Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Conventional and Bait Casting Reel Rebuild Tutorials and Questions => Penn International Tutorials and Questions => Topic started by: fastfishin85 on September 01, 2013, 01:21:36 AM

Title: penn torque 300
Post by: fastfishin85 on September 01, 2013, 01:21:36 AM
a friend of mine gave me a penn torque 300 star drag,i have a problem when turning the handle everytime the dogs click theres a resistance in the handle,you can still turn the handle but its definatley not right or no where near smooth,i took apart the reel and cleaned up everything besides the reel foot and the cup bearing that screws in the left side plate,icant seem to budge these screws for nothing,the reel was pretty corroded,all the rest of the bearings are smooth now,the gears seem to be all right,the free spool lever is smooth now wouldn't turn at all at first,drag works good,free spool is now awesome,besides the handle resistance, when you tighten the drag and turn the spool about every 1 /2 to 3 /4 of a turn theres a slight pooping noise,any body have any ideas of what could be going on or how to maybe budge that cup bearing and the foot screws,thanks guys its greatly appreciated
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: fastfishin85 on September 01, 2013, 07:10:50 PM
ive been working  a little more on the reel and if you pull off the left side plate,pull out the spool,when you turn the handle its perfect,as soon as you pop in the spool the resistance is back,the spool is brand new,the reel was sent to penn before I got it to fix the problem and they put in the new spool and sent it back saying it was good but my friend was still having the same problems,the spool around the edges looks fine,no bad wear or rubbing,im totally stumped
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: alantani on September 01, 2013, 07:59:55 PM
not sure on this one.  anybody have one of these open recently?
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: fastfishin85 on September 01, 2013, 10:12:08 PM
well after further inspection I come to the conclusion that it must be the eccentric jack and the clutch assembly,with everything together if you put the reel in free spool and turn the handle its perfectly fine,as soon as you engage it back into gear same problem,i did manage to get it a little smoother by placing a small thin washer under the lever arm,the schematics say theres suppose to be a bushing there but its gone.You shouldn't be able to move the clutch towards the side plate wwhen the clutch assembly is together, should ya?
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: fastfishin85 on September 02, 2013, 06:56:33 AM
well not sure if I was totally wrong but I got the reel working,sort of,the right side bearing cup is apparently the culprit.After hours over the last few days I started trying anything,to my astonishment,pushed on the right side bearing cup and it popped in,being ive never owned a torque I didn't know it was suppose to be in that much on the plate,only problem is when you engage free spool it pops back out and you hafta push it back in when in gear,strange but it works great when you pop it back in,any ideas on that one alan?
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: alantani on September 02, 2013, 02:41:48 PM
is this the schematic?

(http://alantani.com/gallery/10/1_02_09_13_9_37_13.jpeg)
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: DaBigOno on September 02, 2013, 03:48:20 PM
How about punching a light divot or two to hold that bearing in place?   
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: turboal on September 02, 2013, 04:08:36 PM
stud and bearing locltite, good for holding bushings in place. it sounds like the bushing is under size
or worn from turning in the frame
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: fastfishin85 on September 02, 2013, 06:45:10 PM
ya that's the same schematics I pulled up and went off of alan,the right side bearing stays nice and firm in the bearing cup,the cup just moves in the plate when you engage free spool,the spool is a little tight when the reel is together and you push the bushing back in,now my main problem is trying to get the left side bearing cup to break loose so I can adjust the spool,i think the left side is just to tight and maybe that's why the right side is pushing out when you engage free spool?I will definatley try getting the right side bushing to stay in place but im guessing I need to get the left side loose and adjusted first,right?thanks guys
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: fastfishin85 on September 04, 2013, 07:30:02 PM
well I finally got the adjustment bearing loose,the right side bushing is suppose to go all the way in until the lip on the bushing meets the sideplate,does anyone know if this is correct?The right side bushing shouldn't move once I have it correctly in the plate right?thanks
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: fastfishin85 on September 04, 2013, 10:58:57 PM
well I got both bushings all In order and was still having the same problem,got curious and wrapped a layer of tape around the end of the small spool pin that goes from the spool through the pinion to the right side plate bearing,the side that goes into spool is were I put the tape and finally perfectly working,even with ten pounds of weight attached to pole and reeling its fine,im guessing a bushing or very small bearing is missing but I don't see it anywhere on the schematics,very weird that it was sent from penn like that
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: jonathan.han on September 08, 2013, 06:51:28 AM
Schematic part reference [55B]. Did that happen drop out of the spool when you were disassembling or reassembling? That little thing is a pain try and pry open to remove the shields, even worse than the tiny Avet spool bearings or handle bearing in the Trinidads. I believe they have a similar bearing in the 113 Baja Special also. The pinion pin [13A] should seat into this bearing.
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: jonathan.han on September 08, 2013, 06:59:28 AM
I would advise just dropping a few drops of TSI on it and call it good. It has to be close to 0.25 inch OD. If it's not in the right side of the spool, look for it on the floor. Don't ask me how I know. Please don't ask
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: fastfishin85 on September 08, 2013, 04:39:20 PM
ya I finally did see that bearing on the schematic and order one,the bearing was never there that much I am positive of,im thinking the new spool was sent from penn that way,no biggie though,at least everything else is fixed,just awaiting the bearing,thanks for your input though,much appreciated
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: Bunnlevel Sharker on September 08, 2013, 07:41:33 PM
I serviced a 9/0 with the same problem, the right bushing had actually swollen up and bowed out at the bottom so the pinion would catch on it
Title: Re: penn torque 300
Post by: steelfish on July 22, 2015, 12:55:18 AM
I should try this pronto.. I have a torque 300 that is starting to feel hard to crank, the weird thing is that only happens when reeling back the jig, not on the lab test or when fighting a fish.