Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Hi all, Currently trying to service a Silstar TR50 reel (pretty much the same and an Okuma Titus 50) and there is a lot of corrosion on the spool. Also I can't undo the plastic drag cover which is screwed into the spool and has pretty much the same diameter. Anyone who has looked inside these reels will know what I mean. Two questions - any ideas on how I can get a grip on the cover to remove....the grip is maybe 2mm wide. Whats the best way to treat and clean up the spool. I guess its aluminium corrosion. I brought the set up cheap. Thanks for any help.

Chopper - Welcome to the Forum from the SoCal Inland Empire!  If you get a chance, tell us a little about yourself.  While I do not have personal experience with that particular reel (I have serviced plenty of corroded reels  ) I am sure that one of the other Ohana will be along shortly with some more first hand experience. - john

Corrosion on the lip of an aluminum spool is difficult to deal with.  About all you can do is sand it smooth so it doesn't fray the line and then keep recoating it with something as the finish disappears and before corrosion can start again. 

I don't know anything about that reel except for a poor schematic.  Is that drag cover plastic or metal?  Maybe you could use a sharp awl to get a grip and then tap it with a small hammer to unscrew.

Welcome Chopper.
Can you post a picture?
Don't know the reel, but it sounds like "maybe" a strap wrench could get the cover off...?

Hi all - sorry its taken a while to get back. My Dads pretty crook. A bit about me - From New Zealand,  married, 2 kids both married now and 3 grandies. Love fishing but never been big game fishing. Have a 5.5 Surtees and would love to have a go at a Marlin or something this summer coming. Thats why I brought 3 old and cheap rods and reels, Okuma Titus, Diawa 900h and the Silstar we're talking about. I serviced the the other 2 with no issues but this one is proving a pain. I've sprayed some CRC around the join and I think I might try a small punch and a light touch with a hammer to see if I can get it to move. The cover I'm trying to remove is plastic so i'll have to be careful.

Welcome chopper, pictures, pictures, n more pictures, I am sure some one will help you then, the sealine 900H will handle some very large fish, it should hold about 700M of 100lb of braid, if your having trouble posting pictures like I do, then someone will offer to post them for you, just ask, good luck, from Sunny Western Australia, cheers Don.

I got that cover off - big set of stilsons....used carefully of course! Attached photo of spool corrosion. I guess it just scraping, sanding and maybe some clear coat??

Wow. How's the rest of the reel look? For the spool to get like that I'm going to loosely assume it wasn't well-loved.

Hi = the rest of the reel is pretty good. All the bearings seem good. No wear anywhere...I just think it was never cleaned or rinsed after use. Ive cleaned it up....lots of pits as you can imagine. Painted with some black enamel. Photos later. Might be just a deep drop rig?

Hi and welcome Chopper,
Fred offered some valuable advice here:

https://alantani.com/index.php/topic,14181.msg144439.html#msg144439

You can see what Keith was able to achieve with Fred's guidance a couple of posts further down.
Let us know how you get on.
Good luck, Justin

hoo boy!!!  this one is not going to be good.  you might end up having to clean off the corrosion with the wire brush side of a bench grinder.  the anodizing is likely toast, anway.  you might end up taking it down the metal, then going with a cerakote, or something.  i'm not sure what would work at this point. 

another thought.  grab an old toothbrush, scrub in a whole bunch of grease onto the spool, wipe off the excess and call it done.   

That's like modern art.

Well used, but not well loved.

Well she looks a bit better but its still ugly. Bit of enamel and then a coat of the Mrs clear nail polish. I'm not that hopeful but its probably not gonna get a lot of work. All back together and the only issue I have is getting the drag adjusted. I think I need another washer or 2 under the drag lever. (had some poo there when I pulled it apart that I had to scrap off. ) Anyway ...great forum, thanks for your comments and help.
cheers
Dave

Hi Dave and welcome from sunny Western Australia, you have me a little bit confused, afteryour last comment, is it a lever drag, or star drag, cheers Don.

that works!!!!