Penn Torque Lever Drag 2-Speed 25N: Service Tutorial and First Look

[johndtuttle]

Well hi there gents! It's been awhile since I have done one of these but a reel that I was very interested in, the Penn Torque 25N Lever Drag 2-speed, has been out for a while now and a friend's needed service and here we are:



As is the usual when I do one of these it is intended to help the DIY guy and to also provide a look at the reel insides for the curious who may be interested. I haven't fished one and a true on the water test over months would be the ideal way to assess it's performance. This reel has been hard fished however so we can see if any service/design issues crop up and we can also take a look at some of the design features for discussion.

What I think we will find are some long looked for refinements of the classic lever drag design that make a better all purpose reel than we have seen before from Penn or other makers.

In addition as always it is my hope the truly knowledgeable among our community will add their wisdom to this post especially if I lead the gentle reader astray.

The Penn Schematic can be found here: http://s7d5.scene7.com/is/content/purefishing/407-TRQ25NLD2G

This, the 25N, is my favorite size (classic 3/0). Fits in the hand nice (I got out the toys so Satchmo the Lab got his out to play ):



And this is it next to a Senator 4/0 for reference. It's that same comfortable handful that a Tallica 12II or Saltiga 35LD is and holds about 400yards of 60lb braid:



And mounted on my favorite all around stick a Calstar 700M with a nice all metal bracket:



We'll start by taking off the Left Side Plate (27) via it's Torx 10 Screws (39).



Which has very close tolerances so it's easiest to pop off the Drag Lever (21) by simply unscrewing the Preset Knob (144) and lifting off the parts and then giving a little push on the spindle with your thumb:





These are the Drag Lever bits, we'll come back to these in detail:



Then proceed to the 3 Torx Screws on the rt side (38) and the reel comes apart in four easy to work on segments. From L to R the Frame (183), Spool (29) and Rt. Side Assembly (1) with the Left Side Plate (27 in the Center:



Note that the rt. side and lft. side Torx are both size 10 but the lft. side are shorter:



The Left Side Plate has a very familiar plan for those accustomed to Penn design. All tried and true.

The Click Spring (62) is held in place by it's Screw (63). The Click Tongue (39) is held on its stud via a Retaining E ring (69B) :



A nudge with a screw driver lifts the Click Spring off it's posts to get some grease under it:



With a light "Tani-zation" of the plate with marine grease and some Corrosion-X and scrubbing on the Click Button (36, not shown) as required. We'll set that aside and move on:



The spool seems to be a natural place to head next and we'll take off the 3 Ratchet Screws (50A) retaining the Click Ratchet (66A). This image was retaken after it was re-assembled so the spool has a *very* light coat of grease on it. It was dry from the factory:



Giving us this image of the Spindle Assembly (71) and the Pinion High/Low gears and the Dog Ratchet (13H, 13L and 98 respectively). Note the hardened brass Spool Sleeve (13B) :



Lets take a closer look at that Spindle Assembly:



Yes, my friends, that is a Thrust Bearing Assembly (55T) to reduce handle binding and bearing destruction when the drag preset is increased. Per Penn it also allows them to use smaller spool bearings (55L, they measure 6x12x4mm) for greater free spool. The Penn Schematic has a detailed look at their assembly order to retain the freedom of the inner race of the spool bearing that I cannot improve on. I refer you to the diagram on the schematic if you remove them, linked above.

What I found is that nearly regardless of preset of the drag that free spool was entirely retained. Only at the very highest settings (where the lever becomes impossible to move as it can't get out of the "cradle" in the cam) is free spool lost.

There is some increase in handle pressure at these highest settings and so I lowered the preset to completely remove handle pressure then when I went to test the drag at "strike" (more on this later) I couldn't test it! Reason, the reel is spooled with 30lb leader and it broke every time before the drag slipped. We can safely say that this design removes binding at a preset at "strike" around 20-25lbs (the breaking strength of knotted 30lb leader). More than sufficient for this class of reel and a game changer to have axial loads so greatly reduced. Your own tests may be more precise and firmly establish a "max drag" but this was sufficient for this class of reel for my purposes.

