Got two Penn 80STW's with a similar problem.
Freespool works great. Drag lever is in free spool.
Move the lever up a little bit...pretty much still have zero drag.
Get to half way.....slight drag.
Then...a little more push, and I get almost, what seems like, max drag. The reel is bare(no line) so I can't put a scale on it (plus I don't have one)
What gives?
Somebody has been messing around with the belleville spring washers and gotten them in the wrong order, I would surmise.
.
what's the proper configuration?
()()
Could it be possible that they are worn out and have lost their "spring" over time?
Quote from: Marlinmate on January 11, 2019, 03:52:54 AM
what's the proper configuration?
()()
Could it be possible that they are worn out and have lost their "spring" over time?
Yes, and yes. If drag parts are heavily worn may want to shim (0.3mm) under drag/left side spool and maybe left side/plate bearing. Ensure the cam parts (pins/cam) are not worn as well.
John
So i replaved the Belleville Washers w/ new ones on both 80's I've got in front of me. They are configured as ()().
Now I have freespool when in freespool and almost full drag as soon as the drag lever gets into gear. Now what?
get a scale and check. let us know what the drag numbers are at various positions. it might be ok. hard to know for sure without a scale.
Don't have a scale handy....and there isn't any line on the reels. So....When I tell yah that it went from freespool to drag....I couldn't budge the spool as soon as the lever jumped off of freespool. The pre-set dial was backed all the way out too.
So i took it back apart and measured the NEW belleville stack....()() = 8.37
Measured the old stack and it measured......()() = 7.48
So...i put 2 new bellevilles with 2 old bellevilles in the ()() configuration and was able to get progressive drag as the lever was pushed up.
Who knows. I'll try it like this and see how the customer likes it.
And...I'll buy a drag scale.
yup, gotta spool it up and get a scale!