Went through a pair of 209's to use grouper (and others) trolling down here in the Gulf. Had been using 49's and they performed perfectly, but some of my guests are mid-west guys and just can't seem to get the hang of the thumb level wind technique. Tore both of the 209s down greased up the gears and drags and both seemed fine on reassembly. Winding on the line today one of them occasionally hangs up, doing a quick back peddle on the handle clears the hang, and the wind on continued. The hang seems to be where the level wind carrier reverses near the side plates. I'm thinking a simple pawl issue, but am welcoming second opinions. Thanks. ???
look for damage to the worm and the pawl. you might have to replace both. :-\
Pawl and or worm as Alan stated. Sometimes a new pawl will work if the worm is not too damaged.
Cheers:
Todd
It's always the levelwind. Sometimes the hole through the levelwind carriage can be wallowed out so that it catches on the worm. If you are going to order levelwind parts, then get all of them.
I've done dozens of 209's and some of the later models were known to have bad worm drive from day 1. Most certainly your issue isn't the pawl. It's the worm gear just as you described
Ted
This is an older one with the Spare pawl tail plate. The original pawl was toast compared to the replacement stashed in the tail plate, still a few hangs, but much much better than before with the worn original pawl. Calling in a new worm gear as this will be a fisher and don't want any surprises over the bounding mane. Thank You all.
Bob
For a "catch or hang up" on one side and not the other — providing the worm shield is not tweaked in a spot — the culprit is generally (almost always) the worm.
I just replace the worm, inspect the pawl, check for smooth operation after a drop of oil — and it is good to go back to the water.
Of the 11 parts of a 209 LW — generally only the worm, pawl, and nylon idler gear fail or wear out.
Other issues and problems can usually be traced to evident tweaks or damage caused by exterior damage or too much stress on the components.
A quick fix that will generally fix the worm issue would be to lightly sand the worm while chucked into a drill with a taped end. 400 to 600 grit emory paper on an ice cream stick — a light treatment with a wire wheel — rinse and clean in the Ultrasonic Bath — then install, drop of oil, and tweak for proper function.
However, I just replace the worm and pawl — so that there are no issues down the road. For me, it is not worth the time and effort — to take a chance on a fix to an obviously common wear part.
Best, Fred
Fred
I have a near NOS greenie 209 on the shelf that will be donating it's worm in a transplant switch. It will still work "good enough" to be on the shelf. My get it up to a C-note list for Mystic now has a worm and pawl added as of today for a future restoration. Not going to mess with the sandpaper drill trick for the 4 bucks it'll cost me to get a new worm, but a damn good thing to know especially if stuck out "yachting" for a few days. My nasty surprises usually arrived on the boat, not the bench, especially as a kid, before I learned about the magic goo called grease. I was certain then everything lasted forever, just as I was certainly going to live forever.
Thanks,
Bob