Introduction and a frustrating situation!

[BrettS]

Hey everyone, thanks for everything you share on here. I've been reading posts for about a week now and this seems like a fantastic community! I stumbled upon this board while looking into what can and cannot be done to an old beat up reel to put it back into service. I'm setting up a couple of bull redfish/medium size shark rods for the surf because after about a 7 year hiatus I'm getting back in. Turns out my twin 6 yo girls love beach fishing! Who could ask for more right? So I have an affinity for penns which surely doesn't come as a surprise to anyone here. In the last week and a half I have come across a Squidder 140 converted to a 146 with a tiburon frame for 53 bucks and a penn mag power 980 for 60 bucks. Time to get them back in action!

Now for the frustrating part, the Squidder came apart and back together smoothly with the help of tutorials on here, the mag power came apart great but I'll be damned if that dog spring didn't go flying when trying to reinstall!!! So over to mystic parts I go and order a new spring, the old one was tweaked a little so no harm there probably should have done it anyways. Picked up some carbontex washers to justify 6 dollars in shipping. Got home today and the parts are here, drag goes in no issue and then to the spring... I bet you know where I am going with this. PING! Off my shoulder, off the wall and gone!!! Who else has spent time on hands and knees searching for that damn dog spring!!!

[Crow]

Welcome !!  Yup, those little things do go "zing!".don't they !!

[RowdyW]

Welcome. Always add extra springs on your order for the reels you are working on whenever you are ordering parts (at least a half dozen). You might find it 6 months from now. Always add a dab of grease to the spring to help it stick where you want it.             Rudy

[BrettS]

Yeah man you would think I would learn my lesson after the first one but guess who was pumped to get his new reel set? Having a beer, cooling off and venting here  before I resume the search. It doesn't help that I lost em sitting at my woodworking bench with hand plane shavings all over the floor. I've got a bucket with a few magnets in it I'm dumping the shavings into.

[foakes]

Welcome Brett!

No big deal — we have all been there.

PM me your address — and I will get one in the mail to you tomorrow morning — N/C.

Then, when installing it — do it in a big clear plastic bag until you get the hang of juggling the various parts.

Or, just use a little grease on the spring to help hold in in place until you can get it fastened in place.

Part # is 14-99 — used on many Penn reels.

Best,

Fred

[Benni3]

Welcome from salem va,,,,,,,,

[BrettS]

Welcome Brett!

No big deal — we have all been there.

PM me your address — and I will get one in the mail to you tomorrow morning — N/C.

Then, when installing it — do it in a big clear plastic bag until you get the hang of juggling the various parts.

Or, just use a little grease on the spring to help hold in in place until you can get it fastened in place.


Part # is 14-99 — used on many Penn reels.

Best,

Fred

Thanks all for the welcome! I figured this was probably a shared experience so what better way to break the ice? Fred's offer is so much more than kind. This is why I am here, not for free stuff, but because of good people with a shared interest in keeping our gear in shape, tweaking it to best meet our needs and fishing the hell out of it. The internet is a crazy place and I feel like the people here talk like they are standing next to you, not some anonymous screen name behind a keyboard. Cheers to all of you guys who make this board what it is. Still haven't found that damn spring but I have a little more looking to do

[mo65]

   Welcome aboard Brett. I've sent so many dog springs flying that I learned how to make them out of about anything I had lying around. Later I got wise and stocked up on them. Like the guys said, a dab of grease "neutralizes" the little springs flight ability, kind of like tying a rock to a sparrow's leg, HA!

[happyhooker]

Greetings, Brett, from Minnesota USA.  I, too, have shot a few springs off into NeverNeverland.

Frank

[Tiddlerbasher]

Hi Brett and welcome - Chris from the UK.
I have found many small metal items by using a strong magnet on the end of a telescopic 'wand' - then pacing backwards and forwards with the magnet close to the floor - saves all that hands and knees stuff This, assumes, the metal is magnetic doh!

[Alto Mare]

Welcome from Philly, Brett!

Sal

[AC49]

Welcome from Cape Town South Africa 

Regards
AC49

[alantani]

Welcome.  Use the penn 113h tutorial. https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=208.0

[Cortez_Conversions]

We've all lost a "Jesus" spring once or twice, no worries about that. Like Rudy said, just order a few extra to keep on hand.

[nelz]

Welcome Brett. Here's a suggestion if you don't want to wait:

Vacuum the area using a new bag or clean canister, then inspect the contents. Many a tiny part has turned up like that!