Reel Repair by Alan Tani

QuoteI got inspired this year reading all the reel rebuild threads that I thought I would try it myself. It's actually fun and very relaxing.  The question I have is as follows:

I have an older Avet Lx reel. After cleaning and lubing, everything went back together. I started with the drag test. At strike the max I get is around 10 lbs. At full drag I get 30 lbs or more. I actually busted 40 lb line at full drag. Yes before you ask, the line broke at the knot. 

What did I do wrong? I can't get the strike drag up to 15 lbs. What should I check?  Thanks in advance.

the tolerances in this reel should be loose enough that you can change the belleville configuration without bottoming out the preset knob.  here are the different ways to arrange a set of 6 bellevilles in order of increasing "stiffness" and decreasing height. 

()()()
(()()(
(())()
((())(
(())((
(((())
((()))
((((((

the configuration of (())() is stock. if you have them in a "softer" arrangement, reconfigure them back to stock.  if they are already stock, try (((()) or ((())).  this should take care of it.  if you find that your preset knob bottoms out, pull one of the flat washer from inbetween the right side of the spool and the drag pressure plate and install it next to the bellevilles.  that will increase the "height" of the belleville stack and allow the preset knob to turn all the way down.  let me know how this works out.  thanks!  alan