I got a chance to open up my new lexa 400 and while I was at it I took a few pics of the right side while it was torn down. I found the reel to be much stouter internally than expected stainless drive shaft and massive main gear! Will admit it looks a lot like a TranX internally. I think it can hold its own against the Tranx especially for half the price.
More!
Not a fan of the pinion being bronze. To me the reel weak point there. But from what I hear this bad boys do hold up well. Is that a cf washers under main gear stock?
Yes sir all above is bone stock. It has a woven cf washer below gear then on the bottom of the stack in the gear. The other two in the middle are more like a thin carbon fiber mesh. The are now all coated in cals ready for some big black fin or cobia. I bought it as a step up from my 300e as it was getting pushed to its limits in our current fishing grounds with AJs and massive black fin tuna. I did not think it was of TranX level but after teardown I see that it is much closer to one than anything else I've seen. Looks like Daiwa might have had TranX or two on hand in the designing of the 400.
I do have plans of a sealed and packed outer drive shaft bearing (protection for the AR bearing) p and a bearing to go in place of the bushing under the tension cap.
I liked my 300 series so much I bought the 400 High Power model with the lower gear ratio. These reels are real tanks.
I lightly grease the inside of the aluminum body and handle side plate. Grease the already greased carbon drags and pack the handle bearing. Also grease the Bellville washers and on top to keep the water out. Grease under the handle cap too. I used Cal's grease.
I put 80lb 8 strand braid on one of them.
Just ordered a boca yellow seal hybrid bearing to replace the stock bearing for the drive shaft (non removable shields and didn't want that one open even if packed) I figured it would be best to keep the water off of the AR bearing. Also got another bearing to replace the bushing under the tension cap. I feel like that will be the finishing touches to it.
Quote from: justindfish on December 29, 2014, 01:36:55 AM
Just ordered a boca yellow seal hybrid bearing to replace the stock bearing for the drive shaft (non removable shields and didn't want that one open even if packed) I figured it would be best to keep the water off of the AR bearing. Also got another bearing to replace the bushing under the tension cap. I feel like that will be the finishing touches to it.
Good deal. Pop those shields once they arrive and pack them well :).
I'm really stoked on this class of reel these days. Make casting straight braid really nice.
I have 2 lexa 400 and a couple 300. Have an ocassional problem, with the reel not engaging after freespool. Clutch problem?
Anyone else have this problem?
there is a ratchet gear under the main gear that hits a kick lever arm and pops the reel back into gear. sometimes that kick lever arm is damaged or the entire side plate is gummed up. a thorough cleaning and inspection of the kick lever is the first place i'd start.
justin, nice post. please send me a pm. i'd like to send something out to you in thanks! alan
Quote from: jcool3 on January 03, 2015, 05:04:08 PM
I have 2 lexa 400 and a couple 300. Have an ocassional problem, with the reel not engaging after freespool. Clutch problem?
Anyone else have this problem?
As great as these reels all are to fish (be they Abu, Daiwa, Okuma or Shimano) all of the convenient features they have introduce complexity that can be finicky in the salt....and by their nature salt gets easily inside (ie all day casting and the non-sealed nature of conventional reels).
As Alan said, the kick lever inside may be gummed up or the Pinion may have a touch of corrosion and is not returning to position positively (depending on what you feel when it doesn't go into gear). A thorough pre-service like Handi2's example is the best bet to keep them in order.
Great job! Beautiful looking reel!
Quote from: johndtuttle on January 03, 2015, 06:56:39 PM
Quote from: jcool3 on January 03, 2015, 05:04:08 PM
I have 2 lexa 400 and a couple 300. Have an ocassional problem, with the reel not engaging after freespool. Clutch problem?
Anyone else have this problem?
As great as these reels all are to fish (be they Abu, Daiwa, Okuma or Shimano) all of the convenient features they have introduce complexity that can be finicky in the salt....and by their nature salt gets easily inside (ie all day casting and the non-sealed nature of conventional reels).
As Alan said, the kick lever inside may be gummed up or the Pinion may have a touch of corrosion and is not returning to position positively (depending on what you feel when it doesn't go into gear). A thorough pre-service like Handi2's example is the best bet to keep them in order.
Just got the 400's so it shouldn't be corrosion. Will try to open it up and look at the kick lever. Thanks for the input.
Just finished servicing a 400 and found 4 or 5 little curly shavings of plastic in the reel. Seems the pinion gear shaved off some plastic from the top of the yoke. You can see where it was shaved off; kinda beveled.
What would cause the pinion to wobble or be out of place to do that? Reel is only one season old so I wouldn't think the yoke has worn.
Any ideas?
