Look what happened to the base of this Penn!

[MexicanGulf]

 

during the fight with a large bluefin tuna estimated at 850 lbs. I dare not imagine that loads of drag were used

[Shellbelly]

I'll bet somebody got around to checking all their equipment after that.

[Squidder Bidder]

Wow. I see the gasket - Alan removes it in his 50VISX tutorial. I'm thinking that may be a good idea to get more "purchase" from the base screws into the frame.

[oldmanjoe]

 Way to much locktite 

[Benni3]

I'm very sorry this happened to you,,,,, they should of used 8 screws or just bigger ones,,,,,

[MexicanGulf]

Drag 70 lbs

[Keta]

Penn says the 50 VISX can do 60# of drag max and I have found most manufactures fudge a bit on their drag numbers. Did you use a drag scale to set the dra?

Things that might have caused this would be,
#1 over torquing the bolts
#2 loose bolts. 

My "guess" would be #1, standard SS bolts can not take much torque,  67 inch pounds for a lubricated 1/4-20 316 bolt and 79 inch pounds dry.

1/4" SS bolts have more than 70# shear streingth....each.

[Gfish]

Is that reel the 50 VISX guy's 'er talking about? And how did it do a number on your finger? And is the finger/hand ok?

[Ron Jones]

I had a reel do that in Alan's garage while being loaded with braid. Thing flew across the room like a guided missile. Alan bored out the frame and tapped it for oversized screws, then finished winding on line. I've caught a good number of yellowtail and tuna with that Okuma ever since.
The Man

[Swami805]

So what happened there?  Did the screws just back out or did the break?  More importantly did they land the fish?

[alantani]

i frequently find that the screws are a little loose.  if they are reasonably tight, i would not expect them to just rip out.  were they loose to begin with? i would drill out the frame and tap it to 1/4-20m then run studs directly from the frame. 

[UKChris1]

Ouch! Looks like it drew blood too 

[MexicanGulf]

Penn international 70 Guys!
broken screws...

[MexicanGulf]