Reel Repair by Alan Tani

I got the Penn 714z all cleaned up and played with that one some. There isn't a whole lot you can do with these. The bearing retainer only goes on one way, so no tuning for the bail closing, but it's in the 6 o clock position like I prefer. You could probably shim the spool just like the others. The most surprising thing I found was the spool has a quick change feature where you push the button on top and the whole assembly comes off. I can't possibly imagine where this is an advantage over taking 3 seconds to unscrew a drag knob, but who am I to judge?

My biggest fear was the drag setup. After experiencing the horrendous, and that's being nice, drag on an old ambassador with 2 drag washers, I was really worried the single drag washer 714z would be bad. I am happy to say the 714z drag is very good, every bit as good as any other spinfisher, and I guess technically it's 2 drag washers since the one under the spool does effect drag. That top drag washer is huge, it has plenty of surface area. I even tried a carbon fiber washer under the spool, and greased it, and it did the same thing as all the other spin fishers I tried. It's really smooth, but it increases the effective drag. So I went back to the teflon washer and it's very smooth, and I feel I have a wider effective range of drag. It's not like I'm going to put 30 pound line on this reel. The bail setup is a mini 712 bail, and it is pretty low. It is a little higher than the 712's, and you might be able to make it a manual pickup, but I would try leaving some bail wire, and kind of swoop it up. I know I've seen pictures of setups like that, but I can't remember what models.

I don't know if this is typical or not, but the drag clicker on the bottom of the spool was not working. It's a frail metal flat spring, and mine needed to be bent. It's a surprisingly long spring, I'm not sure if it's supposed to be clicking on two spots or what. I bent mine so only one end is clicking on the ratchet. Mine has a really faint clicking, it might be loud enough, but it's nowhere close to the other reels I've worked on. I'll have to look into this farther.

Internally the 714 is a near identical match to all the other spinfishers except the 720/722. Externally there is no oil hole for the main gear, so you would presumably have to disassemble the reel to oil that. The gear cover is plastic, which is the first one I've seen. Maybe it was just luck, but the others I've worked on are metal. The thing that stands out to me is how small this reel is. I knew it would be small, but I figured the spool would be bigger. Supposedly the 714 has the exact same line capacity as a 722. Looking at them side by side its hard to believe that. My 722 does have line on it, so maybe the spool is way deeper on the 714z, but the spool height is way different. As far as weight, the 714z weights 9.1 ounces empty. The 722 has line on it, which I have no idea how much that weighs. It is 10.8 ounces full of braid line. I think the 722 must be a full ounce more than the 714, if not slightly more than an ounce.

Unfortunately the line roller is locked up solid on this one. I'm still soaking it, so I can't fish with it yet. Just my initial impressions that are hard to get from only looking at the line capacities. Even though the line capacity may be the same as the 722, I think in actual use the 714 is effectively a smaller reel. You aren't going to be able to use the line deeper in the spool unless a fish pulls that off. A 722 is going to outcast a 714 in distance all else equal. I'm definitely going to try some light line on the 714z, 8lb if not 6lb braid.

So now I've seen the majority of the spinfisher range. I've owned from smallest to largest, the 714, 722, 712, and 710. I also have from the SS series the 550ss. The only one's I haven't worked on is a 706 or 704. I guess I haven't seen an 850ss either, I bet that's a real beast. If it weren't for the oddball 420ss and 430ss, I'd say the SS series numbers line up good to todays sizes. I will try to compare them to todays current model reels in terms of overall size, purpose, and line capacity for anyone looking at buying them.

716 (never owned)- 500 or 1000
714- 1000 or 1500
720/722- 2000 or 2500
712- 3000
710- 4000
550ss- 5000 or 5500 (no surprise)

Quote from: oc1 on Today at 06:48:22 AM

Quote from: jurelometer on May 04, 2024, 11:48:15 PMWhat is different about nylon monofilament that makes spool slippage a non-problem?

Mono nylon stretches and pops spools. Spectra braid doesn't stretch and doesn't pop spools.   Having the line slip on the spool was unheard of until Spectra braid came on the scene.

Catching 100#ers on a Jigmaster size reel was unheard of until braid came along too!

Quote from: jurelometer on May 04, 2024, 11:48:15 PMWhat is different about nylon monofilament that makes spool slippage a non-problem?

Mono nylon stretches and pops spools. Spectra braid doesn't stretch and doesn't pop spools.   Having the line slip on the spool was unheard of until Spectra braid came on the scene.

Quote from: oc1 on May 04, 2024, 05:47:37 AMGood one Joe.  The part that struck me was....

"If the first layer, or layers, are only used from time to time, they will loose their tension on the drum and start to flatten out due to the high pressures of the loaded layers. Repeat this pre-tensioning procedure regularly."

I hope you post a little more .  I know that you know some stuff ....

 If I read it right ,I think you are asking me to reverse engineer the problem .
 I did and came to the conclusion that it is a bad install from the start for braid application.   Braid is a different animal, and you can`t treat it like mono .       
       Different cof    I believe it needs different install procedure.

   I am not a fan of machine winding spools , to many bad practices .
     
Can you or any one else find one on U tube that is done to your satisfaction ?   I don`t want to post the ones that I have watched , some are real "c"hit shows .    Do some weeding I think that garden is bigger than you think .    It`s the details that make the difference

I think Benni is using top secret Jurelometer flies!  He's killing it right now!  Are they Katy Perry patterns? - john

Quote from: oc1 on May 04, 2024, 05:32:15 AMMan, it took you long enough  .  I remember way back when you first went to that Orvis meeting.

Those are some pretty incredible trout you guys are in to.

Thanks man,,,, we had to go back today to see if dewayne could hook him again but no luck,,,,,,

Hi Andrew —-

I will send you a new frame, new improved trip lever, a new trip lever spring, and a new trip lever screw, on Monday.

N/C.

No worries.

Let's get that puppy fishing!

Best, Fred

Thanks for the response Fred! Just so everyone knows the backstory, I picked up a 110 here in Australia that was missing the whole bail assembly. Fred sent me a whole new assembly, but what I missed was the trip lever foot was bent. I got it all together with the new bail but the bail still doesn't trip.

I then had a look in more depth at the complete linkage and it seems the trip lever has had a tough life. It wasn't straight where it protrudes out of the rotor, as if enough force had been put on the bail to bend it. That straightened out fine. But where it contacts the frame trip nub, the lever was not 90 degrees and looks like it has been bent multiple times. Unfortunately, the lever already has a stress crack from being bent, and me straightening it softly has caused it to become even more flimsy.

I've attached some photos. As you can see in them, the nub on the frame has also worn significantly. I'm going to put it on the back burner at the moment, if I happen across another 110 I'll try a replacement lever to see if it works, although I'm worried that the nub is worn too much and it may not be repairable short of getting JB weld or something to try and fill back out the nub.

I am guessing the previous owner tried things, couldn't get it working and gave up, likely losing the bail in the process.

Andrew