Quote from: jcool3 on January 03, 2015, 11:28:47 PM
Quote from: johndtuttle on January 03, 2015, 06:56:39 PM
Quote from: jcool3 on January 03, 2015, 05:04:08 PM
I have 2 lexa 400 and a couple 300. Have an ocassional problem, with the reel not engaging after freespool. Clutch problem?
Anyone else have this problem?
As great as these reels all are to fish (be they Abu, Daiwa, Okuma or Shimano) all of the convenient features they have introduce complexity that can be finicky in the salt....and by their nature salt gets easily inside (ie all day casting and the non-sealed nature of conventional reels).
As Alan said, the kick lever inside may be gummed up or the Pinion may have a touch of corrosion and is not returning to position positively (depending on what you feel when it doesn't go into gear). A thorough pre-service like Handi2's example is the best bet to keep them in order.
Just got the 400's so it shouldn't be corrosion. Will try to open it up and look at the kick lever. Thanks for the input.
Hope not, you'd be surprised though where after one trip you can have the worst luck with salt getting where you'd think you never would. :(
best
Quote from: Lunker Larry on January 03, 2015, 11:45:29 PM
Just finished servicing a 400 and found 4 or 5 little curly shavings of plastic in the reel. Seems the pinion gear shaved off some plastic from the top of the yoke. You can see where it was shaved off; kinda beveled.
What would cause the pinion to wobble or be out of place to do that? Reel is only one season old so I wouldn't think the yoke has worn.
Any ideas?
The top of the yoke is normally beveled to squeeze into the groove in the Pinion. I take it the shavings were the same color as the yoke?
I would think if they are it is tweaking of the alignment of the pinion under load cutting into the soft yokes seen in these reels.
Quote from: Lunker Larry on January 03, 2015, 11:45:29 PM
Just finished servicing a 400 and found 4 or 5 little curly shavings of plastic in the reel. Seems the pinion gear shaved off some plastic from the top of the yoke. You can see where it was shaved off; kinda beveled.
What would cause the pinion to wobble or be out of place to do that? Reel is only one season old so I wouldn't think the yoke has worn.
Any ideas?
The yoke is one thing that looks to me like it could become a problem over time. It just didn't look as study as it could be.
Quote from: justindfish on January 04, 2015, 01:57:42 AM
Quote from: Lunker Larry on January 03, 2015, 11:45:29 PM
Just finished servicing a 400 and found 4 or 5 little curly shavings of plastic in the reel. Seems the pinion gear shaved off some plastic from the top of the yoke. You can see where it was shaved off; kinda beveled.
What would cause the pinion to wobble or be out of place to do that? Reel is only one season old so I wouldn't think the yoke has worn.
Any ideas?
The yoke is one thing that looks to me like it could become a problem over time. It just didn't look as study as it could be.
I really don't know. We need someone with more experience to chime in. I just am not sure what stresses it routinely experiences in these designs.
I haven't seen the inside of a Tranx yet (need to work on that) but Okuma, Shimano (Curado), Daiwa and Abu Garcia all use nylon yokes in this class of reel.
I was thinking that maybe the yoke may have got stuck and did not fully engage or release the pinion causing it to not align and tilt a bit and shave off a bit of plastic. probably only a split second thing. I can see the two wear marks on the yoke.
I also thought the yoke felt pretty cheap for what is expected of this reel, but then again, when working properly there shouldn't be much stress on it.
Anyway, should be a cheap replacement
The guys who use this reel are loving it. Smooth as silk.
The pinion gear is held on by 2 screws. When you remove the 2 screws there is a bearing underneath. Make sure the bearing is still good and that the screws are tight.
Moving up the pinion gear is the main gear, roller clutch, and then a final bearing on top where it exits the body of the reel. All this should stop any movement.
Let us know what else you may find.
Quote from: alantani on January 03, 2015, 05:35:06 PM
there is a ratchet gear under the main gear that hits a kick lever arm and pops the reel back into gear. sometimes that kick lever arm is damaged or the entire side plate is gummed up. a thorough cleaning and inspection of the kick lever is the first place i'd start.
I downloaded the daiwa schematic, but really am novice in taking apart reels. Is it the kick lever shown in any of the above photos.
Can someone point it out? Thanks.
got a moment to post a link to the schematic?
Its part #31 on the Schematic:
http://www.daiwa.com/Documents/PartsDiagram/LEXA400H-400HS-400HS-P-400PWR-P.pdf
The best way to find it is to cycle the action by depressing the Clutch Lever (20) and watching how it interacts with the AR Ratchet to put the reel in gear when you reel forward. Generally when you gain an understanding of how it operates like this it makes future trouble shooting simpler.
Quote from: jcool3 on January 04, 2015, 06:56:29 PM
Quote from: alantani on January 03, 2015, 05:35:06 PM
there is a ratchet gear under the main gear that hits a kick lever arm and pops the reel back into gear. sometimes that kick lever arm is damaged or the entire side plate is gummed up. a thorough cleaning and inspection of the kick lever is the first place i'd start.