Shown above from R to L are the Click Ratchet (66), the Spring Washers () (18L and 18), the Thrust Bearing Assembly (55T), the tiny Crescent Washer [8] and the Spool Bearing (55L) with the Spool Sleeve (13B).

My friend whose reel this is prefers a "stock" configuration of the bearing shields so it all got slathered with Corrosion-X and back it went. Free spool was maybe a minute in this configuration but could be improved for those so inclined.

Below we come to the other side of the spool where if we started there we might find the pinion high and low gears and ratchet and dogs came out with it left on the spindle:



After pulling off the Drag Cover (156) by removing its small Cover Screws (39S) we find this image of the drag with the Drag Spring (41) and a tiny shim not shown on the schematic.



Further and still in the spool is another Spool Bearing (55L) that easily pops out for service with some Crescent Washers [8] between it and the spool sleeve.



The Drag Washer Assembly (6) itself is a "Dura drag" carbon fiber washer mounted on an anodized aluminum plate that is keyed to the spool. We'll have no worries about it's performance as Penn has been a leader in the adopting of greased carbon fiber drags and use the same material in their International Series:





This gets a good dose of Cal's drag grease paying particular attention to the edges so that if water gets in here it cannot soak in and delaminate the assembly. This washer was wiped drier than you see here before closure, but I be sure to grease all surfaces here with Cal's (so as to not contaminate with other greases) especially the edges where it closes so that a grease seal protects the drag from intrusion.



The image below has some overlay on it for another discussion, but I post it here again because it shows **too much** grease that may hurt free spool:



The large Drag Washer below (117W) is held in by a Retaining Ring (69D) and another Spool Bearing (55) can be lifted out for service. The Drive Plate Hub (117) is anodized aluminum and beneath that is a teflon washer the Drag Cover Seal (117S) :



We'll button that up and call the spool finished and next take a look at the Frame and Rt Side.

The Frame (183) is machined from a one piece billet and is lightweight but plenty strong:



The Gear Cover (1D) comes off simply via 2 Screws (46A).



The reel foot has the Rod Clamp Screws (34) that come off easily:



The white stuff you see there is the remnants of a sticker, the anodizing was fine.

The reel foot itself is permanently pinned to the frame. As noted previously this is a mixed bag. There are no reel foot screws to come loose or loctite needed to keep them tight, but they can't be serviced much. These will get flooded with Corrosion-X and given the toothbrush treatment:



Underneath we find a spot that is going to require vigilance. There are some dissimilar metals in contact here but they are out of reach. I tried to clean them up as best I could with the toothbrush and Corrosion-X but it is even tighter in there than the photo shows. At the end I sprayed some more Corrosion-X in there before calling it a day on that area:



This is how I like the frame to look before re-assembly. I'm a big "coat with grease all hidden mating surfaces" guy as these are places where salt will collect and be un-rinseable:



When you are done (if we leap ahead a bit) you see small beads of grease squirting out like this where the arrow points:



But leave the drain holes open. The idea is that there is nowhere for water to go if it comes in, only out through the drains. Wipe those little squirts down with a rag and the entire outside of the reel then gets a little film as you rub it down and that is just the way I like them. Just like your tools for working on the car.

The interior of the Right Side Plate Assembly (1) now looks like this with the dogs out and the Ratchet and Pinon removed. We need to get to that Pinon Bearng (26N) for service:



A look at the main gears. That is some American Muscle right there. Pure, hard, stainless steel:



Penn lists the Gear Stud Nut (134A) as 5/8" but when I asked why it was so hard to get off they said they use a jig at the factory and it has like 60lbs of torque on it. Well, that is a no go unless in an emergency and replacement parts are at hand if you strip that nut. Another mixed bag as you can't really service it yourself, but you can get access to it from the other side by taking off the handle

Alan Tani did a beautiful tutorial on servicing the "Penn International" shifter knob that can be found here:

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=232.0

I will simply provide images of this model (they are virtually the same) and spare you my usual long-windedness other than to note that as time consuming as it is to go this route it is a proven design.

