Is there a break-in period with NOS or gently used vintage reels?

[CincyDavid]

OK, I fixed the Ted Williams. Removed the bushing retainer screw and moved the whole assembly back just a smidge from where it was, put the screw back in and the grittiness is gone. I don't know if it was just misaligned or what, but that reel is good to go. Haven't messed with the Penn yet.

[jgp12000]

Dave,I have some new bearings for the 710 if you want one,shoot me your address again so I dont have to think...N/C of course,you have given me too much!

[Midway Tommy]

Miniscule misalignment and slight binding can cause a whole lot of roughness issues. Most of the quality made reels like these require pretty precise reinstallation of parts during assembly.

On a different note, while I know it's fairly cheap preventative maintenance, out of the 500 or so reels of my own that I've rehabbed, I've only replaced one pinion bearing, and that was on a Cardinal 7 that had seen salt water neglect. I did, though, replace 4 bearings in a cheap a_$_$ Quantum spinner for a friend that evidently had been through hurricane flooding and then just left to disintegrate and rust. The way I see it, if it ain't broke, no reel need to fix it.   

[CincyDavid]

Dave,I have some new bearings for the 710 if you want one,shoot me your address again so I dont have to think...N/C of course,you have given me too much!

Thanks James, I'll let you know what I find and see if I need a bearing. I truly appreciate the good advice and friendships I've developed in this group.

[Reels_penn4life]

Ever get the 710 running smoother?? I have maybe a 100 or more. Some are smooth. Some a little geary. I've swapped gears and mess around and sometimes get a good combo where the pinion and main just mesh well. Someone might have gotten snagged and put undue pressure on a couple gear teeth. 710 in good shape is fairly smooth.

[quang tran]

Most older baitcasting reel cast better after few month break in . I once look at a Van Staal spinning reel at tackle shop in S. Houston and surprise that it was so stiff and the sale man said after break in it will be very smooth

[Surfrat]

Where I play, when a Penn 710 Greenie vintage spinning reel feels gritty or mechanical when reeling is a very common issue. It's usually caused by old, hardened grease that turned hard like a crayon, trapped sand/dirt from been underwater, or worn/unaligned gears from abuse. Because these classic reels were built like tanks with all-metal internals, they rarely break permanently, but they do require regular maintenance to stay smooth.

I will follow the suggestions from other members here to diagnose it. Can you share some pictures because it will help us see.

When I bought my used 710, I cleaned it well because it had crayon like dried grease and got worn out drags. I only replace the grease and drags on the 710.

[CincyDavid]

The dang thing spins really freely, just feels vaguely gritty spinning forward and maybe marginally less so when spinning backward. I've been using it like a fidget spinner during my work day, just absent-mindedly spinning it when I am not busy. I think I'll tear it back down and just see what's wrong with it. I'll snap some pics then. I am finding some variability in my Bretton spinners too, some are syrupy smooth, others have a vague mechanical grittiness to them, like I can feel gears meshing. To be fair, I am also touchy about vibrations in the steering wheel when I drive. I probably drive my tire store nuts with rebalancing and rotation of the Michelin Defenders every 10k miles to avoid any shimmying or vibrations in the steering.

[Paul Roberts]

After a complete tear-down/refurbishment I spin that reel for a while, like it's a fidget spinner. This does smooth out a reel, both old casting reels and esp with spinning reels. I assume this distributes lubricants. The things that seem to be the root of most noise in spinning reels is wear in the rotor bearing and/or the gears. To me, worn bearings hiss and worn gears growl.

In old revolving handle casting reels its gear alignment, that might be corrected by shimming. Gears could be worn but often I'm able to shim my way out of it.

Not sure where "grittiness" fits. Could be either. One thing I do is to put a reel to my ear, in contact, and listen. Sure amplifies things.

[Midway Tommy]

One nice thing about being a little hard of hearing is that if a spinning reel is relatively smooth none of the noise stuff really matters. 🤔 😉 😁

[Paul Roberts]

Yeah, over my fishing career I've had quite a tolerance for reel noise in my workhorse reels. That has changed after I started getting serious about revamping old reels. Suddenly I began to notice. Seems there's always a click or squeak to be followed up on. It is satisfying when I silence one.  Not obsessive about it. Some sounds are intolerable though. Although some reels, like my worm gear reels, seem a shame if they aren't glass smooth and silent. I guess I'm thinking of my Shakes and South Bends. I do have a well loved Garcia Cardinal 3 though I bought new in '84 that has notable rotor hiss. The bearing needs replacing. But I've been unable to extract that bearing. Seems it requires a very small c-spring extractor. Guess I should be searching one of those out.

[Midway Tommy]

Those Cardinal 3 split rings can kind be a pain in the arse. Not much space there to squeeze together. The split ring pliers need to be sized just right. The 4s aren't quite as difficult.

[Paul Roberts]

I ordered a pair of "precision" "micro" snap ring pliers. Three tips from 1mm. 🤞🏼