Any idea why my Penn 113HN Baja Special would be skipping while reeling in under load? I've replaced the main gear, springs and both dogs and it's still skipping. I must be putting something together incorrectly and it's driving me crazy. I've tried to repair this reel 3 or 4 times.
I need to know for a fact the line isn't slipping on the spool before I get into x-files territory. It's exceptionally common.
If not line slipping is there a burr on the pinion gear or spool where they engage?
If the bridge assembly has not been replaced with the one designed by Tom, one of our great members, and the owner of Cortez Conversions —- that is likely your culprit.
Those stupid "floating dogs and springs" are the only weak link in this reel. Everything else is basically 100% bulletproof. Shows out of stock, but maybe Tom will chime in here. He is an exceptional machinist and a good man.
The Baja & the US Senator are the same reel in 4/0 size.
Best, Fred
Cortez Conversions makes better than top quality things.
Exactly what do you mean by skipping?
If the handle is rotating backwards more than normal, then it is probably the dog issue that Fred described.
If you are winding and the reel seems to be behaving normally, but line is not always winding in under load (and you are using braid), it is probably the issue that Jason described- the entire line fill slipping on the spool like a solid puck. This more likely to happen when you are fishing in temperatures colder than when you filled the spool, but can happen any time.
If you put some sort of temporary witness marks on the spool and across the line (e.g. felt pen), you will see that the spool and line marks are no longer aligned after a slip.
If the gears themselves are slipping, they would be a chewed up mess that you would feel when winding and would be easily visible.
-J
The pinion might not be engaging all the way.
Quote from: mikeysm on May 20, 2025, 12:33:05 AMThe pinion might not be engaging all the way.
That's the direction I would start with.
There is a really tiny bearing in the right side spool shaft. The pinion stub shaft needs it to properly support the pinion. If it's missing you will have this issue. It is easy to miss it on the schematic and equally easy to lose it. Don't ask me how I know :o. Bill
It is most likely the pinion.
tony
maybe some picture will help, for a start, you have let the line out, make sure you have screwd the star down, it wont go into gear correctly if you have`nt, good luck, cheers Don.
Look at the inside of the pinion gear where it fits over the spool shaft. If that's worn down, you can get skipping. I used to see this on Penn 340 and 345s that people used for halibut. With the drag very tight, if they got hung up on the bottom, they'd shift into free spool and eventually damage the pinion.
Could be any of the aforementioned. Had the same problem a while back, and Bill pointed out to me then that little bearing. Found it later on the floor. The reel was usable, but felt like it missed or skipped a little every complete turn, or so, of the handle.
Uggh. Not a fan of floating pinion shafts. Doubt that pinion rub really affects casting performance much on a reel with a spool with those dimensions. Sort of a bad trade-off to me.
For those of you that have seen the pinion shaft issue, I assume that pinion/spool junction wear would be fairly visible, and the symptom would be the occasional 180 degree backward rotation of the spool with a bit of a clunk?
It would help if the OP provided a more specific description of "skipping".
-J
Check to see if part #55 (upper right corner) is missing. Bill