uuggghhhh!!!! spinning reels ............

[alantani]

Great reading, Alan!  Thank you!  I noticed that your posts have a distinct "conventional" flavor.  For those of us using both conventional and spinners, can we assume the pricnciples you lay out would be the same for spinners?

very much so.  to me, there are only two major differences.  one, you can't lay the rod on the rail.

two, spinners are a nightmare to service.  shimano makes it a point to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to spinners and small bait casters.  their models are changed every few years whether they need to or not.  and i believe that it was someone on this board that made the best quote ever, that "shimano prices their stellas at $1 per part."  don't laugh, it's true.  it is so bad that i will not accept a spinner for service.  a friend of mine, who know's better, recently dragged his stratic through the sand, then tried to clean it himself.  he brought it to me in pieces.  it took me hours to clean it out.  i'm drinking on his bar tab for the rest of the year! 

on the flip side, a drag upgrade is a piece of cake.  you undo the drag knob, pull out the spool, dig out the retaining clip, then all the metal and fiber drag washer, match up the drag washers with something on the list http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=21.0 , grease them and throw everything back together.  you will be amazed at the results.  alan

[alantani]

hello, alan.  i have several penn 420 and 430 ssg spinning reels.  the weak like in these reels is the bail spring, do you have any proposed fixes.....i.e. using a different spring, bending it more  etc.?  have you got any pictures of one of your overhauls for these reels.

sorry, john.  i have tried to avoid spinners as much as possible.  there are an overwhelming number of different models and they are all constantly changing.  keeping up is impossible. 

one thing that i have found is that the bail will often get stuck when it is banged up.  for most reels, what you have to do is unscrew the non-spring loaded side and let it flop around naturally.  what you will find is that it is cockeyed.  without breaking anything, you have to bend the bail wire so that the end-piece lines up perfectly with the rotor.  then you can screw it back on and the bail can flip back and forth easily. 

clear as mud, huh.......

[Tile]

As I stated before spinning reels are the norm in my country (and throughout most of Europe) and I serviced quite a few of these but when I saw a Shimano Stella disassembled I was shellshocked by the obscene number of parts that go into it.

[Alto Mare]

Tile, I don't think we have a tutorial on a Stella, since you have it cracked open, why don't you post some pictures. I'm anxious to see what they have done to that reel to make it worth over $700. 

[reelgood]

Alto - if you do a search on 360 Tuna forums there is a great tutorial on a Stella 8000 FA done by a poster named Ichiban.  There is also a very, very detailed review of a 20000SW on Surftalk forums done by a poster named Alan Hawk.  I'll never take a Stella apart except for the handle and drag assembly because for $30 and 3 day turnaround you can send it into Shimano for service any time, that's one of the perks of spending $700.  You can also buy a used Stella and just send it right into Shimano for the $30 service and have yourself back a reel you'll be confident in.  They don't service or stock parts for the Stellas before the FA series anymore though, and eventually the FA's will stop being serviced too but I think the SW's will be around for a while before the next version is released

[Fishermans Paradise]

Have to agree with you alan, I do service spinners through my shop but in comparison to most conventionals, they can be a nightmare.  The older penns are a walk in the park but alas, i see less and less of them coming in.  Just finished up servicing a shimano stradic 4000 and a quantum cabo 40 pts.  There is a small difference in these reels on the retail end, but from an engineering standpoint, that quantum is built like a tank, i was very impressed with not only the number of bearings (not usually impressed by this) but the placement of the bearings as well.  Lots of nylon and brass in the stradic, and lots of stainless with a small amount of brass in the quantum, no nylon in there either !  Spinners are definately getting more challenging each year !

[Alto Mare]

Reelgood, thanks for the tip, I just went to take a peak at the 360 tuna forum. The only thing that I can say about the Stella is WOW! That's a lot of parts. Freddy did a great job with the tutorial, the only way that I would take a chance on it, is if someone gives me one for free, I give you a lot of credit Tile. I see lots of good features, that reel must be as smooth as butter, but for now I will stick with my Penn SS models, those I could probably disassemble blindfolded by now. Sal

[Tile]

I don't own a Stella but when I saw Ichiban's tutorial I have to give him a lot of credit for having that much patience.

[Alto Mare]

Tile, I thought you had one open. I couldn't beleive the amount of parts on that reel, one thing that impressed me the most was the two bearings on the pinion gear. That reel must be a dream to use. I give Ichiban a lot of credit, but I do beleive that for one of us here, it would be a piece of cake.... when are you getting started on it Alan?

[wallacewt]

tutorial by ichiban is on this site under tutorials by others

[Alto Mare]

You're right Wallace, it was right here under our nose. Wow, did you guys see all of the static that a misplaced washer coused? I felt for ichiban, he was only trying to help  (and he did). As usual Alan left a perfect comment.

[barkley1956]

I have just disassembled a Stella 5000FA for a guy, the spool is not oscillating. Found parts RD8149 (Metal) Idle Gear and RD8153 (Nylon)Idle Gear (B) both badly stripped. These parts are now obsolete. The rest of the reel is in very good shape. What a shame! 

[foakes]

Hi Barkley --

Just looked through some Shimano parts I recently acquired from a defunct shop -- no joy.

However, have one more place to look -- but I think it is just Triton parts.

Someone on here, or a shop somewhere after searching will have what you need.

I guess I have no words for a company that will not make provisions to support an obviously VERY expensive high end reel with at least the parts that we all know will wear out under heavy use.  Should stock parts for at least 20 years -- for the amount of profit they pocket on these Stellas.

Or, at the very least -- design them so that parts are the same across similar lines of reels.

Just my opinion.

Best,

Fred