First C3 teardown and a upgrade session....now a strange noise?

[sneakytails]

Hello

Well I have had my C3 5501 for a few years now, after about 100 fish I decided to tear it down and do a full clean/lube job and install some upgrades. Being my first time at this it took me some time, much longer than a more experienced reel guru. The reel was not bad, the worst part was the worm gear drive assembly, the drag was shot however!

I installed the following upgrades:

1. Dual bearing worm gear drive kit with ceramic line pawl and titanium line guide.
2. Ball bearing cog gear, I removed the extra material at the top and installed the e-clip for ease of maintenance.
3. 4 ball bearing handle with larger nobs and new screw, and cap.
4. Carbontex drag kit from Smoothdrag.com.

I replaced the following parts:

1. Brand new main and pinion gear.
2. Black plastic cap under spool tension cap.

I was supposed to install new ceramic hybrid spool bearings but I was sent the wrong ones by mistake (3 mil instead of 4 mil), I am currently working this out with the supplier (have to wait to Monday for response apparently), hopefully, I can get a refund for something some one else's mistake.

I like my reel now, it feels smoother now and casts great, the drag is superb!

My problem is that when I reel in I hear a faint clicking noise, it goes away and then suddenly comes back stronger, I can feel it through the body of the reel at times. What can cause this?

I have 3 theories :

1. The cog gear has some material left on the top part of the gear (after removing the excess) and this is hitting the e-clip making a clicking noise.
2. The new gear had a slight area that was imperfect and is causing the clicking when the damaged teeth hit the pinion.
3. The anti reverse bearing is shot.*

* I did clean the anti-reverse bearing with some carb cleaner and then re-lubed with a lighter amount of grease than before. It seemed far too much grease was there originally.

Any ideas on this?

[sneakytails]

I started to tear down the reel to investigate and when I removed the handle nut cap I saw my e-clip was barely hanging on to the gear assembly post. This might be the problem. I could see how the clip may have been rattling around causing some noise and then going quiet in between movements.

I am not sure if lateral movement shows up if the clip is off or loose but that may have been the case as well.

I will test the reel tomorrow at the river during my lunch to double check.

If I still have the problem it may be my AR bearing and the colder weather.

We will see.

[redsetta]

G'day and welcome ST,
Sounds like you've done the business on your Abu - be great to see some photos.

* I did clean the anti-reverse bearing with some carb cleaner and then re-lubed with a lighter amount of grease than before...

Be careful with carb cleaner on the AR bearing at it can react with the plastic bearing cage.
Also, only use a light oil (ReelX/CorrosionX/Innox or similar) on the AR bearing. Grease can cause it to malfunction.
Let us know how things work out.
Good luck, Justin

[Nessie Hunter]

G'day and welcome ST,
Sounds like you've done the business on your Abu - be great to see some photos.

* I did clean the anti-reverse bearing with some carb cleaner and then re-lubed with a lighter amount of grease than before...

Be careful with carb cleaner on the AR bearing at it can react with the plastic bearing cage.
Also, only use a light oil (ReelX/CorrosionX/Innox or similar) on the AR bearing. Grease can cause it to malfunction.
Let us know how things work out.
Good luck, Justin

Ya, what he said....   Ditto....     

Funny, I was forming the same response as I read... 
Took the words right out of my mouth!!! LOL




.

[redsetta]

 

[sneakytails]

The reel is still making the noise so it is the AR bearing. Since fishing season is basically here for me, I just ordered a side-plate assembly with the bearing already in it.

This way I can just apply some light oil to the AR bearing and then pop the reel back together!

I am fishing steelhead and I cannot afford to have my AR bearing fail on a big strike!

Lesson learned I guess. Don't use a toothbrush, compressed air and carb cleaner on your AR bearing!

[Ken_D]

Hello. What's the first four numbers on your frame foot? You indicated you replaced the idler gear, and removed the dimple for the E-clip. Was the OEM (orig. equip. mfg) gear you replaced, dimpled, or was it  e-clipped ?

There's another possibility, based on your answer, or not.  Also, usually it's the IAR sleeve that goes bad, not the bearing. Does the sleeve have little pock marks in it, and a dark grey band about in the center of the outside surface. Either of these makes the sleeve a throw-away. It's about 4 something and stamps to replace.

Check the chrome boss on the side plate for loose. Whereas you are buying another side plate, you can easily check the old one. The boss can be loose, or, in worst case, get torn right off the plate.  

[sneakytails]

The first four numbers of my reel foot are 0106.

The old cog gear war originally dimpled, My replacement bearing cog gear was also dimpled, after reading about others who have switched over to an e-clip version I decided to go that route. Based on my reading it seemed that others did the same without any problems. There was a notch on the cog gear post for the e-clip. Are you suggesting that there could be some vertical play on the new cog gear without the dimple and that is what is making the noise when I reel? It felt the same amount to me as the old one when I tried pulling it up before final assembly.

Thanks for the tip on the IAR sleeve and Boss I will check that out when I switch out sideplates.

[Ken_D]

Hi. I was not indicating play. Had your oem gear been e-clipped, and you went to dimple, you would have had issues with the DIN pitch on the dimpled gear, and the DIN pitch on the spool gear. The two sets of gears don't like each other very much, if they are intermixed. 

I get this quite often, when a sport shop changes out the idler, but not the spool, when they are of different eras.    Is that little 5189 copper shim still on the driveshaft post on the brakeplate. Sometimes that goes mia.

[sneakytails]

The copper shim is there for sure.

On a hunch I pulled the reel apart today again and I looked at the main gear, On one of the teeth there were 3 distinct gouges, not very large but still there. I wonder if that was the problem all along.

This was a brand new gear though, it must have been damaged somehow and still made it out the door. I noticed that the clicking or hitch problem seemed to come and go, this seems to fit.

I have a new gear coming in a few days.

In retrospect I may have just ordered a new side-plate for nothing, the only good news is that I can lightly lube it with oil instead of grease like my old one.

So far I have had this reel apart for weeks and I am getting tired of ordering parts! fishing season is here!

I should have this thing back together by Saturday and know for sure this time!

...Hopefully!

[sneakytails]

Got the parts in and I put the reel back together. 0 handle play now, no noise and smooth smooth smooth!

I still want to upgrade to a lighter spool and some better spool bearings. Perhaps a dual bearing cog gear as well. That is in the future though.

I will probably replace a few more parts on the reel for a full restoration.

Thanks for the replies.

[Ken_D]

As far as I can see, via Purefishing schematics, the lighter lower capacity spool will run you another 55.00. 
Unless the Japanese specialty market has one for less.