Penn Slammer 460 Question

[charliep]

Good afternoon everyone.
I recently picked up a USA made Penn Slammer 460 at my local pawn shop for $40.00 out the door. The reel looked to be in excellent shape and after tearing it down and giving it a good cleaning and servicing it is in great shape. Now to my question..when I was taking the reel apart I noticed that the three screws that hold the clutch retainer (#98) to the reel housing (#1) were loose. I thought that maybe they just backed out a little over time and thought no more about it. When I re-assembled the reel I tightened the three screws that hold the clutch retainer and apparently the retainer was binding the bearing assembly. Very rough and hard to turn. I backed off the screws a few turns and the reel worked fine. Hmmmmm.? I made some very thin spacers to go between the clutch retainer and reel housing at each screw location, tightened the screws and everything is good. It looks like there may have been an O-ring in there at one time but the schematic doesn't show one.

http://www.pennreels.com/service/exploded-diagrams
I would like for it to be right and not use "homemade" spacers. Am I missing something?? 
Thanks in advance!!!
CharlieP

[johndtuttle]

Good afternoon everyone.
I recently picked up a USA made Penn Slammer 460 at my local pawn shop for $40.00 out the door. The reel looked to be in excellent shape and after tearing it down and giving it a good cleaning and servicing it is in great shape. Now to my question..when I was taking the reel apart I noticed that the three screws that hold the clutch retainer (#98) to the reel housing (#1) were loose. I thought that maybe they just backed out a little over time and thought no more about it. When I re-assembled the reel I tightened the three screws that hold the clutch retainer and apparently the retainer was binding the bearing assembly. Very rough and hard to turn. I backed off the screws a few turns and the reel worked fine. Hmmmmm.? I made some very thin spacers to go between the clutch retainer and reel housing at each screw location, tightened the screws and everything is good. It looks like there may have been an O-ring in there at one time but the schematic doesn't show one.

http://www.pennreels.com/service/exploded-diagrams
I would like for it to be right and not use "homemade" spacers. Am I missing something?? 
Thanks in advance!!!
CharlieP

Hey Charlie,

I haven't been logged onto the site for awhile and am just going through old threads that have no answers trying to help. Fortunately for older Penn Spinning reels there is the best possible source on the Stripers Online website. Penn maintains a forum there where their service manager answers posts promptly. Any question you have about Penn spinning reels can be answered by him if our limited knowledge can't help you and I simply don't know the answer to your question.

In my experience, the type of small shim you may need is often neglected from schematics and may very well be required.

best

[charliep]

Follow up,
I talked with a tech at Penn customer service last week. Great guy and very helpful. Turns there is not supposed to a shim where I found one when I dismantled the reel. It was between a ball bearing and the IAR bearing on the shaft. He said the shim goes on the main gear under the left side bearing. That didn't work either. Ended up putting the shim between the bearing and side plate. Works great now. Funny how something so small can cause so much confusion.
Charlie