The assembly:



You need the Penn spanner that comes with the reel:



Don't scratch up your Shift Button ring (110C)





Lift out the Shift Button (172) this may take some activation and release a few times while wiggling:



Retaining Plate (133):



Shift Catch Holder 173A



The tiny Retaining E ring (67) has to be removed from the Shifter Base (110B):





The Handle Lock Ring (110A) and Base (110B):



Note the orientation of the head of the Handle Screw (23) to the slot for the Handle Lock Ring shown by the arrow.



Use your Penn wrench again:





Remove the Gear Stud Retaining E Ring (195):



And the whole gear stud assembly will slide out the other side. That is some Beef right there. Sold Stainless Gear Stud (134), the Bearings (26) measure 12x21x5 and the Main Gear High (5H) and Main Gear Low (5L):









This assembly should rarely require maintenance but does use a number of Teflon Washers (82) to space and reduce friction. Penn is not the first to begin incorporating this technology and we will have to see over time how they hold up. I will add that these gears as soft as they feel when cranking are not of the "consumable" softness that some other companies use and should be among the very best in this class of reel.

Ok, here's the rascal we were after all along pinion Bearing (26N) it measures 7x19x6. We'll pop it out:



And give it the "Alan Tani's Miracle Bearing Packer" treatment:





Well grease the receptacle in the right side and drop it in:



While we have the right side open we can pull the Drag Lever Ratchet (2A):







Ok, we reversed our steps to put the gears back in and have the handle on, now it is time to close her up. The Penn design here is another one of the innovations/refinements in the reel that make it very interesting and that is the pinions, dogs and ratchet:



They may look like one piece but in fact merely nestle together with close tolerances and are made of pure stainless.

The Ratchet is stainless as well and the dogs are the "Ambassadeur" type with leaf springs that grip the ratchet. These have to be replaced dry to enhance their grip so that they will engage properly.



The innovation is that the dogs are "synced" so that only one engages at a time AND they are silent. Look at the arrows in the image and you can see that one of the dogs is well seated while the other is not. What this does is provide the reliability of a mechanical dog but reduces the handle back play to at most 1/8" or so. This is far more reliable than an AR bearing in the handle as the loads are magnified by the mechanical advantage of the pinion. "Handle Slop" has become a bigger deal in recent years given the popularity of braid lines. Mono and it's stretch absorbs a lot of the shock of the dogs when there is back play. With braid you want to to stop faster with no back play so that jig or lead does not accelerate and go "ka CHUNK" as that wears you out over the day.

Lastly the buzz of dogs is reassuring to some, noisy to others. This style of dog is completely silent.



This was an early run model and Penn now has Dog Screws (16) that retain them but the method of closing is the same.



You first place the Pinion Gears in the right side:



You then place the dogs on the ratchet and settle them over their studs while nesting the ratchet with the pinion. Be very careful here. You do not want to bend those ears in the tiniest or your anti-reverse may fail:



Here is where you would add your Dog Screws (16) that act as keepers. This is current production shown.



You can then drop the spool on, nesting the end of the pinon in the drive plate hub:



You can now add the Frame and Left Side plate over the top of that. It seems best to keep it in a vertical orientation like I have shown so that the ears of the dogs are stress free while you fit the rest of the assembly over them.

We will add our #10 Torx (3 short on the left, 3 long on the right) to button her up and test the handle to be sure it goes in only one direction and has little or no back play.

To get the reel back to original function we have to replace the Drag Lever (21) and be sure to not lose the Pin Lever Click (121A) and Spring (14) as they are typically only resting in their slot glued in with a little grease. This assembly presents us with our last puzzle of nesting parts. It is really very simple if you use this method I have found. First here is the cast of characters:



Above from L to R there are the Drag Lever Washer (4), the Drag Cam (19), the Cam Follower (141) with it's Spring (141B) in place, the Drag Lever (21) and the Preset Knob (144). All has to be replaced in order and is very simple with the following:

With the Drag Lever at 10 o'clock (free spool), place the Drag Cam so that it's deepest crevice is at 7 o'clock:



Give a little tap to seat it:



If you were able to see it from the back side (against the reel) this is what you are after:



Then you want to place the ridges on the bottom of the Cam follower in those crevices. This is simple if you place it with the tongue of the spring at 4:30 . Sorry, but that's what time it looks like to me!



