I have an accurate valiant BV400, left hand, single speed , purchased 16m ago, I live in the UK and fish around Cornwall-I use it for a days boat fishing, once a month on average, spay and clean it with deionised water after and leave it in freespool, indoors. It was working fine until this Christmas when it became stiffer to wind the more you increased the drag lever, it spun ok in freespool. I took it to be repaired and he found everything was ok except the side plate bearing (7x17x5mm) wasn't running as freely as it should. This was replaced and it seemed to solve the problem, however the problem has now recurred. I have the preset strike drag set at 3-4lb and when the lever is at strike it's a bit stiffer to wind but as you move the lever forward it gets significantly stiffer, almost impossible to wind! I'm getting a premium quality SKF SS bearing to replace it but I wonder if there could be anything else going wrong. I haven't been inside the reel myself, there seems to be a lot more parts than in a Seigler SG,I used to use and did venture inside! The bearing seems to have failed again very quickly! I've seen other posts suggesting it's this bearing that's likely responsible but I would be grateful for any thoughts/advice. Many thanks Nigel R
Welcome Nigel. It definitely sounds like a bearing issue. Don't know much about the Valiants, but my fishing buddy had the same issue, and has replaced the same bearing, anti-reverse maybe?, twice in the past 1 1/2 years on his small Penn Fathom lever drag. He was told it's because he's adjusting the drag tension knob while the lever is forward, thus crushing the bearing. Maybe the Valiant is similar? Someone with more experience than me will be along shortly with the exact answer. Cheers, Rick.
Welcome! Most likely the bearing as you describe. One way that happens is tightening the drag knob with the lever engaged, it should be in free spool. Nice reel when working properly
Thanks for the advice, I don't think I've adjusted the preset drag in anything other than freespool, but interesting thought if you think the bearing may get crushed. The new bearing will have metal shields as opposed to rubber seals, so wonder if this will make it anymore resilient! Will have to see when I receive it and take it to my accurate man, although I think most of his experience is with accurate boss extreme reels which is why I'm reaching out!
Any possibility they used a cheap bearing when they replaced it? The pinion bearings go through a very hard time, a low quality bearing will fail really fast.
Quote from: Nigel R on April 21, 2025, 03:51:48 PMThe new bearing will have metal shields as opposed to rubber seals, so wonder if this will make it anymore resilient!
The sheilds have little/no effect one way or the other. There are many wise folks on the forum here that actually ditch the sheilds when doing service. The whole thing you are experiencing (as Keta Lee pointed out) and a common failure point on many lever drags regardless of brand, is that the pinion bearing really is not happy having a lot of side load on it. Countless other threads here to discuss the engineering symantics; I'm not going to bore you with that but as others have said change out your pinion bearing and all will most likely be fine. - john
water is getting inside the pinion bearing. that's why i pack that bearing with grease. :-\
Quote from: Brewcrafter on April 22, 2025, 05:18:24 AMQuote from: Nigel R on April 21, 2025, 03:51:48 PMThe new bearing will have metal shields as opposed to rubber seals, so wonder if this will make it anymore resilient!
The sheilds have little/no effect one way or the other. There are many wise folks on the forum here that actually ditch the sheilds when doing service. The whole thing you are experiencing (as Keta Lee pointed out) and a common failure point on many lever drags regardless of brand, is that the pinion bearing really is not happy having a lot of side load on it. Countless other threads here to discuss the engineering symantics; I'm not going to bore you with that but as others have said change out your pinion bearing and all will most likely be fine. - john
On the pinion bearing, keep the shields and pack with grease. I take the shields off the spool bearings and lube with tsi-321.
Well I have taken the reel (and bearing) to be my repair/service man today and will report back on his findings in due course. Thanks for the advice/comments so far.
Got the reel back now, he just the replaced the bearing and it is working find, he did find the bearing was 'tight' but it did run, but not as smoothly as it should. No signs of rust. He felt my drag setting at strike was a little high, but I set it to stop a diving pollack! Rather than just leave it in freespool between trips, he recommends that I also back off the drag, to take the pressure off the bearing, which I don't normally do. So I'll start doing that, just have to remember to reset each time, which I suppose is good practice. Hopefully it lasts longer this time. It's a lovely reel to use when it's working!
Nigel
Unless I'm somewhat mistaken there's no point backing off the drag preset, there is no meaningful pressure on any of the components when the drag lever is in freespool.
When in freespool there is zero pressure on the pinion bearing.
Quote from: boon on April 28, 2025, 12:35:31 AMUnless I'm somewhat mistaken there's no point backing off the drag preset, there is no meaningful pressure on any of the components when the drag lever is in freespool.
correct.....
Same issue, but different :) I repair reels and I have 3 Accurate Valiant 400s and I can't get the drag knob to turn to adjust the drag once the reel is put back together.
Any ideas?
Can you turn the preset with the reel apart?
It sounds to me like you are setting the drag too high and are crushing the bearing when you engage the drag. What is the measured drag at strike?
Hi Susie. 1st the drag lever should be in the free-spool position. If it's back together right, the spool shaft should be sticking-out enough to thread the knob on. If it's not sticking-out enough the cam parts might be out of proper arrangement.
Does the drag knob turn at all? Or does it turn but no drag adjustment takes place?
Susie,
Take the pre-set assembly out, use a #6 or 8 allen wrench or socket where the side-plate hex would go and use some pliers with a rag on the knob and turn clockwise like your adjusting the drag. The knob is stuck from either over-tightening (Actually over-loosening) the pre-set knob. Trick I learned at Accurate while I was servicing reels there!!! Hope this helps!!!
Petah