Shimming Newell Bearings Questions?

[MACflyer]

After servicing and reassembling a recent purchase, G338-F Newell, I found a bearing shim on the floor. Apparently there were two shims, as one stayed in the bearing cap. The bearing on left side was stuck pretty good, so I guess one of the shims popped out when the bearing popped out. I noticed after serving, the reel has great free spool, but feels kind of heavy (slight resistance) when winding. (1) Could the missing shim cause the heavy winding feeling? I was thinking maybe I put some grease on the main gear and that's causing the heavy feeling. (2) How do you know you need bearing shims? Right now the spool looks perfectly centered, with just a hair of side to side spool play, without the missing shim. If this topic is addressed in a previous post, please direct me. Thanks!

[Swami805]

I usually screw the handle side bearing all the way in and add shims if necessary   I use the non handle side cap to do the adjustment. Sounds like free spool is good but maybe the shim fell out of the handle side and there were 2 in there? Maybe moving the pinion over a taste with the 2nd shim might help?

[MACflyer]

Thanks Swami. I'll try the free-range shim on the handle side. So are the shims simply used to center the spool?

[alantani]

as long as the spool is well centered and there is no rub, there should not be a problem.  you have resistance when you crank the handle.  do you feel that resistance when the reel is out of gear?

[MACflyer]

Alan, the resistance feels about the same whether in gear or out of gear.

[Swami805]

Try cranking the star down, the drag stack might be standing a little proud and it's rubbing on the side plate

[JasonGotaProblem]

I was gonna ask if you greased the post the gear sleeve rides on? Doing that instead of oil, you'll feel it.

What kind of freespool do you get if drag is set to zero while in gear? I don't expect it would be anywhere near the "actual" freespool length of time. But it should be at least 2-3 seconds. if it's zero seconds, then it's probably something to do with the main gear.

At least that's my take on it .

Further question: does your drag actually go to zero? If not it might be a stack height thing causing a rub.

[MACflyer]

Yup Jason I didn't pull the gear sleeve off the bridge post when I serviced the reel: my mistake. Now that I cleaned off the old grease, and added a couple of drops of oil, all is well. Thanks everyone! I'm slowly learning how to service a Newell.

[MACflyer]

OK it's better but not quite right. Reel cranks much easier with clean and oiled inner sleeve with little to light drag. However, when I tighten the drag down past 4 lbs or so, there is resistance while cranking. Resistance increases as I tighten drag more. This occurs whether in gear or out of gear. As Jason mentioned, I do have about 2 seconds of free spool while in gear with drag completely backed off.

I have 1 flat washer between handle and Star, and 1 Belleville? (old thin type with lip on edge) between Star and side plate. Maybe I need a regular Belleville?

[alantani]

yeah, the star is probably bottoming out against the side plate.  add a shm washer under the star so that it doesn't bind up against the side plate.  if you have trouble finding something, send me a pm with your full mailing address and a reminder of what you need and i'll see if i can drop something into the mail. 

[Swami805]

Those G's usually had 2-3  thin wavy washers between the handle and the star. They nest together to keep a little pressure on the star so it doesn't move too easily. Most of them crack over time and get replaced with something more robust   That Belleville could go there
That might add to spacing problem and rub if that's it
A lot of Newells have been worked on over the years and stuff breaks or gets rearranged     Just keep at it, sort of a rubics cube

[MACflyer]

Puzzle solved. Used a smaller diameter, thin hard plastic washer between Star and sideplate, and the thin metal wavy washer between handle and Star. I believe the wavy washer I had between sideplate and Star was slightly too big in diameter and actually rubbing on bearing housing on side plate. Cranks freely throughout drag range now. Appreciate all the help! Grouper season opens in 15 days...