fights back.

Hope it helps your querries on the 20/40 reel power,,its not on tuna but on sailfish anyway.

jayde561 · March 02, 2016, 06:18:29 PM

Well I intend to put this TLD 20/40 through the paces in the bahamas. It's quite common to run into an acre of boiling tuna, usually blackfin and schoolie yellowfin but if I can get a bait or jig down hopefully a 50+lb yellowfin.

InVision · May 02, 2016, 02:26:16 PM

I had an old TLDStar 20/40s. I rebuilt this reel as Mr. Tani demonstrated. Thank you for that. I put the reel through the paces bottom fishing for grouper, snapper and jacks. Not a bad boat rod, but it seemed to lack about 1" or 2" in handle length. Has anyone tried a longer handle? I looked but did not see any handles with the weight thing on the other end of the handle. I seen the other handles Mr Tani showed but they all had weights and were the same length. Do I need a handle with a weight? Ideas on getting a longer handle.

Thanks to this forum which has helped with a few of my projects!!

M

basto · May 03, 2016, 02:21:41 AM

These work well for me.

InVision · May 03, 2016, 01:06:21 PM

Thank you. That was helpful. I will have to figure out a handle nut, keeper and screw when I get the handle in.

It is nice to rebuilt this old TLDStar 20/40s. Actually works much better that my other boat rods with Level Drag TLD single speed reels.

Mike

steelfish · October 28, 2016, 07:56:36 PM

I need some help to find the problem on a 15/30 TLD star

the reel was bought by a friend and it was showing a lot of resistance to turn the handle and the spool spin for 2 sec on freespool, the main problem it was the most the star was tighten the most harder it was to turn the handle, it felt almost like it was a LD reel with bad bearing.

I cleaned everything inside really good, I even polished the brass bushing under the driveshaft (this normally works wonders on Torium reels), cleaned the bearings and add tsi321 oil to them.
the spool now spins really good on freespool and the handle feels a lot lighter than before, BUT that is only at 10# max, once you pass that drag mark the problem comes again, the more drag you add the bigger resistance on the handle to turn, its in the zone that if you tighten the drag all the way you can still turn the handle, on a nice fish you might not feel the resistance on the handle while fighting the fish but I know its not the way it should be, on star drag reels normally you can lock the drag and dont feel any resistance on the handle.
I really dont know what else I can check before delivering the reel to the owner, the reel looked that it was never serviced before so, I dont think its missing parts or small shims.

basto · October 29, 2016, 02:48:33 AM

Are your 2 washers on either side of the bearing under the star, in this position?

alantani · October 29, 2016, 03:28:12 AM

yes, that appears correct.

steelfish · October 29, 2016, 06:21:31 AM

Basto, I Will check That configuration tomorrow

Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B · October 29, 2016, 09:56:22 AM

Quote from: alantani on October 29, 2016, 03:28:12 AM
yes, that appears correct.

x2

btw i have a 20/40 J not M one of my faves! wish i was able to find a 15/30 'cuz i prefer narrower reels...

Hamachi · October 30, 2016, 04:11:03 AM

Quote from: steelfish on October 28, 2016, 07:56:36 PM
I need some help to find the problem on a 15/30 TLD star

the reel was bought by a friend and it was showing a lot of resistance to turn the handle and the spool spin for 2 sec on freespool, the main problem it was the most the star was tighten the most harder it was to turn the handle, it felt almost like it was a LD reel with bad bearing.

I cleaned everything inside really good, I even polished the brass bushing under the driveshaft (this normally works wonders on Torium reels), cleaned the bearings and add tsi321 oil to them.
the spool now spins really good on freespool and the handle feels a lot lighter than before, BUT that is only at 10# max, once you pass that drag mark the problem comes again, the more drag you add the bigger resistance on the handle to turn, its in the zone that if you tighten the drag all the way you can still turn the handle, on a nice fish you might not feel the resistance on the handle while fighting the fish but I know its not the way it should be, on star drag reels normally you can lock the drag and dont feel any resistance on the handle.
I really dont know what else I can check before delivering the reel to the owner, the reel looked that it was never serviced before so, I dont think its missing parts or small shims.

Doesn't make any sense unless the frame is cracked or flexing near where the gear stud is positioned, or is being pulled out of alignment if everything else is properly orientated. It seems that the only area it could be would be the inner or outer right side plate where the shaft comes through. Go over the stack again with a fine tooth comb to make sure everything is seated properly. Too thick drag washers? Underwear washer? But if that were the case the tighter you cranked the drag, the easier the cranking would become. Head scratcher for sure. How did you solve the problem?