Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Hello guys,

I've had my Penn Fathom for just over a year and I routinely take it apart to oil and grease.  However, I'm quite a novice when it comes to servicing reels and I barely touched the right side of the reel where the gearings are.  After the last cleaning, the reel started having an issue when I'm retrieving a fish.  When I crank the handle, it feels like the gear slips a tooth once in a while.  I can bring fish up fine, but every time I do, I experience this gear slip 3-5 times.  Any pointers to what I should look in to? 

Thanks!

Is it the drag slipping? Did you get the grease you use on the metal parts on the drag washer... not Cal's or Shimano drag grease?

Quote from: MarkT on May 25, 2017, 04:25:43 AM
Is it the drag slipping? Did you get the grease you use on the metal parts on the drag washer... not Cal's or Shimano drag grease?

Thanks for the reply.  I don't think it's the drag, but I could be wrong.  It felt like the gear slipped and then was caught by the next tooth.  Not sure how else to describe it. 

I'm usually quite careful not touching the drag with the Yamaha blue grease I use.  I use Cal's on the drag and wipe it down real good after applying.  I'll definitely check that out and reapply the next time I clean it and see if that helps.

Thanks.

do you notice if it happens in high gear or low gear or both?

I cannot recall fully but if the reel uses a slide bar to engage high and low gear, it's possible that the slide bar may have mushroomed on the ends making it hard to fully slide into the slot of the gear.   It may be just a rotation of the shift bar too.

Quote from: Bryan Young on May 25, 2017, 06:46:47 AM
do you notice if it happens in high gear or low gear or both?

I cannot recall fully but if the reel uses a slide bar to engage high and low gear, it's possible that the slide bar may have mushroomed on the ends making it hard to fully slide into the slot of the gear.   It may be just a rotation of the shift bar too.

High gear for sure.  Last time I used it was on a rock fish trip and I didn't have to get into low gear, so it might be both. 

Thanks for chiming in.