Need help w/Penn 50sw

[Cowbass]

  Hey guys I'm new here and I have a few questions. I have 3 Penn 50sw's I'm looking to upgrade. I've spent several nights reading and studying here on alans site. I'm looking to first of all service my reels correctly, grease my drags,reconfigure the Belleville washers ,and was hoping to add a bearing sleeve to each. In breaking down the first of them I noticed that the spool bearings are two different sizes. How can I add a sleeve if the drag side bearing is bigger than the sleeve?

Now in reading it's to my understanding that I should clean the spool bearings and only corrosion block lube them?? No grease in them just the spray??? Do I have this correct?

Lastly can I use the carb cleaner on the side plates to get all the gunked up old grease loosened???
Thanks guys looking forward to your replies !!

[JGB]

Yes the spool bearings are a different size. This is because the inner drive plate rides on splines and is held in place by the left spool bearing. The sleeve will actually be placed between the right spool bearing and the end of the inner drive plate. You should be able to use the distance between the spool bearings + .004" as the inner drive plate should line up with the inside of the left spool bearing. The shaft reduces diameter in the middle but the sleeve should fit just fine over the spline section.

Are you going to use this reel for trolling or pitching live bait? If Trolling only then grease then bearings and forget the sleeve. If pitching baits then sleeve and degrease the spool bearings (remove shields) and oil with TSI 321/325 or corrosionX (TSI will have better freespool).
Don't forget to grease the left and right side plate bearings as well as all your screws.

This is an older reel and the original lube may have thickened or dried up. If it is still soft just wipe with a cloth and tooth brush leaving a thin layer on all surfaces. If it is hardened the carb cleaner will work. Use a dish to catch the run off carb cleaner and reuse the cleaner with a acid brush as the grease will need scrubbing to clean it off. Keep the carb cleaner off the black printing as it will soften the paint and possibly remove the black printing - same for the red shift indicator band.

Jim N.

[Cowbass]

I use my reels for everything from sharkin to tuna and billfish trolling. I'm not looking to get increased freespool to cast baits 50 yds. I'm more looking for increased drag capibilities.  I will be fishing these reels on seeker g6455xxh standup rods. The rod recomends a minimum of 25-30 lbs to load it correctly. I also fish these with 130 lb jbhollow core. My thinking was to do the sleeve to help the bearings out do to reconfiguring the Belleville washers. I will be putting more pressure than before and I thought it would help keep them smooth. Any of your thoughts or something I missed please let me know. Thanks

btw I'm an east coast guy. New yorker.

[Nemo]

To increase drag on my 50tw (also with 130 JB hollow), I changed bellevilles from ()() to (()).  I have it set now at around 30 lbs at strike and it will max out a 50 lb scale at full.  I would assume this would help in your case as well.  If your preset knob bottoms out before you reach the drag you are looking for, you can add another belleville. Not sure if the sleeve will help the bearings under load.

[JGB]

yes sleeving will help reduce damage caused by excessive axial loads (higher than design drag settings).

Jim N.

[alantani]

CB, it looks like jim and nemo have you pointed in the right direction. 

for now, i'd go in steps.  first, grease all the screws and all of the non-exposed metal surfaces.  let's protect this reel from corrosion.  next, pack all of the non-spool bearings with grease.  after that, pull the drag washers and re-grease them with cal's grease.  this honestly is optional because the duragel is pretty good stuff, but i would regrease the drag washers anyway.  this is all stuff that anyone would be ok with. 

now you need to make some decisions.  is this reel intended for trolling, chunking, or flylining big macks.  do you need freespool or not.  if not, pack the bearings with grease, leave the shields on to hold in the grease, and call it a day.  if you need, or simply want, good freespool, then lets crack open these bearings, clean them out and get them lubed.  corrosion x is good here. 

and finally, let's check the drag range.  i'm betting that the stock belleville configuration will already provide enough drag to launch you over the rail.  if you need more, let's monkey with it, but let's get this reel fully serviced first and then see where we are with your drag settings.  alan