Drag Preset Knob on 12vxs

[Southbaykiller]

Hi guys,

My first question on this site so bear with me,

I recently purchased a 12vsx and just noticed a day ago that the drag preset knob wont move in either dirrection. When I first bought it at FHS it moved (only when pressing it in of course) but now it won't.  I went through Alan's breakdown of the 50vsx to see if there is anything in there and I noticed he didn't fiddle with the preset knob ( at least not in the tutorial). Has this happened to anyone else and is it easily fixable by me or do I need to take it to a pro?

Thank you,
Robert

[Norcal Pescador]

Robert -
You should only turn the preset knob when the drag lever is in freespool. That said, can you turn it with the lever in freespool? Did you turn it while in other than freespool? Please answer no to the last question.
Rob

[Southbaykiller]

I did not change the preset while in gear, I did play with turning the preset up and down and then putting the reel in gear to see how much each click of the preset changed the drag at strike and free spool. Looking at it right now, the drag lever may not have been all the way in freespool, it may have been against the free button, but not fully on top of it. The reel is getting very good free spool in that position but I didn't realize until now that the lever can actually go another half inch back over the black stopper.
Obviously the reel worked fine before and during playing with it, so it is inevitably my fault.

[Norcal Pescador]

Kamuwela's the expert on the big-water Internationals, (I know there are others) but it sounds like what happened is one of the bearings may be crushed. Having the drag lever so close to freespool MAY have done the damage, but my limited experience with these isn't enough to say yay or nay.
Somebody else needs to jump in. Sorry I can't help you more.

[Bryan Young]

Robert, sounds like you got it.  Now, loosen up the pre-set knob and push the lever to strike position and crank the handle.  Gradually increase, measure the drag in strike and then crank and do until you get to your "drag setting."  If the cranking had hard, you have a damaged pinion bearing.  Not there is a slight increase in resistance when cranking, your bearing is fine.

[alantani]

i have the same reel, and the "push in and turn" feature is a hassle.  i set mine once and have not touched it since.  is yours working now?

[JGB]

Robert,
Just checked out a VSX to verify the following:
The VSX reel preset knobs have a built in lock out that prevents you from making adjustments unless the lever is in the free spool position. I think what you described is normal operation and everything is most likely undamaged.

Jim N.

[Southbaykiller]

Alan,
It is still not working. At first thought I thought the push and turn feature was nice, but now wish it wasn't so.

JGB,
I couldn't tell any difference in freespool while the lever was fully engaged or not. Maybe turning the preset while it was partially engaged is why the preset is stuck now.  I'm most likely taking it to the nearest Penn Service Center this weekend and I'll tell you what I find out. 

Thanks for the help guys,

Robert

[alantani]

is there a local shop that can take a look?  it's still under warranty.

[Southbaykiller]

Alan,
After talking with a Penn Rep. it looks like I can take it to a shop near me and get it fixed for free which is great. He even gave me a name to drop if there was any hesitation about fixing it. Once I find out exactly what went wrong I'll be sure to post it here.  I hope this thread doesn't stop someone from picking this reel up. It's the only reel I found to fit it's specs, between an makaira 10 and 20, without being excessively wide.

I think after this little hiccup is done with it's going to be a sweet reel.

Thanks for the input guys,
Robert