I downloaded the daiwa schematic, but really am novice in taking apart reels. Is it the kick lever shown in any of the above photos.
Can someone point it out? Thanks.
Jcool if you look on page one of this thread and the 4th picture. You will see the AR ratchet which is the SS gear with the teeth spread widely apart. Also look closely at the teeth. One side of each tooth is slightly beveled. This part of the tooth pushes on the kick lever to pop the reel back into gear. If the AR ratchet is put in backwards it will very hard for the reel to go back into gear when you turn the handle.
The kick lever is the silver arm close to the AR ratchet. In that picture the arm is away from the ratchet gear and the reel would be in gear at this position.
When you push the free spool button down the lever arm will set inside one of the teeth on the ratchet. As soon as you turn the handle the ratchet gear pushed the lever up and out of the way.
Quote from: handi2 on January 04, 2015, 11:34:35 PM
Quote from: jcool3 on January 04, 2015, 06:56:29 PM
Quote from: alantani on January 03, 2015, 05:35:06 PM
there is a ratchet gear under the main gear that hits a kick lever arm and pops the reel back into gear. sometimes that kick lever arm is damaged or the entire side plate is gummed up. a thorough cleaning and inspection of the kick lever is the first place i'd start.
I downloaded the daiwa schematic, but really am novice in taking apart reels. Is it the kick lever shown in any of the above photos.
Can someone point it out? Thanks.
Jcool if you look on page one of this thread and the 4th picture. You will see the AR ratchet which is the SS gear with the teeth spread widely apart. Also look closely at the teeth. One side of each tooth is slightly beveled. This part of the tooth pushes on the kick lever to pop the reel back into gear. If the AR ratchet is put in backwards it will very hard for the reel to go back into gear when you turn the handle.
The kick lever is the silver arm close to the AR ratchet. In that picture the arm is away from the ratchet gear and the reel would be in gear at this position.
When you push the free spool button down the lever arm will set inside one of the teeth on the ratchet. As soon as you turn the handle the ratchet gear pushed the lever up and out of the way.
looking at the ar ratchet that would be at 3 O-clock, with the brown color??
Quote from: jcool3 on January 05, 2015, 04:09:18 AM
Quote from: handi2 on January 04, 2015, 11:34:35 PM
Quote from: jcool3 on January 04, 2015, 06:56:29 PM
Quote from: alantani on January 03, 2015, 05:35:06 PM
there is a ratchet gear under the main gear that hits a kick lever arm and pops the reel back into gear. sometimes that kick lever arm is damaged or the entire side plate is gummed up. a thorough cleaning and inspection of the kick lever is the first place i'd start.
I downloaded the daiwa schematic, but really am novice in taking apart reels. Is it the kick lever shown in any of the above photos.
Can someone point it out? Thanks.
Jcool if you look on page one of this thread and the 4th picture. You will see the AR ratchet which is the SS gear with the teeth spread widely apart. Also look closely at the teeth. One side of each tooth is slightly beveled. This part of the tooth pushes on the kick lever to pop the reel back into gear. If the AR ratchet is put in backwards it will very hard for the reel to go back into gear when you turn the handle.
The kick lever is the silver arm close to the AR ratchet. In that picture the arm is away from the ratchet gear and the reel would be in gear at this position.
When you push the free spool button down the lever arm will set inside one of the teeth on the ratchet. As soon as you turn the handle the ratchet gear pushed the lever up and out of the way.
looking at the ar ratchet that would be at 3 O-clock, with the brown color??
Yes, the AR Pawl is at 3 O'clock with the copper appearing "ears" that grip the ratchet. The Ratchet itself is the large stainless gear in the center with the funny square teeth. They are square so one side can work with the Pawl, but the other works with the kick lever.
The Kick Lever is also Stainless and is up at 11-12 o'clock or so.
Just to add. My Lexa took a swim in the ocean yesterday and I thought what a bonehead move on my part. Alas lady luck was still on my side as a fellow angler wrapped up his line on my line and was able to fish my rod and reel out of the drink. anyway total time spent in the drink was about 10 minutes. I was able to get a deckhand to give me some warm freshwater and had the reel soaking in it for a good 30 minutes. Once i got home and took everything apart, I was happy I did a pre-fishing service on the reel. I was able to re-oil everything and after 24 hrs it is still spinning nicely.
My Lexa 400 has developed a deep groove in the worm gear of the level wind. It is all the way to the right. Every so often the level wind will get stuck there and i have to gently prod it to move. I am thinking of removing the level wind all together. Do you think that is a bad idea? I always level wind with my thumb and finger anyway.
