S550 4.6 problem

[peesherman]

So my S550 was sitting on the shelf for a few weeks so I decided to give it a few cranks.  I tend to tinker with my reels from time to time since I dont have the time to fish as I used to.  Anyways, While I was cracking, I noticed how much effort I needed to put in to it in order to turn the spool.  It feels as though something is sticky on the inside, but everything checks out okay.  Even when the reel is in freespool and my brakes are backed off, its still difficult to turn the handle.  Anyone have any dea on whats going on?

[Ratchet]

The fact that it is still stiff when in freespool, my best guess is that the grease inside your bridge sleeve has dried out.  A second guess would be your drag stack might be rubbing against the sideplate.  Either way, you will have to remove your right sideplate to check and while you are at it,  inspect the insides for any obvious signs of corrosion.

[peesherman]

Hey Ratchet...

Thats the problem.  I baby all my reels.  I use corrosion block and reelx.  I service my reels just cause im bored at home.  No corrosion on the inside.  No rust, No lime, No saltwater buildup.  Drag stack is greased properly, bearings are lubed up well, etc.  No excess drags or washers are in there. 

[Ratchet]

Another problem to check is the tightness of the screw (or e-clip) holding the bridge sleeve to the bridgeplate.  Sometimes it is on so tight that the post gets pulled off the bridgeplate. 

Hope that makes sense.

[peesherman]

I took apart the entire reel, regreased/relubed everything as need be....

Handle spun a bit more freely, but theres still some resistance.  Least im using a drill this time.  Was starting to get fatigue from th multiple times of unscrewing and rescrewing.

My model uses a screw instead of a C-clip for the sleeve.  Its hand tight, not over torqued.  This is really getting to me.  Seriously had to take a breather from this.

[kili05]

Try to narrow it down...do you hear metal rubbing when you spin it in freespool?  While it is spinning, turn the reel from side to side and check for rubbing.  Maybe your spool spindle is rubbing your bearing cup.  if so you need to re-shim the bearings or change the size of the split ring on the bearing cup.  The right side bearing cup should be screwed in completely, while the left side adjusts for maximum freespool.

I would disassemble bridge plate from the side plate and manually turn the bridge sleeve.  You can tell from there if the problem is from the bridge plate assembly.  Inspect the main and pinion gear teeth if there is a problem there. 

If all is good, check to see if you have some play with the bridge sleeve(back and forth) when the bridge plate is screwed on to the side plate. Should have very little play.  But this is at must cause if not your drag stack is rubbing your side plate.  Should be just enough play that your dogs don't slip under your bridge sleeve.

Was the reel dropped at any time causing it to come out of square?  Was the reel working perfectly before this?  Check how your spool lines up with your pinion gear.

[peesherman]

so i ended up scrapping that jigmaster bellevile that the guy at waipahu gave me.  Im pretty sure that was the wrong washer entirely.  he gave me a wave washer, not sure what thats for, but it only solved the problem temporarily.  Since my bellevile part#5-145 cracked in half on my 550, I had to improvise.  I got a bunch of different bellviles from penn and tried em.  Im currently using the penn 113hlw half frame tension spring washer.  I believe the part # is 18-970.  Its .90 cents.  My reel works great now.  I feel as though I have a lot more drag than I used to have with the Newell bellevile 5-145.  Must just be my imagination? 

However, when I put the penn tension spring on my drag stack and bolted everything back up, the reel still felt a bit sticky/slow on retrieval.  I tinkered with a few screws, peeled out some line and next thing you know the reel is spinning like butter.  Odd.....

Owning 7 400-500 series Newells is beginning to be a nightmare

[10ozgrabba]

hey Peesh, are you using an after market handle? that happened to me when I installed a thinner arm. the arm lock nut was rubbing on that screw under the cap. added a washer that took care of it.

[peesherman]

Yeah, I get TOR50 handles.  All get washers underneath though.  Maybe I was just over thinking things a bit when I was trying to trouble shoot everything.  Thanks though! 

Aloha