I got this Penn 160 reel that I just can't seem to get rid of :) so I decided to use it myself. I recently cleaned it and lubed it and changed the drag washers with drag washer sheet from eBay. I find that the drag is either too loose like free spoil or to tight with no happy medium. Any advice?
Thanks!
Hi castamile --
Not knowing exactly where your comfort level is (I think you know what you are doing pretty well, though) --
We will start out at the basics -- mainly for folks who may not be as experienced as you.
I always look at the simplist things first -- then eliminate as I go to more obscure or rare reasons why something may not function properly --
Don't jump around -- just focus on the most common and likely causes first.
If it were mine, I would break it down -- remove, clean and reorder the drag stack -- particularly paying attention to see if the eared metal #2 washer is nested properly at the top of the gear stack. If out of the ear notches -- this would cause your issue. These slip out easily when reassembling.
Making sure you start with an under gear washer -- gear, Cal's greased CF, keyed metal, greasd CF, eared washer, Cal's greased CF, keyed washer, spring washer, spacer.
There are a half dozen other more or less likely possibilities. But try this, post some pics for us, and let us know your progress.
These are very nice old reels, and I agree, hard for me to get rid of these old soldiers too. They do catch a lot of fish.
Best,
Fred
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx130/foakes1/B3BD7703-54B6-480B-BD98-4E80F5E3626B_zpsfm7c7b0k.jpg) (http://s748.photobucket.com/user/foakes1/media/B3BD7703-54B6-480B-BD98-4E80F5E3626B_zpsfm7c7b0k.jpg.html)
And make sure the 8-60 tension spring is not flat.
Not sure of the washer sheet material but if it is CF try a wet drag system with some Cal's Grease.