Shimano Calcutta 200B

[jeffro22]

Trying to get all my calcuttas cleaned up and serviced.  

I just took apart my 200b and found it it has all open style bearings. They appear to be in good shape.  Should I leave them as is with just a slight coat of oil or is it a good idea to replace with a ceramic shielded bearing? I assume packing these open bearings with grease would result in the reel not being as smooth?

I also noticed that this reel has a right spool bearing instead of the bushing like my older 250 had.  ( would I see any benefit to swapping out the bushing on my older reel to a bearing like this 200 has)

Anyone have an aftermarket handle for the smaller Calcutta that they recommend.  This one is bent a little and my other reel has the rubber handles deteriorating.

any trick to getting the drive gear off the shaft?  This one seems to not want to slide off

[oc1]

Some people here like to pull the shields off and pack ball bearing with grease.  I'm not one of them and always leave the shields in place (both orange and metal) and lubricate with light oil.

Switching out bushings for ball bearings is a double edged sword.  When the spool is under pressure fighting a fish, ball bearings will reduce wear and make the reel smoother.  Ball bearings are sort of mandatory in heavy duty reels.  Packing ball bearings with grease will make the reel feel smoother, but it will also reduce casting distance.  When casting lighter reels, replacing bushing with ball bearings may, or may not, increase distance.  Full ceramic and hybrid ball bearings will give you slightly more distance than full stainless.  Don't even think about using chromed bearings.  But, polished bushings can often give you as much distance as ball bearings.

I use light tackle and distance is important.  The reels are frequently drenched and sometimes dunked.  A lot of distance is lost if a ball bearing gets wet.  Getting a bushing wet has little effect and it sometimes even seems to increase distance.

When a reel is frequently getting wet, maintenance becomes a big deal.  A wet ball bearing will whip up a lot of oil/water emulsion and that emulsion and sludge continues to impact distance until the ball bearing is removed for cleaning.  A bushing whips up much less emulsion and it seems to shed the emulsion and sludge

I use older reels that can be lubricated from the outside without disassembly.  A quick squirt of oil in the bushing will flush out emulsion and sludge and make the reel feel like it just had a complete service.

You can probably straighten out the bent handle blade.  Tacky Shimano knobs are a real nuisance and nobody seems to have figured out how to reverse it. 

-steve

[vilters]

i have had success straightening bent shimano handles - they bend easily - by removing and clamping in a vise, cushioning the jaws of the vise and tool i use. i use these accessory handle grip covers on my shimano handles with the gooey knob disease. you can gently rock the gear on the shaft back and forth from one side to the other, and it should work free, pretty snug fit. if not, soak, and maybe use heat gun.

[jeffro22]

thanks for all the info and help.  I will see what I come up with on the handles. 

I did finally get the gear off.

I bought the orange shielded bearings.  Will see how they do "as is" with shields intact.  I am thinking of just leaving the bushings on my reels that have them, and swapping out to the orange shielded bearings on the reels that already have bearings.


I don't need super crazy cast distance with casting..  Just don't like a lot of "resistance" in the reel.  I try to take care of my reels but really they don't get washed off like they should. 


I do mostly slow trolling/drifting for flounder with live bait.  I like the Calcutta's b/c of the thumb release.  Easy to feel a bite and let some line out without pulling the hook




Upgrading the drags to carbontex also and doing a full cleaning

[oc1]

i use these accessory handle grip covers on my shimano handles with the gooey knob disease.

Thank you for the lead Steve.  I can use that.
-s

[Jenx]

What kind of free spool are you getting on your reel?

I was just about to start a post with questions about my 100B before I saw this thread. I hope you don't mind me adding a couple of questions of my own in here.

So I asked how much free spool you are getting on your 200b because I'm currently only getting two seconds of free spool on my 100B. That is an improvement from the 1 second of free spool I was getting before I swapped out the bearings with ones that were in my Curado.

[philaroman]

just to make sure, 1-2 SEC0NDS -- not, MINUTES?

only played w/ Curado/Chronarch/Scorp/Met some...  not a pro

if bearings were the cause of such terrible freespool,
you'd feel it just from manual handling, without swapping/testing
do a complete service & look for wear/damage/undesired contact
(you can HEAR that better, w/ lube stripped off)

[oc1]

how much free spool you are getting on your 200b

Did you disengage the brake blocks first?  

