Truscend dual brake

[Newhill]

There is a problem with this reel. Say that i have the line tied to some fixed object, the drag in a pretty hard setting, and a good press on the line. Then if i'm backing off a bit on the drag lever the drag/brake should loosen some.
But it does'nt loosen. It does'nt loosen until i ease off by lowering the rod.
The inner parts looks ok and all is greased and lubricated.

[nelz]

This is normal for most star drag reels, I believe Abu Garcia addressed it in some of their low profile baitcasters.

As far as lever drags, not sure about it, but the concept is probably similar, that is that drag components are temporarily jammed in place while under pressure.

[jurelometer]

This is normal for most star drag reels, I believe Abu Garcia addressed it in some of their low profile baitcasters.

As far as lever drags, not sure about it, but the concept is probably similar, that is that drag components are temporarily jammed in place while under pressure.

I wouldn't say normal for star drag reels. I don't think that any of my star drag reels has this behavior.  Maybe more frequent on freshwater levelwinds.  But otherwise agree.  It gets slightly more complicated with lever drags.

 It depends on whether the reel uses a roller clutch, and where the roller clutch is located, and whether the clutch locks to the shaft itself or a sleeve that slides over a keyed section of the shaft.

The type of roller clutch (AKA one-way bearing) typically used in reels will turn backwards a tiny amount causing its rollers to jam inward into whatever is underneath it.  This what allows the drag to engage and prevents the handle from going backward.  A side effect of the locking is that the clutch can no longer slide along the shaft.  Many roller clutch reels rely on the clutch to slide along the shaft for changes in drag clamping load to reach the drag mechanism as Nelz noted.  Any change in drag setting only changes pressure on the clutch until it releases.  It takes just a tiny amount of forward turning motion (like the recoil from dropping the tension on the line) to release the clutch.

On a star drag, any roller clutch has to go on the handle shaft.  If the shaft has a sleeve for the clutch, you won't get the drag setting lock.  They started out without sleeves when roller clutches were first introduced,  but sleeving has become. more common.

On a lever drag, we have the same situation when the clutch is on the main (spool) shaft.

But most lever drags with roller clutches put the clutch on the handle shaft (no sleeve required), so the lever on the main shaft can change the drag when under load. No free lunch though.  If the bearing is on the handle shaft, the gear ratio provides leverage, effectively multiplying the torque on the clutch.  That is why those first generation  small lever drags  with roller clutches blew up the anti reverse mechanisms.  The reel companies then resorted to adding a "backup" dog and ratchet mechanism.

All very predicable. It would be nice if the reel companies hired designers that did not sleep through their mechanical engineering classes.

Your description matches the symptoms of a lever drag with an unsleeved roller clutch on the main shaft.   Tightening the drag under load should have the same outcome (no change in drag) but you need to be careful, as it is more likely to damage the clutch. 

A schematic or a look inside the reel would verify.

BTW, lubricating the roller clutch will make it more likely to fail, especially with grease.  But if you don't lubricate, they are prone to corrosion.  Did I mention that I am not a fan of roller clutches?


-J

[nelz]

I can always count on you to find fault in my posts.    By "normal" I meant commonplace.

Anyway, I tested my star drags when this phenomenon came to my attention a while back, and was totally surprised to discover that my SD reels indeed exhibited the anomaly.

[Gfish]

I have one star-drag reel where those engineering dudes were thinkin bout it. A 2016 Abu Revo Toro Beast. It's a pretty elaborate system to prevent that problem and I still can't figure-out exactly how it works. That crankshaft has top n' bottom ball bearings, an ARB, a click drag wheel, a bunch of thrust & spring washers, and they still incorporated a complicated & rather thin unit in there on top of the drag stack to mitigate shaft lock and no-adjustability while under pressure. Nice!
I fish the heck outta that reel and had to recently change the spool bearings due to wear & noise. It has friction, magnetic and centrifugal cast controls, Nice!, and I hope it lasts my fishing lifetime 'cause successive models will probably only be built cheaper.

[boon]

This is going to sound a bit ruthless, but these chinese Accurate copies have all sorts of weird issues because they are copies built by a factory that copies things, not a fishing company.

If you've been fishing it at high drag (and these reels will totally make surprisingly high drag figures) I would check if the spool shaft is bent, or if it's bending when you load the reel up.

[jurelometer]

I can always count on you to find fault in my posts.    By "normal" I meant commonplace.

Anyway, I tested my star drags when this phenomenon came to my attention a while back, and was totally surprised to discover that my SD reels indeed exhibited the anomaly.

My apologies.  I took normal to mean ubiquitous.    I did note that were otherwise in agreement.

BTW, I wonder if some spinning reels with roller clutches under the spool also have this issue.

-J

[jurelometer]

BTW, I wonder if some spinning reels with roller clutches under the spool also have this issue.

-J

To answer my own question,  shouldn't be a problem as the clutch is on one side of the drag stack and the drag knob is on the other.

[JasonGotaProblem]

BTW, I wonder if some spinning reels with roller clutches under the spool also have this issue.

-J

To answer my own question,  shouldn't be a problem as the clutch is on one side of the drag stack and the drag knob is on the other.

Was gonna say earlier that the drag (and knob) is on the spool shaft, while the AR clutch is on the pinion.

Just another reason why spinners are better in every way.