Trinidad 20 drag problem.

[Killerbug]

I just serviced a Trinidad 20, but even with a Carbontex upgrade, the drag performance is really not impressing.

I am now wondering, if this reel would benefit from the Shimano sideplate/driveshaft upgrade?. And if so, how do I check, if the reel, is prior 2005 or later?

http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/customer_service0/reel_maintenance_instructions.download.-mainParsys-000112-downloadFile.html/TN%20and%20TOR%20Upgrade%20Tutorial_2.pdf

Regards

Morten.

[Bryan Young]

I just serviced a Trinidad 20, but even with a Carbontex upgrade, the drag performance are really not impressing.

I am now wondering, if this reel would benefit from the Shimano sideplate/driveshaft upgrade?. And if so, how do I check, if the reel, is prior 2005 or later?

http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/customer_service0/reel_maintenance_instructions.download.-mainParsys-000112-downloadFile.html/TN%20and%20TOR%20Upgrade%20Tutorial_2.pdf

Regards

Morten.

What kind of performance are you getting?

[Killerbug]

Almost none, I can easily pull line of the reel with the the drag buttoned down.  The spoll is full though.

[Keta]

Is the reel filed with Spectra?

[Killerbug]

The reel is filled with line, and I have checked tree times, if everything was put back accordingly to the schematic. One thing I was wondering about, is if the () washers, could have been flattened by buttoning out the drag constantly. Is that possible?

I would also like to find out, from what production year this reel is.

If it's prior to 2005, it's the flawed generation of Trinidad 20's, and will need Shimano's own upgrade kit. The customer want to use it for dinner table size hallibuts, so he wants maximum drag. And yes, he already owes lever drag reels, but want to use this one.

I would be very great full, if someone could help me out finding the production year.

[Keta]

The reel is filled with line,

What kind of line, Spectra can slip on the spool and cause the reel to appear to have little drag.

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

learned this from Bryan, maybe the spool itself is probably slipping from the shaft. also before buying the upgrade do you know if the reel performed well before the service?

[handi2]

I some I have changed the 2 Bellville spring washers to both heavy. The use 2 with one thin and one thick. But the reels didn't have a big drag problem like yours. If they are flat they need changing.

I think you have something else going on with the drag system like posted above...

[Killerbug]

Hi guy's

Obviously the older Trinidad 20's had a drag problem, othervise Shimano would not make an upgrade kit, unless Shimano does not
know what they are doing, what to me, seems unlikely.  



Shimano upgrade kit, for reels produced prior 2005.

I have been doing reels for a while, so I am pretty much aware of the things mentioned already in this tread. I will let you know about the revision kit, when I get an answer from Shimano.

But thanks anyway,

Morten.

[exp2000]

The reel is filled with line, and I have checked tree times, if everything was put back accordingly to the schematic. One thing I was wondering about, is if the () washers, could have been flattened by buttoning out the drag constantly. Is that possible?

I would also like to find out, from what production year this reel is.

If it's prior to 2005, it's the flawed generation of Trinidad 20's, and will need Shimano's own upgrade kit. The customer want to use it for dinner table size hallibuts, so he wants maximum drag. And yes, he already owes lever drag reels, but want to use this one.

I would be very great full, if someone could help me out finding the production year.

Flattening or loss of tension is commonplace in the () belville washers. People forget to loosen the star drag after fishing. This clamps down on the drag washers placing them under prolonged tension. Some people put them away in the garage and leave them like this till next year and then wonder why the drag is so weak! If they sit too long for weeks or months under tension the spring steel weakens and loses it's tension. The profile of the () washers may sometimes appear compressed when compared to new ones.

This may be a contributing factor in your case but if the drag is as weak as you say I would be looking for excessive wear in components, substitution of incorrect parts or missing or misplaced components.

There are some good brain teasers out there
~

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

IMO the flattened belleville washers is not the cause of poor drag numbers. the primary function of said washers is to exponentially regulate the amount of force being applied to the drag stack. if the star is tightened down and not bottoming out and your drag numbers are still low then maybe the only solution is the upgrade kit. but then again i'm not a mechanical engineer nor a rocket scientist, i'm just a "reel head"...

[Serrations]

I would be very great full, if someone could help me out finding the production year.

Killerbug,
I have a pre-2005 Trinidad 20. I e-mailed Shimano with questions about the drag upgrade kit.
There is a two letter production code stamped on the underside of the reel foot.
They can date the reel from this code. I had an answer (and date of manufacture) within two days, and sent the reel in to be upgraded.

[alantani]

try a #6-113h penn ht 100 drag washer under the main gear instead of a carbontex drag.  that's what i normally used. 

[steelfish]

try a #6-113h penn ht 100 drag washer under the main gear instead of a carbontex drag.  that's what i normally used. 

I have a guy that brought me a trini 16 with the same problem like posted on the OP, this HT-100 drag washer under the main gear seems like a really nice idea, I will do it for sure, after installer a new carbontex kit of course

thanks Alan

[josa1]

Most of this info was provided by zimbass, a member of this board.

Here is how you tell the age of a Shimano reel.  There are two letters stamped on the rod mount. They signify a year and month of manufacturer.  A reel manufactured in 2005 or later would have a date code later than DA, i.e. 2005/January.  So for instance a reel manufactured in June of 2002 would have a date code of AF.  One more, if it was manufactured in December, 2001 the date code would be ZL.

First letter is the year, second letter is the month, and third letter is the country of manufacture. The list is long so I am not going to type it all since it covers 1976-2015. I will post a couple and you can figure out the rest. They use A-Z for the years, so they reset every 25 years but I don't think they use "I".

Years:

2002- A
2015- N

1990- O
2001- Z

Months are A-L:

Jan- A
Feb- B
Mar- C
Dec- L

Country of origin:

S- SIC (Japan)
P- SCM (Malaysia)

josa1