shimano torium 30 hg - a quick look inside

[alantani]

shimano torium 30 hg - a quick look inside

this one came in from the east coast.  lots of salt water intrusion.  i cleaned it all up, then decided to take a few photos.  



the design is very similar to the older toriums.  



i won't this time, i'll bet i could even rig with reel with a spring loaded dog.



the base plate is plastic.  not the strongest, but at least it won't corrode.  



the reel now comes with greased carbon fiber drag washers.  that's a big plus!  even if the bearings all seize up, the drags will still be smooth!



oh, and about those spool bearings.  they are buried so deep that you can't get to them to switch them out, or even lube them, unless you take the entire reel apart.  that's right, no more popping off the left side plate, pulling the spool and servicing the bearings.  the entire reel has to come apart.  i don't know what you guys think about this, but i'm not impressed.  

[handi2]

I wasn't impressed either Alan. You have to take the whole reel apart to get the spool out making everything take longer.

It does have a better clutch bearing with seals top and bottom.

[akfish]

For some reason every one of these that I get in seems to have considerable salt damage inside...

[Gfish]

The older non-HG Torium's had real good free spool for a conventional. Hows the free spool on the HG's with the diffrent construction?
Gfish

[handi2]

You can make it freespool pretty darn good. I did one for a pier fisherman that casts his 30 size reel. Casting conventionals around here is something most people don't do.

I used Ceramic Hybrid bearings and polished the spool shaft and pinion gear.

[alantani]

i'm not sure why shimano thought this would be a good idea, unless they figure (and perhaps rightly so) that the average guy would never crack open his own reel. 

[alantani]

on the plus side, here's something in the old torium that you will likely not see in the new torium.  the plastic base plate of the new torium should eliminate much of this corrosion.  admittedly, this old torium would still function if i left this corrosion in place, but it really looks awful.