Heddon Fishing Reel

[stripey]

Hello, I have a Heddon reel, baitcaster style, not spinning. The reel froze up to the point where even with the drag loose, I could not spin the spool. Took it all apart, cleaned it, lubed it, pulled the washers for the drag out, greased them, etc. and put it all back together and still have the same problem. I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas what to check.

Thanks!

[akfish]

If you have checked everything else, it could be that the spool is so warped that it rubs the frame and won't spin. Can you remove the spool from the reel? If so, see if you can detect any wobble when you roll it across the floor or spin it in your hands. Old reel like the Heddon baitcasters did not do well with mono; when mono stretches and then is wound back on the spool it exerts tremendous pressure. Sometimes too much.

[stripey]

Thanks for the reply, I run wire. The spool spins fine when reeling, but I have no drag, it's basically locked.

[akfish]

Ok. First, is there any chance the wire is spinning on the spool? If not, then it has to be the drag stack. I don't know that reel, but it could be that the drag washers are frozen together. Have you disassembled the drag to check of this? Your reel almost certainly needs new drag washers anyway.

[stripey]

It was the drag stack...kind of. I initially took all the washers out and cleaned/greased them, but failed to realize that the main gear needs to also spin freely on the shaft that the reel handle goes on. I put some vice grips on it with a rag and broke it free, then greased everything up good. Now the only problem I'm encountering is there is a small metal pawl that prevents the handle/reel from spinning backwards. It is not engaging. I'm thinking either the grease is preventing it from falling down in place or the screw that holds it fast is too tight. Going to mess with it tonight.

Thanks!