Tis the season

[Tightlines667]

Ahi season in HI that is.

I finally cleared my workbench, and backlog of reels I have had since Christmas, and low and behold this group of behemoths somehow found there way in...

3 Penn 130VSX, & 2 Fin Nor Santiago SA130.

They look to be well taken care of, hopefully they look as good on the inside as they do on the out.

[Shark Hunter]

I look forward to a report on those 130 VSX's John. I have been wanting to order one from the Penn Custom Shop.
I have heard good things about them. I love to fish the Old Penn's, but something modern would be a nice change.

[Tightlines667]

Here is a look at the Inside of a SA130...

These are complicated/heavily engineered reels, but I like the design features.  Alot of ring clips, c clips, small screws, shims, and small parts to deal with on the service though.

[Tightlines667]

Parts were not terribly expensive, though I don't like having to replace the entire drag plates when the CF wears.  These 2 are costing the customer $190 total in parts, including 6 bearings, all new clicker parts, and a few other small things.  I noticed there are some design changes in these from the first gen SA80, and SA130 I have previously worked on.  The drag spring assembly, dog Springs, holes in bottom of cam follower, and threaded inserts for stand bolts (nice) immediately come to mind.

These are nice light, smooth, strong, precise reels with good specs.  The drag ramp up is a bit steep for my liking though.

I think these reels deserve a bit more respect then they are often afforded.  No one likes to work on them.

[Shark Hunter]

Yikes!
I have to give it to you John. You know your stuff when it comes to these big reels and Internationals.
Way above my paygrade. I'm willing to step up.
I can't wait to see the VSX Breakdown.

[Tightlines667]

I ordered some of that creamy/buttery Zebco/Fin-nor grease.  @$45/lb it must be special... right?  Does anyone have any knowledge of this product?  Looks like it may be a PTFE or Teflon grease similar to Shimano's.  I am assuming it's safe for carbon fiber drags since the drags appeared greased, though there is no mention of it under the reel'seat description/specs.  I will likely just use Cal's on the drags.  This stuff looks like it stays put, and has good lubricating properties.  Might work well on saltwater spinners, and smaller reels.

[Maxed Out]

John, a couple hundred bucks for parts doesn't sound like very much considering the purchase price of that monster reel. 

.....and you're right, that is a lot of parts from one reel. I guess penn abandoned simplicity on those reels, which is good for your repair business 

  Ted

[Shark Hunter]

He is only showing the Fin Nor for now Ted. I'm waiting for the Penn 130 VSX Breakdown.
John, I had that grease in my Lethal 100. I cleaned it all out and put in Penn Blue. Tried and True. $20 a lb.

[GClev]

Does anyone have any knowledge of this product?

I'm getting better at deciphering cryptic proprietary MSDS info for "magic" greases and have been filling in a pseudo-database with a lot of information on base oils, thickeners, anti-corrosion additives, and anti-wear compounds.  Even when the MSDS is blank citing a non-specific low-toxicity proprietary formula, it's possible to extrapolate some general information from the rest of the the document.

A quick look this morning didn't reveal much, but the Fin Nor catalog now writes they use Cal's grease in some models.  If you find any MSDS or "combustion" data, pass it along and I'll speculate on it.

I find the entire subject fascinating, part private investigator, part molecular mechanic.

Cal is not a lubrication engineer; he's a fisherman and machinist with a very narrow scope of capability.  One of his previous shop locations is right down the road from a small grease formulator.  Speculate accordingly.

As these oils are mixed and resold in smaller containers they get pricey, but it's all shipping, repackaging, and markup.  PTFE is the acronym for poly tetra fluoro ethylene or Teflon™.  In small percentages, it is an anti-wear additive.  In larger percentages (20-40%) it also acts as the stiffener for holding the lubricating oil in place.  It replaces the more common metal soaps found in many other grease types.  Additionally, mineral oils are far cheaper than synthetic oils.  So the low wholesale price for Cal's infers it is petroleum sourced.  Cal has a great rep and good following, but his grease could be easily replicated with a minimum of reverse engineering if one were so inclined.

PTFE greases are conspicuously absent from the large number of easily googled grease compatibility tables.  I'm more inclined to postpone some of my initial observations until I've had a chance to digest some of the comprehensive literature more thoroughly.  I hate to miss anything.  Miscibility of PTFE greases with other metal soap varieties is a topic left for a more thorough treatment sometime in the future.

Edit - There would be no good reason to use a more expensive polar synthetic oil like a glycol or polyol ester in a drag grease.  Metal association isn't needed since the structure of the drag washer physically holds the grease.

[Tightlines667]

Well,
After a month on my bench, I have finally finished servicing these 5-130 reels.  

The Fin-Nor's got the usual full treatment including complete disassembly sonic, and hand ckeaning, deburring/polishing, relube, reassembky, and final adjustment.  They required 3 new bearings each, ratchet plates, pawls, bellevilles and a few shims to adjust for break pad wear.  

The Penns were only 2 years old, and were in remarkably good condition.   One required a new ratchet plate and pawl, and a right spool bearing, all three got 2 new drive shaft bearings, and 1 pinion bearing each, as well as new bellevilles.  I reconditioned and regressed the drags, packed all bearings, and added new grease where needed  (including the stand screws).  Normally I disassembly the entire reel, and clean every part before relubing and reassembly, but the reels were so clean inside, and the grease looked so good, I skipped these steps here.  I was also surprised that the maingear did not require any shimming, since this seems to have been a common requirement with these reels after some heavy use.

All 5 reels were stripped of line, the spools waxed, and responded with new 150lb mono.

Daron,
Sorry no pictures of the Penn 130 internals.  They look much the same as the other VSX reels pictured.  Surprisingly, there was little sign of salt intrusion into the cam assemblies, and no real issues with the 2 speed mechs. or inside the drag chamber.  These reels had never seen service, and appeared to be very well greased from the factory.  Except the bearings were not fully packed, and the screws were not greased.

None of these reels are my favorite to service.. owing to the numerous parts, tight tollerances, need for special wrenches, and the use of C clips.  Taking the Fin Nor's apart to reshim, and modify the Belleville stack is a pain, since they are buried deep within the reel.

[Shark Hunter]

Sounds like the VSX gets a good rating then.

[handi2]

John that grease looks just like Ardent Reel Butter to me.

[Tightlines667]

John that grease looks just like Ardent Reel Butter to me.

It does seem quite 'buttery'.

Total Bill with all new line was $850.