Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Penn is now making new and improved machined gear sets for all ssv models. At first it was only going to be a direct swap from the 5500 and higher models from the new Clash reels. I own a ssv4500 model myself, and wished the gears were of better quality. Well, my wish came true and can't wait to get my beat up reel a new upgrade I figure others may be interested, so here it is: http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/topic/638658-ssv-gear-upgrade-kit/#entry10941546

Are those going to be machined out of Aluminum - Stainless Steel, or Bronze ?

Never mind, found the answer.

Sal

In case anyone else wants to know, the new set is aluminum/brass main and brass pinion. I personally think it's a huge upgrade to the cast zinc main and brass pinion of the original stock.

To put things into perspective, a close comparison would be the stradic fj, which has a aluminum main gear (infused with some sort of black coating) and a brass pinion, and that reel still feels great even after a couple years of hard use.

Perhaps the brass and aluminum mix is supposed to make the gear tougher. I don't know, but knowing what I know about the stradic fj, I think the new ssv gears will be a good investment over the long term.

Feel to correct me if I'm wrong here as I'm far from being an expert 

I just remembered something. the fj gears are cold forged, and not machined. I think I remember reading Alan Hawk saying that cold forging can make gears much tougher than machining. Anywho, machining and materials still better than the previous cast zinc, so still looking forward to the upgrade.

Thanks for pointing this out!  I'm in, about to purchase another SSV 5500 and this do nicely!

Quote from: newport on January 12, 2016, 04:09:37 AM
In case anyone else wants to know, the new set is aluminum/brass main and brass pinion. I personally think it's a huge upgrade to the cast zinc main and brass pinion of the original stock.

To put things into perspective, a close comparison would be the stradic fj, which has a aluminum main gear (infused with some sort of black coating) and a brass pinion, and that reel still feels great even after a couple years of hard use.

Perhaps the brass and aluminum mix is supposed to make the gear tougher. I don't know, but knowing what I know about the stradic fj, I think the new ssv gears will be a good investment over the long term.

Feel to correct me if I'm wrong here as I'm far from being an expert 

The small sizes are aluminum, and the larger sizes are brass.  Its not (necessarily) an aluminum/brass alloy.

Aluminum can be very strong, and suprisingly hard given the right alloy, and the same can be said for brass.  I would expect these gears to be very high quality.

The smaller sized Main Gears (SSV 5500 and below) are a very hard Aluminum alloy. Relative to the cost of the gears the actual material is inexpensive (but an expensive Alu alloy), it is all about the CNC machining and finishing of the gear.



The Pinon Gears are also of a harder Brass alloy than are currently used in the SSV to my knowledge. I don't know if they are the same alloy as the larger main gears.

The Main Gear in the larger sizes (6500 and larger) will be machined Brass. This as well is no garden variety Brass alloy and is a top notch choice.

John, thanks for posting these, I had no idea Penn was making the machined brass, those look nice.
Give me your take on the drilled holes, weight reduction, or heat reduction?...or perhaps something else?

Sal

Quote from: Alto Mare on January 15, 2016, 10:45:01 AM
John, thanks for posting these, I had no idea Penn was making the machined brass, those look nice.
Give me your take on the drilled holes, weight reduction, or heat reduction?...or perhaps something else?

Sal

Just weight reduction.

The gears are not cheap even though they are *not (*edit) made in the Philly factory. I was happy and surprised to learn that the SS gears in their Fathoms etc are Made in USA there and then shipped to the factories in China for assembly into those reels.

Penn did share with me what the alloys are in a gesture of trust, but asked me to keep a lid on it to keep their competition on their toes. The Aluminum and Brass are definitely not some garden variety choices (there are a number of alloys of both out there and these are not what you would call off the shelf types).

Three sevens, thanks for clearing that up.

John, appreciate the photos. Thosse gears look really nice.

i always wondered what metal --aluminum or brass-- would make a stronger drive gear with the same machining/forging process. Now I know.

Will have to follow up on this with Penn.

Sal I have some Penn Clash reels in here for pre-service if you would like to see more of the larger reels gears. The larger reels have the machined bronze gearing. And I believe the pinion gears teeth are chrome plated.

Quote from: handi2 on January 16, 2016, 11:51:07 PM
Sal I have some Penn Clash reels in here for pre-service if you would like to see more of the larger reels gears. The larger reels have the machined bronze gearing. And I believe the pinion gears teeth are chrome plated.

Yea, I'm going to ask Penn on Monday for sure about that because I don't think it is actually plated. I think it may be a harder Bronze alloy that has a more "silver" tint to it that polishes in use.

If you can take the time Keith, your's being production, could you pull one out and take photos of it to share?


best

Thanks Keith and John for the information.
I have a feeling those are not plated, looks like they went all out on this one.
Penn is on the right track, nice for them to offer those.

Sal

John - Thanks for sharing the info and pictures.  I think it's pretty awesome that Penn actually takes the time to put this info up onto forums getting feedback and the like.  I've also noticed that with Accurate, extremely active on Facebook answering questions and private messages within a few short hours.  I believe this is the best way to improve customer base, especially with the changing times; less people going into tackle shops and more people hunting for information/opinions online.  People to people skills are still the best, but if you can master the keyboard as well you are going to be on top. (Just my opinion).

Back on subject, looking forward to getting a set for my SSV6500