fiber washer replacement in pro gear 545

wolvie · May 04, 2011, 12:50:53 AM

I know the drag washer to replace the fiber washer in the 113h is the 6-875 and the guts of the pro gear 545 seem nearly identical and takes the same ht100s for the main drag, so can anyone confirm the 6-875 will work as replacements for the fiber washers in my PG545's?

alantani · May 04, 2011, 06:05:10 PM

correct!

wolvie · May 05, 2011, 07:46:03 PM

Great, thanks Alan!

wolvie · May 10, 2011, 12:53:02 AM

OK. Got that done. I have a general question, though, about a problem I ran into on this and the surfmaster 200 I switched out to ht-100s:
The star did not mesh easily onto the gear sleeve in the beginning and I did not know how to get any grip on the sleeve to get the threads started. For the 200 the threads on the sleeve were a little out of whack - looks like someone had trouble starting it true at some point. For the 545 there was some corrosion on the star threads, since the star is aluminum and was not greased properly.

So in both cases, I had no room between the spacer ring and the star to grab the sleeve with anything, but there is no easy way to immobilize the gear sleeve from inside the case, since the dog ratchet prevents turning backward, not forward. I managed in both cases to hold the anti-reverse gear from inside the case with a small screwdriver, which worked because I only needed a little bit of hold to get the threads started right. Is there a better way to deal with this?

alantani · May 10, 2011, 01:25:25 AM

sometimes you can hold the gear sleeve with needle nose pliers just enough to get the star started. otherwise. pull the reel apart again and run the star up and down on the bare gear sleeve to work in the threads. yeah, i know. gotta pull the dumb thing apart again!

Alto Mare · May 10, 2011, 01:38:24 AM

I'm not a fan of the aluminum star wheels , I've gotten rid of all of them. I had some issues with a few on my custom reels they didn't stand up to the test so I went back to the chromed brass wheels. I think that the aluminum star wheels are too thin and the threads are not strong enough for when you need to crank them down

wolvie · May 10, 2011, 02:50:09 AM

After several runs, I found that cleaning the top of the gear sleeve and putting my clean thumb on it gave me enough tension to screw the star on. Hopefully this will work in the future - if not, I'll try winding it on and off to loosen things up.

The bearings seem sealed. I soaked them in TSI and put them back. Is there something I should do to open them up and clean the grease out or is it impractical?

I got practice taking it apart an reassembling because I ran into an issue with the drag. I used a 6-875 Washer under the main gear, 5 6-113H ht-100 Washers, and the 7C-113H Metal Washer kit, which I thought was right, but with everything in the drag stack like in Mark Mayo's tutorial, I cannot get the drag to lighten up. It goes from medium to very heavy. I checked several times to make sure the ears were all catching the main gear right, and that everything else matches the tutorial, but ended up taking out the belleville to get it to work normally. Do I need to shave the spacer? Or did I buy the wrong washers?

I do have one thicker metal washer that I put just under the belleville, per the tutorial. Perhaps I could replace it with a normal "thin" washer?

I'm calling it a nite and will look again tomorrow. Thanks for any insights!

alantani · May 10, 2011, 07:12:01 AM

yeah, you may have to pull the belleville. chances are the #6-875 is thicker than the stock fiber washer under the main gear. that could be the problem. alternatively, you could just leave it as is and leave the drag buttoned down. that will not hurt drag performance.

Alto Mare · May 10, 2011, 11:45:36 AM

I usually shave the spacer sleeve when I run into that situation, although it will work just the same without the belleville, I prefer to keep mine in. I do not use any power tools to shave the spacer, all I do is use a flat file, usually it only need a 16th of an inch off.

wolvie · May 10, 2011, 04:27:20 PM

OK. Thanks for the info. I will leave out the belleville for now and think about shaving the spacer. I am worried that I till not get it flat, though.

Cheers,

Alto Mare · May 10, 2011, 04:40:29 PM

You will get away with it if it's not completely flat. The belleville will distribute the pressure evenly on the drags.

Norcal Pescador · May 10, 2011, 04:59:54 PM

Quote from: wolvie on May 10, 2011, 04:27:20 PM
OK. Thanks for the info. I will leave out the belleville for now and think about shaving the spacer. I am worried that I till not get it flat, though.

Cheers,

Wolvie,
My simple solution to filing a flat surface like a washer is to lay the file on my work bench and push the washer across the file with the tip of my finger or fingers. That way the washer will align itself with the file. Good luck.
Rob

Alto Mare · May 10, 2011, 08:42:35 PM

Yep, I do the same. I have a 16" file, a smaller one will also work, I rest the file on the work bench and stroke the part on it. Don't give it too much pressure and it will work just fine.

wolvie · May 11, 2011, 03:34:28 AM

Ok. I shaved the spacer and got it back together. There is some drag just from assembling the bridge, but only a couple of pounds or so. The shaved spacer allowed me to replace the Belleville so I have a nice long range and lots of drag when buttoned down. Chalk up one more satisfied customer and thanks to all for the help.
Now to repeat the process with my other 545 . . .

Alto Mare · May 11, 2011, 03:55:30 AM

Glad it worked out for you. Sal