Penn 109 Maintenance

[tomolalla]

I'm starting to amass a fleet of 109's. They are great little reels for salmon fishing where I live.  I received my first Ebay purchase and although the reel looks almost new, it's got a problem when in direct drive.  It will spin fairly freely in the forward direction but is rough (binds slightly) in the reverse.  I took it apart and oiled it up and is somewhat better but still is tempermental. It also seems real sensitive to the free spool tension and tightness of the screws around the plate.  It looks like it has a couple small bearings, could they be the culprit? 

Any ideas? 

[alantani]

the worm gear (key #45) would be my first guess.  check all the gears for damage. 

[akfish]

Look at the anti-reverse dog. It could be slightly bent or have a "nub" on the end. In either case, the dog could be dragging slightly when it shouldn't.

[alantani]

actually, that idea is probably better!

[tomolalla]

Thanks for the tips.  Although I took off the side plate, oiled a bunch of spots, put it together and seems to be working much better.  The worm gear was fine, I didn't see anything obviously wrong with the dog.  This was a lightly used reel with zero corrosion and in great shape. It seemed that the spool was not seated quite right and possibly the frame wasn't tight.  I do have to turn the spool drag a bit tighter than I'd like, but it seems to cure the problem. If the spool is a little looser it will catch the handle side plate just a hair and only when in direct drag casting/pay out direction.  I suppose their is a proper sequence to "tune" these reels, but maybe trial and error will be my mode.  If you have any good advice for "tuning" these let me know.