Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Quote from: Cor on May 07, 2024, 10:49:43 AMMy maintenance routine on these type of garden appliances can not be compared to what I do to my reels.

I have a mower with an old cast alloy body and I tossed out the arm exerciser B & S motor around 1981 and replaced it with a 2 stroke Robin Japanese motor which is still going strong, well sort off.
It now needs a governor oil change, new air filter, and probably a clean and service of the carburetor.

Chainsaws I won't even mention, my next one will be an environmentally friendly model and will be fed by solar panels.

2 stroke engine have higher speed so it cut better,speed do the cut like the old lawnboy , Toro Recycler with 2 stroke 5HP Suzuki is the most powerful walk behind mower .Environment friendly do make some trimmer ,blower hard to start ,carburetor adjusted too lean at factory some of them cover up the adjustment screws that's why install after market carburetor make it run better .The GX 160 install on Commercial HRC 216 have 5.5 HP anywhere else, come to CA it have only 3.7 HP to meet state regulation

Thanks for the reply. I will definately check the pinion as you have described, and report back. The problem with the handle isn't with spinning backwards, but rather forwards on a cast, kind of like on old knuckle buster. If the pinion isn't functioning properly, what could be causing that? Sounds like it could be a problem with the jack, perhaps? The more I think about it, I remember I did replace the springs as well, and possibly the pinion. I will have to look through my parts box and see if I have a used pinion gear floating around in there. I pretty much refuse to give up on it. At the end of the day it really is a nice reel, and does have a smoothness that my other Internationals can't quite compare to.

Thanks for the input. I'll be testing it out again soon on some AJs.

Hello,

I just acquired a Mitchell 351 with the handle on the left side of the reel. Has anyone seen one of these before? I thought the 351 was for lefties with the handle on the right side of the reel.

Thanks,

Steve

HA! What was the noise problem?

Before you tilt a no-oil drain plug unit over, be sure n' turn off the fuel line gas flow. I've actually seen some gas end-up in the dirty oil by not doing it.
 Gotta drive 20 miles to a station for no ethanol gas, worth it? I own't know, that's 2 gallons @ $5.25/gallon.
So, how prevalent are fuel tanks made of plastic? Do automobiles have 'em now? All the portable gas cans are plastic.

More specifically, if a fish is pulling  10 pounds of force where the line meets a full spool, it will have greater leverage than pulling at 10 lbs on a half full spool - in other words, generating more torque. Spool slippage  is a battle lost between the static friction of the line to the arbor and the torque being applied.  We care about the spool slipping before the line breaks, so another reason why a  full spool is the best test.

The most interesting tests in my opinion would be a loose first two layers, and then tight the rest of the fill, and then vice versa.  Try with a non slipping arbor not, and an arbor knot that is a the slippy side.  It would require some controlled experiments with steady tension, which would mean a mechanical spooler modified with a strain gauge.    If you did a set of runs with consistent results, you would probably have your answer.  I think I know what will happen.

Faking it out by filling by hand and guestimating tension, and with a small sample size is an option. It might get you in the ballpark,  but could also be mislead you.

Having said this, there is no downside to getting the arbor knot to lock in as much as possible. I think it is the important first step, just that it is not going to save you if you screw up the fill.


In terms of bad how-to videos on fishing topics from wannabe "web influencers" and even so-called reputable magazines, I am not inclined to call out the wrong ones.  Wrong is ubiquitous, and doing it the wrong way is not horribly instructive.  The best sources are folks that are subject matter experts who would hear it from customers/clients if the method did not work.  They may not be doing it the best way, and they often misunderstand why their method works, but the odds are they have found a suitable method.

Even though I disagree sometimes with our Mr Tani,  I think his videos and tutorials are a good example on how to do it right.  He will show how he does it, and why, point out the problems with methods he avoids, and doesn't claim that this is the only or best method, just what works best for him.  If you want to worry a bit less about slippage and go the flex wrap route, his instructions here are all you need.


If you are like me, and stubbornly refuse to flex-wrap, I think that the video I referenced above looks pretty good to me.  I don't think the reverse San Diego is the only knot that will work.  The key is wrapping over a long tag, and getting that first layer (or two) down evenly and as tight as you can go.    If you don't flex wrap, I would tend to avoid using a grease pretreatment to protect the spool from saltwater corrosion as Mr Tani does.  In the video, the guy is using Boeshield (similar products would probably do about the same).  I use a couple coats of Carnuba wax, but that will probably take too long for shop fills.

Here a link to the video again:


-J

The line spools up evenly 'cause tight coils under good winding pressure force the new coil under linear pressure down, but off to the side. Stupid sounding explaination, but that's all I got.
If that was you, you godda make more grunting-groaning noise to help yourself along there😀.

Hmmm, it sounds like when you depress the free spool button that the pinion is not fully disengaged from the spool.  If you pop the sideplate off with the two knurled thumbscrews and cycle the reel through the sequence several times, can you see the pinion fully pulling back into the plate?  Also if the handle is spinning backwards at any time, that is a sign of something amiss with the AR clutch bearing (and those can be finicky with too little lube/too much lube/contamination with corrosion/it's the wrong moon phase...   
You're right, it's a bomber of casting reel especially considering when it was produced.  Love mine.  With the condition you describe it being in when you got it; that can make things tough.  Don't give up on it yet! - john

Quote from: Crab Pot on May 05, 2024, 05:12:00 PMAfraid to ask, but do you have a 16/0 Randy?

Steve

I have a Few Steve,
I'm heading out on a two week Vacation. We can Talk when I return,
Daron