Reel Repair by Alan Tani

On my recent 3 day BFT trip one of the guys brought a new reel to me and asked if I could fix it, he said that the reel had no drag.  I took one look at it and figured out the problem, the idiot that spooled it for him put it on looser than I have ever seen,  I could push the line in 1/8".  We went to the stern, tied a solid ring to his line and let all of the line out.  There was no tape on the spool and BS alleged "arbor knot".  I taped the spool and tied a double clove hitch locked with a uni knot then we both took turns winding the line back on.  Simple stuff but he thinks I am a "reel" genius.  Another person, and a friend, had a Avet that sounded like a coffee grinder, I told him it was a pinion bearing and I did not have one.  Fortunatly one of my line customers that I have been communicating with about gear before his first BFT trip had a bearing and the reel was put to work.  PBs for many were caught on this trip.

    At this point I am looking for critical thinkers . I don`t take offence to anything said , I learn from mistakes . Don`t be afraid to pick it apart ,we are here to learn .  Yes it looks like junk yard parts , but until I work out the bugs it`s easier to change designs .

  I will put short videos up so as to not make it boring ,but detailed enough to see the little problem that occurs .  When they do pop up ,I do stop to fix it .   If you don`t It will keep getting bigger .

      The power head :  2 speeds wiper motor wired with 3 switches . One is the 2 speeds "toggle switch" the coiled wire is a monetary switch used for setting line at the end points . The other switch is for turn on constant speed .

   

The next video is the base wrap set on the arbor and just machine winding .  Pick the flaw .     

61, if I counted right. Got the 2 in each of my vehicles and the fidget one on my desk. Oh wait! Ha!, just gotta keep thinkin, the Swami sent me a nice condition Sailfisher and it's in parts for cleaning, 62.

Not sure why all the pics posted twice, but here's a couple of what I inherited when I bought it.

Here are some pics of the internals. Maybe someone will notice something I have overlooked. I will add this. At some point, can't remember why, I had replaced the pinion gear. The grooves in the new pinion appear deeper when compared to the original. That would be where the pin above the bearing on the spool shaft engages/disengages with the pinion. Could the spool not fully disengaging with the pinion be the root of the problem? Also note in Pic 2 the flat spot on the shift arm stud. Could this be a problem engaging/disengaging with the trip ratchet?

Don't ask, don't tell. 

I am at least 3/4 of the way to 1K. I probably would be there by now if it wasn't for the current economic times & admin eating up 20% of everything I worked my entire life to accumulate.    I've only bought 4 or 5 reels in the last 3 years.

Hi all,

I've recently been working on a 406 and after cleaning it and reassembling, the handle is very hard and to turn. I'm also using Penn reel grease which seems to make it gummy as I turn the crank.  I disassembled again and saw that the main drive spindle (81579) looks to be scraping the housing as the handle is turned. I notice on the parts list there is no shim listed for use under the spindle. I am awaiting a handle spacer (81346) that I have coming from Fred that is missing from the reel. Could the missing handle spacer be causing the rubbing? Do I need some kind of shim for under the drive spindle? Lastly, should I use another type of grease or thin it? The handle is very stiff. (crank it and let go- stops right away) I have other 300 reels that are very smooth when cranked.

Thanks again for the help!

Ken

   As a third generation fisherman , I have a few hundred ..

Define "Reels".