photos from erik powell in fiji

[alantani]

i will let him elaborate......

[BigT]

Can't wait to hear the story behind this one. What's it been doing... lying on the bottom of the ocean for a couple of years or something???


Cheers, T

[erikpowell]

Can't wait to hear the story behind this one. What's it been doing... lying on the bottom of the ocean for a couple of years or something???


Cheers, T


[/quote
Thanks Alan... elaborate I will.

Heh Heh Heh...I wouldn't be surprised T...that's what I thought but the destruction was only to the right side of the spool...everywhere else was pretty clean.... I wonder if they just ride on the gunnels alot..

There's 2 reels here, They're a pair of Penn 30 VSW's from a local resort... they've been on my bench for a month or so as I tried to hunt down that special tool to remove the handle... Alan even turned his shop upside down looking for one... Vinaka Alan....   In the end I had a local shop make one for me that fits the VSW's (26mm) on 1 end and Formulas (24mm) on the other.

Both these reels--exact same problem.. only difference was the second reel had been serviced before  ...hey, it wasn't MY grease job....
Other than the grease in 1 of them, their problems were a mirror image.. Rt side plate bearing-toast, Rt spool bearing-toast, 4 rusty bellevilles-should be toast in the bin but gotta re-usem.

So I had to pry both spools out of the sideplates...the first one came loose and disgorged an undigested bearing... you'll see bits in the first pic among the crusty belleville springs..the second came out a hair easier and left the bearing behind..that one had to soak for a day before I could get it out... Its hard enough to find miniature bearings here in Fiji, LET ALone US sized ones... Dawn doesn't even carry the spool bearing (1/2x7/8x3/8)...
The plate bearing I did find..its R6 size here and it set me back a whopping $8 FJD...as I suspect it can't be stainless for that price it probably set me back another $8 worth of grease   

Besides all that, the click springs are worn out too, one of them feels like there's no spring left in there at all and for the life of me I can't figure out how to remove the clicker mech.

My guess is that this must be a common problem with these Penns because in the same batch of reels from the same operation came a Tiagra whose innards were pristine and I know it gets the same duty as the Penns.

Is the culprit the crappy mild steel belleville washers, cheap bearings or poor design? ....Or.. D) all of the above?

In the end I'll tell this gang to bring the Penns back every 3 months for service & the Tiagras once a year.

Whadda ya'll think??
Cheers,
Erik

i will let him elaborate......

i will let him elaborate......

[erikpowell]

Whoops... I don't think I posted that correctly... hows this thing work??
  Erik

[BigT]

Geez Erik.  What a mess they gave you to clean up. I'm amazed they were recoverable at all.

I can't get any bearings locally in Australia either (at least not at a sensible price... would you believe I was quoted AUD$50 from a local shop for a bearing I ended up getting from Dawn for around $15 landed including shipping!!).  While I get most bearings from Dawn now, I still get a few from Boca Bearings too when Smoothdrag don't have the one I want.


Cheers, T

[slip tip]

They must have used the reel for a boat anchor!..... That reel needs some serious CPR and then some TLC!

Regards,
David