Simply add the Preset Nob on and screw it down and gently test your drag with a low preset to be sure you've done it right. Don't force anything and if it jams you have to take it off and try again.

Lets talk about that Drag Cam a little. Note the arrow points to a unique (as far as I know) feature called a "Strike Indent". If you notice the push buttons on the Drag Ratchet are at either end of the drag curve and there is no traditional "Strike" button in the middle. What Penn wanted to do is create a 3rd position call "Sunset" for max drag without adding a third button. What the indent does is give you a small spot in the cam to create a stop at "Strike" this is about midway up the curve. You can then easily push past that to "Full" and have the last spring loaded button as the stop. Then if your tuna is heading for the sun setting on the horizon you depress the last button for the "Sunset" setting. Kinda neat and it works very smooth in practice.



The handle was previously removed and all that leaves is the Knob (25) that simply has a Screw (23L) with some loctite and a Washer (91A) to maintain. I did not take photos of this very simple assembly and if you have made it this far you should have no trouble .

Ok, if you have made it this far you have looked at a lot of reel innards and what have we found?

Penn has incorporated all of the latest tech in this remarkably powerful and lightweight package (listed at 21oz). If I were to sum up the important features they would be:

1. The use of a thrust bearing and spool sleeve to decrease axial loads on spool and pinion bearings. This should result it terrific free spool and greater longevity of bearings. Most welcome in a small reel that can handle serious drag.

2. Alternating mechanical dogs that provide *nearly* instant anti-reverse yet are silent. This may be the best of all worlds for Vertical Jigging or Yo-Yo style fishing.

3. Full solid stainless steel gearing and gear shaft. These should live nearly forever.

4. A smooth drag curve with a more modest "full" and a "sunset" as needed, enabled by the "strike indent".

5. Frame milled from one piece of stock, not cast, then milled.

6. All metal rod clamp. No little plastic thingee.


I would sum it up as Alan did when he fished it next to his Okuma's on his last long range trip. The Torque LD 25N 2-speed is the equal of anything made in it's class and made here in the USA.



best regards



PS. Had a very fruitful discussion with a contact at Penn who generously answered some questions for me and are reprinted with his permission:

Me: Last question about the "strike indent" and "sunset" features. When I get a preset of around 10lbs at strike I get about 14llbs at full and 16 pounds at sunset. This is with a hand scale (good 'ol Mustad) and want to confirm:  Is this the approximate drag curve you would expect with this size reel (25N)?  

Penn:  I just looked back at my test data and I was getting 10lbs at strike, 12 at full, and 15 at sunset. In designing the drag curve you try to make the reel most fishable for the most anglers which means compromises.  We try to design for a 50% increase in drag from strike to max when drag is preset at the "normal" strike setting for the line class (1/3 line class or 10 pounds for 30 pound test line).  We are using the same drag components for the 25N and 30 sizes so the 50% rule is just about met. This is very close to our target drag progressing as well as your readings considering all the variables in taking measurements  (how fast line is pulled, diameter of line on the reel, rounding of reading, etc.).


Me: Would you characterize your lever drag design as a "pull" type that generally puts more pressure on left side bearing (hence the thrust bearing) or would you expect more force on the pinion bearing (traditional push type action)?  

Penn: This is a "pull" system.  All pull systems have two bearings that are loaded axially.  Regular ball bearings don't carry axial loading very well so they must be sized larger than expected.  The axially loaded bearings in the LD2 reels are the thrust bearing on the left side of the reel as well as the radial ball bearing located in the right side plate.  We used the thrust bearing in the left side so spool bearings could be kept small for excellent free spool.  There is plenty of room for a larger bearing in the right side plate so there we used a traditional radial bearing.  (By the way, the spool bearings are made in Germany using a special "SV" stainless steel that has a finer grain structure than traditional 440C stainless used for ball bearings.  This results in less bearing noise when casting and increased durability.)




ps look out for these in current production:

[alantani]

bravo!

