Daiwa Saltiga LD35 2-speed - can't make it go into freespool??

[Jon_Kol]

Hi guys!

I just finished a service on a Daiwa Saltist LD35 2-Speed. It was veeery full of salt and other stuff, and I've spent many hours getting rid of all the bits and pieces that was inside of it. I also fixed the clicker and the gear, which were both out of order. Very happy about that, since this was my first ever attempt at such a reel.

But there's something odd however.. putting the reel back together, everything works like a charm. Except there should have been a couple of new bearings in it, from the sound of it. Everything feels good, but... I can't get it to freespool?? With the lever set to where other reels are in Free, the spool won't spin - it engages the handle when I give the spool a light push with my finger.

When I tested the spool outside of the reel, I got about 40 seconds + of freespool. Isn't this a bit odd?

Any ideas on what I might have done wrong? Thought I'd ask you guys before taking the reel apart again.

[El Guapo]

sometimes taking a reel apart and putting it back together its overtightened on the screws that stops the spool from spinning.. removing the l/s plate and putting it back on the reel with spool in without the screws should turn if all the parts were correctly put back during service

try it and if you get free spool with just the l/s plate then tighten the screws until free spool stops and loosen the screws a bit.. try again to tighten completely but with free spool..if it don't go in free spool then screws must be tightened till just before it stops spool from spinning..doubt they will fall out lol 

these reels are put together with machines and human touch might not replicate a factory touch..good luck and i don't own a lever drag but maybe this might be a quick fix instead of taking the reel apart

[johndtuttle]

Hi guys!

I just finished a service on a Daiwa Saltist LD35 2-Speed. It was veeery full of salt and other stuff, and I've spent many hours getting rid of all the bits and pieces that was inside of it. I also fixed the clicker and the gear, which were both out of order. Very happy about that, since this was my first ever attempt at such a reel.

But there's something odd however.. putting the reel back together, everything works like a charm. Except there should have been a couple of new bearings in it, from the sound of it. Everything feels good, but... I can't get it to freespool?? With the lever set to where other reels are in Free, the spool won't spin - it engages the handle when I give the spool a light push with my finger.

When I tested the spool outside of the reel, I got about 40 seconds + of freespool. Isn't this a bit odd?

Any ideas on what I might have done wrong? Thought I'd ask you guys before taking the reel apart again.

The standard problems after a service with getting the lever drag reel to free-spool properly (in no particular order):

1. The preset cam is not properly positioned.

2. The drag washer is over greased (should be as minimal excess grease as possible).

3. The belleville washers have been put in a new orientation and not the ideal stock configuration (this is the most common).

4. The spool shaft may not be properly seated in the LS plate.

5. The drag preset is far too high.

6. Replace bearings are not seated properly in the spool.

7. The Pinion is not nesting properly in it's assembly.



Give those a try. It can be frustrating to figure out what it is precisely, but if you persevere it usually is something simple.

[Alto Mare]

That's pretty much the complete reel John .

Jon, put the reel in gear and add some drag, maybe 1/3rd. Hold the spool while turning the handle, do that for 20 or 30 turns, put the lever back in freespool and see if that does anything.

Could be any of the above, as John mentioned, this should eliminate too much grease.

[Jon_Kol]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the input.

It's not too much grease on the drag washer, I go with the Cal's on - Cal's off style. I only leave a fine layer, sorta like putting your finger on it when the excess has been cleaned off and there should be a fingerprint, but not much more.

I did not remove the spool shaft, washers etc, as the bearing there seemed to be so tight agains the shaft that I did not dare to attempt to remove it. Everything there looked fine, no salt, no rust etc and the spool spun around 40 seconds as mentioned. So I think that part is ok. The reel has never been opened before. I always take loads of pictures for each step when removing parts, so unless I have overlooked something when putting everything back together, things should be ok.

I notice that when I insert the spool into the housing, it loses the freespool - like it's touching the rim on the inside of the reel housing. Funny thing is, the lever has no resistance at all until I turn the drag button quite a lot into more drag, yet the spool feels like it's on quite a bit of drag even when the lever in "Off" (if there is such thing in this reel).

I'll try to give the reel some turns while holding the spool first, then I'll start with the suggestions that John posted here if it doesn't help.

Again, thanks!

[Jon_Kol]

Jon, put the reel in gear and add some drag, maybe 1/3rd. Hold the spool while turning the handle, do that for 20 or 30 turns, put the lever back in freespool and see if that does anything.

Umm I just realized a problem - it's not possible to hold the spool while turning the handle, even with as little drag as possible set. As soon as I put the spool into the proper position in the LS plate, the spool seems to brush against the rim of the right hand side of the reel housing. When the RS plate is added into position, I can make the handle turn simply by pushing forward on the base of the spool. The spool is engaged as soon as I turn the handle, and vice versa. The lever can be pushed all the way forward without any resistance, it's only when I've done many turns on the drag button that I can feel the drag setting and the sound when turning the handle suddenly sounds more "correct".

Hmm this is getting silly. What is the most likely thing to be out of place, when: 1. The spool spins nicely when I hold the spool shaft in my hand and give the spool a spin with my other hand. 2. As soon as I set the spool into position in the LS plate, the spools touches the rim of the reel housing and it won't spin. It does turn if pushed forward, but I can hear the sound of it as it's brushing against the rim. This is without the RS plate.

[johndtuttle]

Jon, put the reel in gear and add some drag, maybe 1/3rd. Hold the spool while turning the handle, do that for 20 or 30 turns, put the lever back in freespool and see if that does anything.

