Troubleshooting a Pro Gear 545

stiffblade · August 01, 2011, 11:48:27 PM

Hello all,

I am having a bit of trouble with the freespool on my Pro Gear 545. I changed the gears to a Penn 3:25:1 low gear set with new main gear and SS pinion. I also changed the brass yoke to a Pro Gear ss part, the yoke jack to a SS part and new Boca Bearings. The spool spins good with the begining inertia, but quickly slows down, then stops. I can't figure it out. something somewhere is rubbing. Does the pinion head where the ring is at need to wear in a bit so it won't make contact with the spool? This ring rides into the spool and catches on the squared part of the spool shaft.

Another question, when the 2 clutch springs wear out and don't have the full spring extension, what happens? Does the gear lever get sticky? It will be until saturday that I can get to Ken's custom reel in oceanside, but I want to avoid the 100 mile round trip drive!!

stiffblade

Norcal Pescador · August 02, 2011, 03:15:25 AM

I can't help you with the rest of your questions, but have you tried backing off the non-handle side bearing just a bit to see if that helps the freespool? I'm assuming $:-\$ the bearing setup is similar to a Penn. Are the bearings greased or oiled?

redsetta · August 02, 2011, 03:58:33 AM

Rob's suggestion sounds right re: free spool.
As far as the clutch springs go, they shouldn't affect the function of the eccentric lever.
The lever may get 'sticky' if the eccentric is binding against the jack; if it's binding on the frame (ie grit or build-up in the eccentric hole); if it's been overtightened; or if the jack is somehow binding on the yoke.
I must admit, though, that I'm yet to come across truly 'worn out' clutch springs.
If you haven't seen it already, here's Mark Mayo's 545 tutorial: http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=300.0
Hope that's of some assistance.

stiffblade · August 02, 2011, 05:27:40 AM

Thanks for the tips guys, I am going to get my hands greasy tomorrow and give it another try. I did back off the bearing cap a bit but it is to loose and the spool wobbles back and forth too much. The bearings are oiled new boca bearings. I am going to take all parts out and make sure nothing is bent. I did notice that the 4:1 pinion does not go in the recess of the spool and the 3:25 pinion does go into the recess of the spool. I am gonna check to see if there are any burrs that can be hindering the freespool.
stiffblade

Bryan Young · August 02, 2011, 07:15:47 AM

Quote from: stiffblade on August 02, 2011, 05:27:40 AMThanks for the tips guys, I am going to get my hands greasy tomorrow and give it another try. I did back off the bearing cap a bit but it is to loose and the spool wobbles back and forth too much. The bearings are oiled new boca bearings. I am going to take all parts out and make sure nothing is bent. I did notice that the 4:1 pinion does not go in the recess of the spool and the 3:25 pinion does go into the recess of the spool. I am gonna check to see if there are any burrs that can be hindering the freespool.
stiffblade

Interesting delema. Funny though, I am having the same problem with my PG545. Found I had a siezed bearing and replaced both bearings with cleaned and TSI301 lubed with the same affect as a siezed bearing. I haven't discovered the culprit yet as I got 20 reels in at one time and still have 5 reels to finish before I will be able to look into my reel. Sorry, I don't have an idea at the moment, but process of elimination...2 good bearings...cleaned pinion gear and spool shaft with carb cleaner then lubed with TSI301...I still have the same issue...I hope my spool shaft is not warped. That would suck...if this is the case, this reel will become my bottom or trolling rig. If not, I hope it will become a great caster.

Eccentric lever gets sticky when the eccentric spring is getting fatigues or slight crack in it. Just enough but will not snap. Also gets sticky when the eccentric plate rubs against the gear plate (sorry, I cannot recall the name at the moment). If this is deformed or gummed up with tarnish, then it will be sticky. I will check it's flatness on a plate of stainless that I have or similar known flat surface and bend back until it's flat. If it's flat, then I take the eccentriic to a wire brush from my grinder or dremel to remove the tarnish.

Bryan

stiffblade · August 04, 2011, 05:21:35 AM

Ahhh very interesting...

Well just for fun I did a little field research. I reinstalled the original 4:1 gear and pinion in the 545. Still lousy freespool. I took out the spool and cleaned out the recess where the pinion goes into the spool. I pulled out a little grease and a tiny white spec. Almost looks like a sliver of glass or could be a sliver of mono line. Anyways started out with 6-8 seconds of freespool and went to 25-30 seconds. Then I installed the 3:25 gears again and it went back to the 6-8 seconds of freespool. I did notice 2 things. The newer main gears from Penn have a rubber inner ring. I noticed that it is raised (has a lip) on the inside where the drags go into. I also noticed that I have a lot less star drag range when using this gear, meaning it takes less turns to bottom out the star to the drag. I don't see how this has an effect on the freespool but it exists.
Tomorrow I will dremel polish the spool shaft, I did notice a little bit of wear with rough spots. Any thoughts on how to polish the inside of the pinion gear? My other 545 with 3:25 gears gets about a 30+ count of seconds of freespool, and that main gear is an old school no inner ring main gear.

alantani · August 07, 2011, 09:45:16 PM

try cleaning the pinion gear. if that does not work, you may have to go back to a set of original gears from progear. it is possible that the distance between the center of gear sleeve and the center of the spool shaft might be off by a few thousanths of an inch, resulting in friction. alan

stiffblade · August 12, 2011, 05:35:38 AM

OK another observation. I have the 4:1 gears installed and the sideplate out of the frame. When I flip the gear lever in and out of gear I can see the pinion gear go in and out from the hole in the bridge plate. Now when I have the 3:25 pinion installed and flip the gear lever the pinion goes in and out at a slight angle which then is rubbing on the spool shaft. I did polish the spool shaft and it helped, but not enough. Any ideas on why the pinion gets rocked at an angle? Could the groove on the pinion (where the pinion yoke rides in) be cut too high or too low?

Thanks