I have just about decided that free spool (free spin time) doesn't mean a whole lot.  The bottom line is how far it will cast.  You need braking (centrifugal, magnetic, thumb, cast control friction knob) to tame the reel enough to cast it.

When there are changes to the bearings, compare the casting distance before and after using the same rod, same lure, and same braking.

When tuning a reel with static magnets, I disengage the clutch and quickly yank off a yard of line to see if I can make it backlash.  If there is a big mess then more magnets are needed.   If there is a minor overrun then it's OK.

Proportional braking (centrifugal, magnetic, highly educated thumb) is better than friction from a cast control knob.

-steve

[ReelClean]

how much free spool you are getting on your 200b

Did you disengage the brake blocks first?  

I have just about decided that free spool (free spin time) doesn't mean a whole lot.  The bottom line is how far it will cast.  You need braking (centrifugal, magnetic, thumb, cast control friction knob) to tame the reel enough to cast it.

When there are changes to the bearings, compare the casting distance before and after using the same rod, same lure, and same braking.

When tuning a reel with static magnets, I disengage the clutch and quickly yank off a yard of line to see if I can make it backlash.  If there is a big mess then more magnets are needed.   If there is a minor overrun then it's OK.

Proportional braking (centrifugal, magnetic, highly educated thumb) is better than friction from a cast control knob.

-steve

Thank you Steve!
I thought I was alone in arguing against this ridiculous race for the perpetual motion spool!   If your spool turns for two minutes you have either cast about a half mile across the bay (you legend!), spooled yourself before you hooked up, or you have one helluva birds nest to pick out!    
ABEC5 bearings are good enough for me!

cheers
Steve

[philaroman]

don't know about other brands or vintage, but a modern Shimano should free-spool a heck of a long time, ON THE BENCH, w/ empty spool & all braking disengaged/minimized...  no one is suggesting trying to cast that way

[Jenx]

I don't need the reel to have over a minute of freespool, but I would like to know if it's working properly or not. I have never owned another B series Calcutta to compare it to, which is why I asked the OP how much spin he was getting on his 200. Only one second of freespool with all the brakes disengaged and the tension knob loosened seems less than optimal.

The reel didn't seem to be casting as far as I would have liked the first time I tried it, although to be fair that could have just been the lure I was using that day. I plan on taking it out again to test alongside one of my curados to decided if it's worth keeping. I hope it works out because it seems like a pretty durable reel that is easy to service.

[oc1]

I don't know man.  I have Calcutta 50's and a 100.  Also a Curado 70.  I like all of them, but think the Curado gives me just a little more distance with a 3/8 ounce jig.  Maybe two or three yards.  The Curado seems to demand more maintenance, but I don't particularly like having to service either one of them.
-s

[jeffro22]

any trick to getting the left side spool bearing out?  I cant seem to get it break loose.  I went ahead and soaked it in PB blaster

[Jenx]

Jeff, I'm not sure if the 200 is different than the 100, but on the 100 you can pop off the left side plate, and there is a hole where the bearing is. There is a little black spacer pad between the hole and the bearing. I just pushed a small screwdriver into that hole, against the black spacer pad, and it popped the bearing out the other side.

[SoCalAngler]

Here in So Cal the Calcutta line of reels were never thought as great for freespool. I had a 400 for a couple of seasons many years back and I removed the shields and lubed/oiled the spool bearings and repacked the rest with grease. It improved the freespool a little but not by much. I also turn off any breaking on any reels I own that have that feature as I prefer to use my thumb for that.

Bending the handle should work but there was a aftermarket handle for those reels, even  new you could purchase the reels with them, that's how came and the way I wanted it. It was called a "live bait handle" and it had a single arm with a wooden knob. I'm not sure you would like them for your style of fishing or not, or if they even still make them. They may not fit your reel anyway as like I said mine was a 400.

In the live bait fishery we have here, freespool is pretty important not just for casting small or weak bait but keeping it as fresh and lively as it can be when reaching the zone.