Reel Repair by Alan Tani

 im tryin to help this old lady that fishes on the pier with me, she has a penn sargus 6000 and her drag is extremely tight, even with the nob loose..
i opening it up and it was filled with wd40 which she used .... i wiped and cleand all the washers and felt washers and re assembled , and its still the same way? any advise fellas??

Measure the old washers, give Dawn at Smooth Drag a call and see what she has that will fit.  She just sent me a set of Carbontex washers that fit an old Quick reel I was working on perfectly.

Without having the reel in hand, its hard to tell. I am guessing they are toast from being impregnated with the WD. You probably need some new drag washers at a minimum.

thanks guys , im thinking she needs new drag also... i mean it was soaked in wd40......  what would new drags costs me?

Depending on the size and number $6.00-$10.00, call Dawn.

Quote from: cmaraj1 on April 03, 2014, 03:58:45 AM
...what would new drags costs me?

if it puts a big smile on her face, not that expensive...

The felt washers are salvageable after being impregnated with WD40, but it's a time consuming process to clean.  

My friend recently gave me his Daiwa SL20 reel to sort out. This reel also had a very sticky/chattery drag function. Upon servicing, it was clear there was copious amounts of WD40 sprayed inside and had impregnated the felt drag washers. My friends purse strings are so tight, through choice I may add, you can literally see his fingernail imprints in the palm of his hands, so he refused my recommendation of having a greased carbon fibre upgrade. You can lead a horse to water...  

Here's what I did to salvage the felt washers, bearing in mind to take the following safety precautions: To be completed in a well ventilated area (outside in my case), safety glasses and latex gloves.

With a lidded glass jar, fill with a few mm's depth of a solvent of your choice. Place felt washers inside, seal jar with the lid and shake like making a cocktail. Be careful because the pressure from the solvent can build up inside, so hold the lid firmly down when shaking (two fingers holding the lid - thumb holding the base of the jar). The solvent will quickly turn cloudy. Remove dirty solvent and replenish with fresh and repeat until the solvent starts becoming clearer. Once satisfied, remove the felt washers and place onto kitchen paper. Now with two flat surfaces, press out the remaining solvent. Leave to dry and then lightly lubricate with Cal's drag grease and the smooth functioning drag is returned. The cost was minimised, but the labour was extensive. What are friends for, aye!?  

Obviously, for the model in question (sargus 6000), it will be most cost effective to upgrade to carbon fibre, but if you want to at least try to salvage the impregnated felt washers, it can be done.

Fish'

 

Quote from: Fish-aholic on April 03, 2014, 11:22:21 AM
The felt washers are salvageable after being impregnated with WD40, but it's a time consuming process to clean.  

My friend recently gave me his Daiwa SL20 reel to sort out. This reel also had a very sticky/chattery drag function. Upon servicing, it was clear there was copious amounts of WD40 sprayed inside and had impregnated the felt drag washers. My friends purse strings are so tight, through choice I may add, you can literally see his fingernail imprints in the palm of his hands, so he refused my recommendation of having a greased carbon fibre upgrade. You can lead a horse to water...  

Here's what I did to salvage the felt washers, bearing in mind to take the following safety precautions: To be completed in a well ventilated area (outside in my case), safety glasses and latex gloves.

With a lidded glass jar, fill with a few mm's depth of a solvent of your choice. Place felt washers inside, seal jar with the lid and shake like making a cocktail. Be careful because the pressure from the solvent can build up inside, so hold the lid firmly down when shaking (two fingers holding the lid - thumb holding the base of the jar). The solvent will quickly turn cloudy. Remove dirty solvent and replenish with fresh and repeat until the solvent starts becoming clearer. Once satisfied, remove the felt washers and place onto kitchen paper. Now with two flat surfaces, press out the remaining solvent. Leave to dry and then lightly lubricate with Cal's drag grease and the smooth functioning drag is returned. The cost was minimised, but the labour was extensive. What are friends for, aye!?  

Obviously, for the model in question (sargus 6000), it will be most cost effective to upgrade to carbon fibre, but if you want to at least try to salvage the impregnated felt washers, it can be done.

Fish'

 

You should have charged him by the hour and if he complained, told him, "Well, if you had gone the CF washer route..."



Karl

thanks guys for the help..... i picked up some ht100 for 1.50 a piece... and fixed the problem, didnt have any cal grease to jus used them as is...
the old lady will be so happy.....
i was gonna buy a penn fierce 6000 from walmart ,switch out the drags and return it, but she said thats not nice....lol
thanks again

If your in Fl. just about every tackle shop will have Penn parts, surely drag washers.  Penn will send you parts very quick and they ship from Pa.  Penn parts guys will bend over backwards for customers!

I don't mind really, Karl. My friend and I operate on a favour to favour basis, so the deed evens itself out.  

Quote from: cmaraj1 on April 03, 2014, 05:06:36 PM
thanks guys for the help..... i picked up some ht100 for 1.50 a piece... and fixed the problem, didnt have any cal grease to jus used them as is...
the old lady will be so happy.....
i was gonna buy a penn fierce 6000 from walmart ,switch out the drags and return it, but she said thats not nice....lol
thanks again

Pay it forward buddy! It will come back 10 fold!!!!