Umm I just realized a problem - it's not possible to hold the spool while turning the handle, even with as little drag as possible set. As soon as I put the spool into the proper position in the LS plate, the spool seems to brush against the rim of the right hand side of the reel housing. When the RS plate is added into position, I can make the handle turn simply by pushing forward on the base of the spool. The spool is engaged as soon as I turn the handle, and vice versa. The lever can be pushed all the way forward without any resistance, it's only when I've done many turns on the drag button that I can feel the drag setting and the sound when turning the handle suddenly sounds more "correct".

Hmm this is getting silly. What is the most likely thing to be out of place, when: 1. The spool spins nicely when I hold the spool shaft in my hand and give the spool a spin with my other hand. 2. As soon as I set the spool into position in the LS plate, the spools touches the rim of the reel housing and it won't spin. It does turn if pushed forward, but I can hear the sound of it as it's brushing against the rim. This is without the RS plate.

The Spool normally won't spin when only put in the Left Side Plate. It doesn't have the support of the Spool Shaft to keep it perfectly centered.

The trouble seems to be your order of assembly. What you want to do is put the spool in the right side first because this way the drag preset knob that threads into the spool shaft gets put on correctly.

What (sounds like) is happening is that you are not putting the drag preset knob on right and that is leading to the cam not being properly set up and giving you a loss of normal drag curve.

Take off the drag preset knob completely, then put the spool in the right side, then add the drag preset knob being sure it is properly positioned in it's track to give you a normal drag curve, then add the left side plate last using the drag preset knob (twisting back and forth) to position the cross pin properly in the LS plate.

Keep us updated and we'll keep trying to help.

[alantani]

i don't really have anything to add here, other than that these reels can be very tough to work on.  anything out of place or out of order could cause this.  good luck!  alan

[Jon_Kol]

The Spool normally won't spin when only put in the Left Side Plate. It doesn't have the support of the Spool Shaft to keep it perfectly centered.

The trouble seems to be your order of assembly. What you want to do is put the spool in the right side first because this way the drag preset knob that threads into the spool shaft gets put on correctly.

What (sounds like) is happening is that you are not putting the drag preset knob on right and that is leading to the cam not being properly set up and giving you a loss of normal drag curve.

Take off the drag preset knob completely, then put the spool in the right side, then add the drag preset knob being sure it is properly positioned in it's track to give you a normal drag curve, then add the left side plate last using the drag preset knob (twisting back and forth) to position the cross pin properly in the LS plate.

Keep us updated and we'll keep trying to help.
[/quote]

I just gave this a try, and the result is the same. It's like I'm overlooking something obvious here.. worst case, I'll end up with a video which shows the problem. I just can't see why it doesn't go into freespool, with the lever set to 0? Imagine the reel has been opened - we have the LS plate, the spool, and the RS plate. When the spool shaft is inserted into the drag preset knob threads, the pinion gear and thereby also the main gears engange. Now the spool will turn if I move the handle, and the handle will turn if I move the spool. Anti-reverse dog works as it's meant to work, all gears seem to be in place and working properly.

What I came to remember, is that when I first looked at this reel after it was sent to me, I can't seem to remember if it freespooled.. it was so full of salt etc, and the low and high gear could not be engaged. The clicker wasn't all that good either.

There is a part which has not been put back, as it was broken due to wear - the rubber O-ring (well, it's more of a thin rubber seal I guess) that sits right at the base of the drag preset knob part of the reel. But surely this thin rubber piece can't be what is causing the problem?

Does anyone have a schematic for this reel? The owner had lost the schematic, so I never got it.

[johndtuttle]

You can find the schematic on the Daiwa website.

It still sounds like the Drag Cam is not in the right position when you close the reel.

[RTT]

Hi john

Did you check the spool shaft and make sure that it is straight.  If it slightly off you could have free spool when apart, however the spool could touch something when put together.

Good luck,
Ray

[SoCalAngler]

Silly question here but did you make sure the drag lever was in the freespool position and stayed there when you installed the drag adjustment knob?

[Jon_Kol]

There is no such thing as a silly question in this thread. I've been up for so long trying to work out this reel, that I even wrote it in as a LD35 Saltist - instead of a LD35 Saltiga (which is correct). Hope that didn't confuse everyone who read this, very sorry about that mistake.

The drag lever is always in freespool position when I put it all back together, and I have to hold the entire reel in a such way that the pinion gear etc doesn't fall out of place when I put the LS plate and the RS plate together, so my hands support the drag lever as well.

I'll have a look at the spool shaft once again, to check if it might be bent. Couldn't see anything when I held it in front of me and gave it a test for freespool outside of the reel, though.

I'm starting to think that those of you who have mentioned the drag cam and/or the pinion gear seating, might be on to something. I can't remember this from when I've done service on my AVET reels and others - but this reel engages the pinion gear (and the main gears) as soon as the spool shaft enters the RS plate, making the spool and handle move forward and the dog to engage if the handle is pulled backwards. This is normal, right? What is missing, seems to be the part where the main gear is disengaged when the lever drag is pulled back into free. The lever moves freely, but there is nothing that indicates a difference when moving it.

Another thing is that the drag when the spool is completely inserted into the RS plate, is pretty hard. I have to make quite an effort to move the spool by hand, as if it is put on a lot of drag.

I'll have to look more closely at everything tonight, I guess..

[MarkT]

Is the spool release spring present between the right spool bearing and the one in the pressure plate?  Are the bearings stuck to the spool shaft?  Almost sounds like the plate isn't being moved away from the spool when it goes to free spool.

[Jon_Kol]

Is the spool release spring present between the right spool bearing and the one in the pressure plate?  Are the bearings stuck to the spool shaft?  Almost sounds like the plate isn't being moved away from the spool when it goes to free spool.

That's a good point, didn't think about that. I've attached a photo here which shows the RS spool shaft bearing, which I was not able to move when I looked at the spool and the shaft running through it.

What do you guys think, is this clear enough to say if it looks correct or not?