[MFB]

Nice, I have been thinking about getting one of these. They have had good reviews, your tutorial confirms that they're well built & should last a life time.

Thanks

Mark

[Jonnybravo]

Very nice review/tutorial! 

[Alto Mare]

No, not bravo, bravissimo! Excellent work John.
That reel is very well put together, thanks for sharing it with us. One miner thing though, I don't get it why a little clicking sound of the dogs would bother most . I would rather see a couple of springs on those babies, I know they're only for back up but it would still be nice. I'm not crazy about fins on dogs, just being picky .
Nice John, keep up your excellent work.
Sal

[DaBigOno]

Very nicely done.   I really appreciated the many detailed pictures.

Thank you!

[johndtuttle]

No, not bravo, bravissimo! Excellent work John.
That reel is very well put together, thanks for sharing it with us. One miner thing though, I don't get it why a little clicking sound of the dogs would bother most . I would rather see a couple of springs on those babies, I know they're only for back up but it would still be nice. I'm not crazy about fins on dogs, just being picky .
Nice John, keep up your excellent work.
Sal

I bet you could easily fit some spring wire type springs on them if you were so inclined with a little ingenuity. We know you have plenty of that, Sal!

The dog noise is an individual thing and depends for me on what kind of fishing I am doing. Vertical Jigging, surface iron or Yo-yo is a lot of work and constant reeling, this is when the quiet reels come into their own for me. Other basic stuff that is a reel up once in a while type fishing ie Rock Fish, Trolling, Dropper Loop... then that steady click-click kinda remind me in a good way of a reliable winch .


Thanks for the kind words,

John

[Tightlines667]

Nice tutorial!  I've been patiently waiting for someone to show me the guts on this highly aclaimed penn.

[redsetta]

Great work John - and much appreciated.
Cheers, Justin

[conchydong]

Excellent tutorial Doc and welcome back from your hiatus. That is one impressive reel. Kudos to Penn.

[johndtuttle]

Hey guys,

Got a look at a current production reel and a very interesting little doo-dad was present on all of the frame screws:



The apparent purpose of which is to provide a seal where dissimilar metals are coming in contact and frequently cause corrosion. Thought this was a nice touch for such a purty reel.



best

[basto]

The gears look just like the gears in my Jigging Masters.
I think Penn can learn from Okuma and Jigging Master with regard to the anti reverse system, otherwise a very desirable reel. Love the thrust bearing setup and the size of the reel is perfect.

[johndtuttle]

The gears look just like the gears in my Jigging Masters.
I think Penn can learn from Okuma and Jigging Master with regard to the anti reverse system, otherwise a very desirable reel. Love the thrust bearing setup and the size of the reel is perfect.

Sorry for the late reply .

I think Jigging Master is producing a fine reel. It always comes down to the actual alloy used as not all stainless is remotely the same. TBH I have no insight as to how they compare though I certainly trust Penn's choice of stainless.

I like the Okuma dogs too, just dunno what engineering/space problems they may create. I think this style in the Penn works brilliantly.

best

[Rivverrat]

Some day I intend to replace my 3 Fathom 25n's with Torque lever drags a size or 2 bigger than my 25's. I will use them as my regular, everyday reels for soaking baits. I have come to the conclusion that a lever drag offers more options for my everyday use over a star drag. I also believe the Torque series of reels are in large part what helped bring Penn back as a serious, Reel player.

This was a good write up on this reel along with the correspondence with Penn. Well Done !...Jeff   

[Clipper]

John, i can handle the complete strip down and rebuild of my Baja specials.  What is the comparable level of difficulty of the work you have so professionally documented on these 25nld2's?  It's time for me to acquire a 2 speed but am a little intimidated by their apparent complexity.