Quote from: maxpowers on April 24, 2015, 05:00:11 AM
My Lexa 400 has developed a deep groove in the worm gear of the level wind. It is all the way to the right. Every so often the level wind will get stuck there and i have to gently prod it to move. I am thinking of removing the level wind all together. Do you think that is a bad idea? I always level wind with my thumb and finger anyway.
Bad idea to remove it if you are fishing straight braid, imo.
The meticulous line lay you get with a levelwind is a "deal maker" for fishing braid. With mono you can remove it and probably be fine.
Quote from: maxpowers on April 24, 2015, 05:00:11 AM
My Lexa 400 has developed a deep groove in the worm gear of the level wind. It is all the way to the right. Every so often the level wind will get stuck there and i have to gently prod it to move. I am thinking of removing the level wind all together. Do you think that is a bad idea? I always level wind with my thumb and finger anyway.
Bad idea to remove it if you are fishing straight braid, imo.
The meticulous line lay you get with a levelwind is a "deal maker" for fishing braid. With mono you can remove it and probably be fine.
And you should be fishing braid.
John, many guys successfully cast braid on conventional reels (no levelwind). Is your concern here that the physical design of the Lexa makes manual line leveling too hard?
--Mike
Quote from: mike1010 on April 24, 2015, 08:39:10 PM
John, many guys successfully cast braid on conventional reels (no levelwind). Is your concern here that the physical design of the Lexa makes manual line leveling too hard?
--Mike
Of course I was speaking generally and am happy to clarify.
Most who cast straight braid on conventional reels without lw mechanisms are using very heavy braid ie 80lb is a standard as the heavier you go the stiffer it is and consequent handling during the cast is greatly improved over lighter and limper braid.
This is particularly effective for simple heavy lures that cast easily (wahoo bombs, other iron and tin).
But, when you have a levelwind mechanism not only can use fish more appropriate line for the target species (ie 30-40-50lb) but you gain significant capacity on the reel. This is a real concern given the size of these reels (granted the Lexa 400 is larger than some). I am much happier with 275 yards of 50lb than I am with 150 yards of 80lb when offshore particularly when we consider the modest drag this class of reel has and some of the target species on the West Coast (schoolie tuna and yellowtail offshore) this reel is so much fun to use when fishing for them.
As well, imo, the door opens wider to more types of baits that are more challenging to cast like poppers and stick baits or simply lighter lures with greater cross-section etc etc. for someone with average conventional casting skills when a LW mechanism is laying line perfectly for you every time though, in very challenging conditions sometimes you have to use your old skill set to be sure the line is going on in more even tension (thumb and forefinger to provide some resistance).
I feel for my fishing that the lw mechanism keeps things more manageable using lighter braid as I use a wide variety of baits when out casting, and may want to even fish a live bait on a Revo NaCl which remarkably, they excel at if the fish are the right kind (not too grande). With the LW I can go back and forth with less conscious thought as to what I am doing and just huck 'em as the line lay on the reel is always inhumanly perfect with no loops on top of each other as line comes off the reel.
Of course, braid is well established for live bait casting (which really is very little casting over the day), but that is not what a Lexa is designed to do. It is for casting artificial lures over and over as far as we can huck 'em.
In a nutshell: the lw mechanism helps manage lighter braid that will give you more capacity and more casting options over the day for most people's fishing of artificial lures, imo, and I would keep it on my low profile baitcaster in every case. If you haven't used one of the modern saltwater baitcasters they truly are eye-opening as to how easy they make casting lures with straight braid. I feel the LW mechanism is part and parcel of that ability let alone the effort saving convenience and ergonomics.
YMMV with other options and skill sets and just 2 cents worth of opinion FWIW :).
Diawa was cool about what happen to my Lexa and is sending me a new worm shaft free of charge. In the mean time I took the level wind off just to see what happen. I will be using it Sunday for local rockfish and maybe yellowtail if they are around. As for fishing the 30-50 lbs braid, I am already used to using it on my metaloid and some of the smaller round reels I have. Level winding with my finger and thumb is almost a natural thing for me so we'll see.
Quote from: maxpowers on April 25, 2015, 05:03:05 AM
Diawa was cool about what happen to my Lexa and is sending me a new worm shaft free of charge. In the mean time I took the level wind off just to see what happen. I will be using it Sunday for local rockfish and maybe yellowtail if they are around. As for fishing the 30-50 lbs braid, I am already used to using it on my metaloid and some of the smaller round reels I have. Level winding with my finger and thumb is almost a natural thing for me so we'll see.
It will be interesting to hear your experience. I cast 30 lb braid with my Avet SX and SXJ, with only the occasional unmitigated disaster :->.
--Mike
Have at it fellers! ;)
just took it out to cast a candybar and it casted and retrieve so much smoother. the proof in the pudding will be when i hook up on a fish with it.