MXL 5.8 issue after reassembling

[glowgrrr]

Hi, i am new to the forum, i have read quite a bit in the past, without registering, but now i need some assistance.

Decided after some 100 hours of using the MXL, it was time to do some maintenance on it.
It all seemed perfect actually, no water intrusion, no salt hiding anywhere, very little corrosion. Even the bearings seemed fine.  Grease was hardened a bit, so i dried everything up and put on new grease and lube wherever i saw fit. Then i reassembled everything, no problems so far, everything fit into place, and no washers had been flipped.  At least, perfect was what i thought.... Thing was, when i tightened the strike lever, i could feel friction, some kind of resistance from the reel when turning the handle.
Free spool is perfect, spool is spinning like never before. Turn it to Bait - still ok, friction barely noticeable, but when i put it on Strike, the added force on the brake makes the knob harder to turn round. And when i put the brake on max/full strike, i'm barely able to move the handle.

I had a look at the schematics, and took it all apart, saw that all parts were moving perfect. Put it together again according to the drawings, and the problem is still there. Does anyone any idea what this might be? I fail to see any parts that could be placed differently, other than the disk ring, which seem uneven, yet i can't figure out what for...

Thanks in advance!

[Bryan Young]

Pinion Bearing needs to be replaced if the cranking on the reel gets harder as you increase the drag.

[akfish]

Yea, it sounds to me like the pinion bearing is bad too. Pinion bearings go out frequently on lever drag reels, but especially, it seems, on Avets. Pull the bearing and press on it while turning. I'll bet you'll feel some grit. If so, you need to replace it. If you feel no grit at all and you're absolutely sure the pinon bearing is good, it could be the left side spool bearing that is bad.

[glowgrrr]

Thank you both for your quick responds. I have checked the pinion bearing, and it appears OK, as does both the spools' bearings. Then again, my field is computers not mechanics, so who knows...
Overall it appears to be a bearing problem, so i'll start with replacing them. Thanks again!

[Keta]

You should replace the pinion bearing every time you take your Avet apart, they are prone to failure and only cost $5.00 ea.  I keep a bunch in stock at all times.

[Bryan Young]

You should replace the pinion bearing every time you take your Avet apart, they are prone to failure and only cost $5.00 ea.  I keep a bunch in stock at all times.

Lee, you must have got a bunch a while back.  I just got a dozen and they charged me $7 each plus shipping, I think.

[Keta]

It has been some time and I bought a bunch.  $7.00 still isn't bad.

[SoCalAngler]

Did you make sure the drag lever was in frespool when you put it back on along with the adjustment knob?

[glowgrrr]

Did you make sure the drag lever was in frespool when you put it back on along with the adjustment knob?

Yes, allthough i did it wrong the first time, but since i wasn't sure i didnt put it all together, just enough to make a drag lever test

You should replace the pinion bearing every time you take your Avet apart, they are prone to failure and only cost $5.00 ea.  I keep a bunch in stock at all times.

Thanks Keta, i will certainly do that. I tried last night to figure out the dimensions of the pinion bearing, since it appears that Avet is ignoring both customers and resellers in Norway at the moment, but i couldn't find any. Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh, i know they probably have a lot to do, but serving customers should be important. Do you have the dimensions?

[limitdown]

Also check if the male and female cams were correctly "zero'd" before "zero-ing" the lever drag
The pinion bearing is R4-sized (0.25 x 0.625 x 0.196). You can buy them in bulk on eBay. Just search for "R4 bearing". You'll be replacing these bearing long before any seawater damage/rust settles in. Just drip in some CorrosionX or pack with marine grease.
The problem is with the small size of the bearings that Avet uses. The small size can carry only very limited axial loads, about half of the static radial load.

[glowgrrr]

Also check if the male and female cams were correctly "zero'd" before "zero-ing" the lever drag
The pinion bearing is R4-sized (0.25 x 0.625 x 0.196). You can buy them in bulk on eBay. Just search for "R4 bearing". You'll be replacing these bearing long before any seawater damage/rust settles in. Just drip in some CorrosionX or pack with marine grease.
The problem is with the small size of the bearings that Avet uses. The small size can carry only very limited axial loads, about half of the static radial load.

Thanks i will, you've all been great help! 
I have not taken the m/f cams  apart, so they should be in their original position. Or to put it another way, if the female cam was turned, would the drag lever work, as in position ok in all positions?

Is there a list somewhere with dimensions for the different bearings in the MXL?

[Keta]

Avet uses a deep grove bearing for the pinion, check your PM's.

[limitdown]

I just serviced my MXJ and re-measured all of the bearings.
Here are the dimensions. All are inch sizes except the drive shaft which is in mm.
I previously kept thinking that the left spool and pinion bearings were the same size. The pinion is R4 whereas the left spool is actually R3. I'm not sure if this difference exists across all of the small Avets.

Avet MXJ ID OD Width Fraction Model Number
23. Pinion, 0.25 0.625 0.196, 1/4x5/8x0.196, R4
7. Left spool, 0.1875 0.5 0.196, 3/16x1/2x.196, R3
14. Right spool, 0.1875 0.3125 0.125, 3/16x5/16x1/8, R156
17. Brake, 0.1875 0.375 0.125, 3/16x3/8x1/8, R166
57. Handle shaft, 0.1875 0.3125 0.125, 3/16x5/16x1/8, R156
59. Handle knob, 0.1875 0.375 0.125, 3/16x3/8x1/8, R166
29. Drive shaft,  8 16 5,   688

[glowgrrr]

I just serviced my MXJ and re-measured all of the bearings.
Here are the dimensions. All are inch sizes except the drive shaft which is in mm.
I previously kept thinking that the left spool and pinion bearings were the same size. The pinion is R4 whereas the left spool is actually R3. I'm not sure if this difference exists across all of the small Avets.

Avet MXJ ID OD Width Fraction Model Number
23. Pinion, 0.25 0.625 0.196, 1/4x5/8x0.196, R4
7. Left spool, 0.1875 0.5 0.196, 3/16x1/2x.196, R3
14. Right spool, 0.1875 0.3125 0.125, 3/16x5/16x1/8, R156
17. Brake, 0.1875 0.375 0.125, 3/16x3/8x1/8, R166
57. Handle shaft, 0.1875 0.3125 0.125, 3/16x5/16x1/8, R156
59. Handle knob, 0.1875 0.375 0.125, 3/16x3/8x1/8, R166
29. Drive shaft,  8 16 5,   688

Thanks alot limitdown, that is very helpful!

[SoCalAngler]

Here is a few silly questions, have you tried moving the drag adjustment knob to lessen the drag pressure? At 9 lbs. of drag at strike are you still having problems with the handle/pinion bearing binding? You do know you should not fish non Raptor SX, MXJ and MXL's at over 9 lbs of drag, right. Lastly while messing around with the reel and making drag adjustments did you put the reel into freespool when you did turn the drag ajustment knob?