Outer frame of pinion bearing stuck in Avet LX 6/3 - what can I do? Please help.

[jonathan.han]

I place a few drops of TSI 301 here on the pinion bearing before I attempt to pry it out before heating and contracting. I've never had to take a torch to one yet.

[Jon_Kol]

It may be that the new Boca bearing was not packed with grease and that will make the reel a little more noisy (sound louder than the Avet bearing). Take the bearing out, remove sheild and pack bearing with grease and see if that quites down the bearing.

The bearings are delievered dry, so you might be right about that part. However, I now know that I might have made a mistake installing the new bearing - as I probably pressed down on the entire bearing, since it was so tight getting it in place. I didn't know that you're suppose to press down on the outer race only. :-/ I guess that's how things are learned..

Thanks for the tip about the PB Blast and the fine sandpaper too, Dabigono!

I might just order me a couple more of this particular bearing, to have spare parts if the bearing should fail during a trip somewhere.

[JGB]

Jon,

According to Avet - Avet uses a special bearing for the pinion and the left spool bearing. So if you replace these bearings with a different type they be damaged when heavy drag settings are used. As it is the Avet bearings will wear out faster with high drag settings and are considered a wear item (they need to be replaced as part of maintenance). Turns out this is true for most pull bar lever drags. If the manufacture uses over sized bearings this is less of an issue.

Note - anyone that used their Avet at high drag settings (80% or more) will experience bearing drag and limited bearing life. Only the Raptor and Pro EX series have enough drag to properly support braided line. If you use braided line do not exceed spec strike drag - if you do your bearings (no matter who's) will be damaged and your reel will make noise and feel rough over time.

To address the 'stuck' pinion bearing - The bearing cavity is tightly machined and some times the anodizing will reduce the cavity bore enough to cause the bearings to be a light press fit. This is a known issue with the 'black' finish reels. Here is what Avet does - remove gears and parts.  on a flat firm surface (wood to prevent damage) rap the entire side plate firmly and most of the time the bearing will pop out. If that does not work (black reels in particular) remove the plastic stops and lightly heat the bearing cup from the outside with a torch ( just a pfew passes where you just begin to feel the side plate begin to heat to the touch (the cup is hot at this point) and the bearing will just about fall out. Nothing should get hot enough to smoke. This has always worked for me and works even if the bearing is rusted in place.

Jim N.

[jonathan.han]

Anodizing can add anywhere from 0.001-0.015" of substrate. Black is esp. "thicker" in order to achieve the desired opacity.