Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Quote from: Maxed Out on Today at 10:19:35 PMCould be wrong eccentric, or maybe jack tabs need to be bent out a bit more. Also make sure you have the correct screws for your yoke. Fully threaded screws will make shifting to Freespool much tougher as the yoke slides down those screws.

Thats certainly a possibility. I'll have to give the jack a closer look.

Quote from: Lunker Larry on April 30, 2024, 02:09:19 AMWhen I was a kid my dad's hands would swell up from bits of shrapnel that would work their way out. Leftovers from being shot down a couple times.

I Salute your Father Larry.
It's men like him why we are the land of the free and home of the brave!

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Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on Today at 07:29:01 PMI'm gonna ask a question that may make me sound really dumb. Is the handle spinning forward in freespool when the reel is sitting still, or only during a cast? Do you have an aftermarket handle on it? Or just a handle that is not counterbalanced? If so it'll swing forward on a cast because of the unbalanced weight. Is that possibly what's happening?

Not dumb at all. I appreciate any ideas or opinions that could help solve the problem. To answer your question, the handle is the original factory handle.

Quote from: jurelometer on Today at 06:44:49 PMWell, if the problem is not the handle turning backward, and the reel is not all grindy when this is happening, I think that it is unlikely to be clutch bearing or pinion related.

When not in freespool, the spool to the handle is a continuous mechanical  connection, with the exception of the drag stack. If the something was failing mechanically, you would feel the grinding and see the marks on the  gear teeth or pinion to spool junction.  The turning parts are not able to temporarily and smoothly disconnect.

If the drag was slipping, well that is what the drag is supposed to do.  A sticky/uneven drag be apparent when pulling line and not just winding.

That leaves  line slipping on the spool, which happens mostly with PE braid, and it is fairly common to not consider this as a possible root cause.  Put a temporary mark on the spool and on the line next to each other, crank up the drag and pull hard.  If the marks  lose alignment, you have a slipping line fill in the spool.


I would suspect that the handle spinning forward on the cast is a separate problem. If the handle spins forward during  the cast, then it should be permanently stuck in freespool, since turning the handle is what  turns the ratchet that disengages freespool.

If turning the handle eventually causes the reel to kick into gear , something has to be sticky in the shift arm mechanism. You can pull out the gears and yoke, and operate the whole  mechanism to see what is going on here.  Maybe a 975 expert can jump in, but don't forget the less obvious stuff like a screw holding a rotating or sliding part being a smidgen too tight, or the sliding surface on the inner sideplate being worn, or the slot in the trip arm being worn a bit, etc.

I guess that it is possible that both problems are tied together because the reel is hovering between freespool and engaged due to a sticky shift arm, but this would be doing some violence to the spool to pinion junction, which should be quite visible.

Hope this helps, and let us know what you find!

-J

Those are good ideas. I'll try to answer them point by point to try and paint an accurate picture of what's happening.

The reel doesn't sound or feel grindy at all. Smooth as silk. The teeth on the main gear and the pinion are in good condition. There are no worn or broken teeth.

I am positive the line isn't slipping on the spool. The reel is lined with 20LB Ande clear mono with a 50LB top shot. I'm one of the holdouts who doesn't use braid. What is actually happening, is when reeling in the weight, or reeling in a fish, the handle occasionally feels like it actually disengages. In other words, I'm cranking the handle, but the spool isn't retrieving any line. I will say this, if it offers any clues, when I push/pull the handle in and out, it does feel like it has an inordinate amount of play back and forth.

The handle spinning forward occurs occasionally when making a cast. The trip ratchet was one of parts I replaced when I first acquired the reel. The free spool button wouldn't disengage, would only partially disengage when the handle was turned. The trip ratchet appeared worn, and the new one solved that problem. The free spool button works flawlessly now, and has never even popped up when putting muscle behind a cast.

It's interesting that you brought up the shift arm, as I'm feeling this may at least be part of the problem. There is a post on the end of the shift arm that engages the trip ratchet when the free spool button is depressed. On examination, it looks like the side of the post that engages with the trip ratchet is worn at a 45 degree angle. Perhaps this could be causing problems. If I have a few minutes this weekend, I'll disassemble the reel and post up some pics of the internals. Maybe something can be noticed that I'm overlooking.

 Could be wrong eccentric, or maybe jack tabs need to be bent out a bit more. Also make sure you have the correct screws for your yoke. Fully threaded screws will make shifting to Freespool much tougher as the yoke slides down those screws.

Quote from: oldmanjoe on Today at 07:47:14 PMsome thing like this .
https://www.amazon.com/Trades-Adjustable-Angle-Grinder-Wrench/dp/B00V539YTE/ref=asc_df_B00V539YTE/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693594387774&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5373161974711952356&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9057273&hvtargid=pla-1459067070192&psc=1&mcid=bf149b5346f333a0a9d53c2c3ef5343c&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxeyxBhC7ARIsAC7dS3-gnF-gvxi_uoiXIrpUA8XhYg08LhxX4pBVsZ0m13SH_5_MSvT-51MaAjQcEALw_wcB

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Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on Today at 07:29:01 PMI'm gonna ask a question that may make me sound really dumb. Is the handle spinning forward in freespool when the reel is sitting still, or only during a cast? Do you have an aftermarket handle on it? Or just a handle that is not counterbalanced? If so it'll swing forward on a cast because of the unbalanced weight. Is that possibly what's happening?

No such thing as a dumb question.  Now sometimes the answers...

I had the same question on identifying the specific symptom.

This reel has a trip lever (I think Penn identifies this part as the shift arm) that puts the reel ino gear when the handle is turned forward.  So if the handle turns forward during the cast causing the reel to kick into gear, you are on the right track and listed a potential cause.  But if the handle turns more than a few degrees while the reel stays in freespool (casting or just sitting there), then something is wrong with the trip mechanism.

-J

some thing like this .
https://www.amazon.com/Trades-Adjustable-Angle-Grinder-Wrench/dp/B00V539YTE/ref=asc_df_B00V539YTE/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693594387774&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5373161974711952356&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9057273&hvtargid=pla-1459067070192&psc=1&mcid=bf149b5346f333a0a9d53c2c3ef5343c&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxeyxBhC7ARIsAC7dS3-gnF-gvxi_uoiXIrpUA8XhYg08LhxX4pBVsZ0m13SH_5_MSvT-51MaAjQcEALw_wcB

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