ABU 333 - is this normal?

[Strömsborg]

Hello everyone, first post.

I recently bought an ABU 333 by accident. My phone placed a bid on its own in my pocket. My winning bid was the equivalent of $20 so I didn't bother trying to cancel the purchase, and eventually I got my money back anyway.
The reel itself is interesting, by far the oldest spinning reel I have owned or even held in my hands. 100% metal and feels more like a (rather crude) mechanical tool than a a piece of fishing equipment.
I couldn't get it to work properly though. The bail spring was gone for one. For second the spool was spinning freely and some research led me to realise the spool originally belonged to an ABU 444A, which attaches with clips in contrast to the 333's threads. For third the crank also seems to come from a 444. I relayed all this to the seller who promptly refunded me and allowed me to keep the reel.

And now to my question. Behind the spool there's a spring loaded arm that keeps the bail out of the way when casting, and when it passes a lug on retrieve it return to its original position, letting the bail go back. The spring that engages the arm was also non functioning but still there and I put it back in a way that seemed most logical. But now the arm is constantly engaged and on retrive it makes a loud clicking sound every revolution when it passes the lug. Is this normal?
It could be, the reel is old, simple and was a mid range model. But the arm also works as an anti reverse mechanism which the reel already has. It works on the main gears and is much more elegant and almost quiet, has four stops per revolution and can be turned on and off, and in the reels' present state it is completely redundant.
Anyone own one of these and can tell how it's supposed to work?
My only theory is that the bail, if it had a spring, would push the arm sideways and with simple friction stop it from going all the way back and reach the lug, but that doesn't seem like good enginering.

[Gfish]

Welcome to the Site Stromsborg!
Can you post pictures?
Can't type an um-laut for your name on my pad(German?)

[Midway Tommy]

Stromsborg,
It sounds like your reel is more than likely functioning correctly but the missing bail spring is probably the culprit.

The ABU 333 was offered from 1967-79. It was an econo version of the ABU 444, 444A & ABU Garcia.

The bail spring would add a little tension on the bail arm so that it would pass by the trip lever stud. Manually close the bail slowly all the way down until the bail arm tip is resting on the trip lever. Keeping it in that place, which the bail spring would automatically do, slowly turn the handle or rotor and the trip lever should pass by the trip stud without hitting it. When the bail is opened all the way it should rest in a notch in the bail arm near the bail attachment and the bail spring will hold it there until the rotor turns and the trip lever hits the stud. When the bail is closed all the way the pointed tip of the bail arm will rest on the bail trip lever and the bail spring will hold it in place there so that the trip lever misses the trip stud. I'll add a couple of photos for your reference.

The trip lever spring is a coiled spring  that rests around the bail trip lever screw post. It has a loop on one end that goes over the nearby post, a hook/bend on the other end that goes over the bail trip lever and three coils/wraps around the screw post. I'll add a photo showing that configuration, too. Also, there is a photo here of ABU Garcia parts that will show you what the correct trip lever spring and bail spring look like. Those spring parts are interchangeable between the 333, 444 & ABU Garcia.

Hope that helps your issue.

[oc1]

free reel, free detailed troubleshoot with pitchers; what's not to like.

[Strömsborg]

Welcome to the Site Stromsborg!
Can you post pictures?
Can't type an um-laut for your name on my pad(German?)

Thanks! I'm Swedish actually so the Abu reels are standard fare.

[Strömsborg]

Stromsborg,
It sounds like your reel is more than likely functioning correctly but the missing bail spring is probably the culprit.

The ABU 333 was offered from 1967-79. It was an econo version of the ABU 444, 444A & ABU Garcia.

The bail spring would add a little tension on the bail arm so that it would pass by the trip lever stud. Manually close the bail slowly all the way down until the bail arm tip is resting on the trip lever. Keeping it in that place, which the bail spring would automatically do, slowly turn the handle or rotor and the trip lever should pass by the trip stud without hitting it. When the bail is opened all the way it should rest in a notch in the bail arm near the bail attachment and the bail spring will hold it there until the rotor turns and the trip lever hits the stud. When the bail is closed all the way the pointed tip of the bail arm will rest on the bail trip lever and the bail spring will hold it in place there so that the trip lever misses the trip stud. I'll add a couple of photos for your reference.

The trip lever spring is a coiled spring  that rests around the bail trip lever screw post. It has a loop on one end that goes over the nearby post, a hook/bend on the other end that goes over the bail trip lever and three coils/wraps around the screw post. I'll add a photo showing that configuration, too. Also, there is a photo here of ABU Garcia parts that will show you what the correct trip lever spring and bail spring look like. Those spring parts are interchangeable between the 333, 444 & ABU Garcia.

Hope that helps your issue.

Thanks for all the info.
Here's a couple pictures of my reel with its 444A spool and crank and the plain grey spool shroud(?).
As you can see I put the bail arm spring back so that it puts a little extra tension on the arm. If I change that and with the pressure from a bail spring it might work. If I put just a little pressure on the bail with my fingers and turn the reel the bail arm doesn't go all the way in and it misses the stud.

(Edit: The spring cannot be repositioned without putting even more pressure on the bail arm, so an eventual new bail spring will have to do all the work. I'll order one if a correct spool turns up for cheap.)

[OhReely]

Looks like you have the wrong trip lever spring or it's been broken and bent in a different place. In the photo that Tommy posted the end of the trip lever spring is bent in a manner which places it on top of the trip lever with constant tension on the trip lever. In your photo the spring  end is different doesn't look as if it has tension on the lever. I bet if you rotate the spring end clockwise to the other side of the lever it will have too much tension or bind the spring.

[Strömsborg]

Looks like you have the wrong trip lever spring or it's been broken and bent in a different place. In the photo that Tommy posted the end of the trip lever spring is bent in a manner which places it on top of the trip lever with constant tension on the trip lever. In your photo the spring  end is different doesn't look as if it has tension on the lever. I bet if you rotate the spring end clockwise to the other side of the lever it will have too much tension or bind the spring.

Yes, the spring is positioned different. I made an edit to my post before I saw your post.
I think the spring in my reel is different, mounting it like in Tommys reel would put another 270 degrees of tension to it and make matters worse.

[Midway Tommy]

I think you will find that moving the spring end to the correct location will not add as much tension as you anticipate. That is because the hook end would then be closer to the center pivoting location. When everything is working correctly the trip lever moves very little between the open & closed position. It's position on your reel looks like it may rub against the rotor occasionally, too. The spring should have a partial wrap added so that it hooks onto the arm on the other side of the screw.

As far as the bail spring, I am pretty sure that a Cardinal 6/7 right bail spring, part #8621, will work on these older reels. The bail spring will make a huge difference in keeping the correct pressure on the bail arm, and in turn, the trip arm.

I wish you luck on finding a 333 spool. I have never seen one offered for sale, at least not on eBay. On another note, the 444 handle on your reel is a nice upgrade, as long as it doesn't hit the rotor or bail during rotation.

[ExcessiveAngler]

Are you talking about this?

[Midway Tommy]

Are you talking about this?

NO, that's for the Cardinal 3 & 33 series'. Completely different time frame & application setup.