Penn Fathom LD 2-Speed: Service Tutorial and First Look.

Started by johndtuttle, September 06, 2014, 12:31:12 AM

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johndtuttle

Quote from: steelfish on June 03, 2016, 03:20:32 AM
Thanks John, not feeling like taking the shields out from the bearings on this reel.. Just clean them and add some tsi321 and call it done, I dont pretend to cast with it

yep, that is all that is strictly required.

If you use it only as a troller you can grease the bearings. Oil makes it a little nicer as a deep drop reel but grease is ok too.

steelfish

well finally have time to do this pending bearing cleaning on my FTH 40LD2

I took out the spool bearing, spool shaft and sleeve, clean everything then put a light coat of tsi321 oil on the sleeve and shaft (one or two drops and spreaded it with my fingers), cleaned deeply the bearings with carb cleaner and the RPM bearing blaster "thingy" and few drops of tsi321 on each BB to finish the job.

the spool went to not so bad 43 seconds of spinning to a 1:06 minutes spinning now. 54% of increase of freespool is not that bad, right?

thanks John for the steps on how do it on a easy way, reel looked so nice inside with plenty of grease all over that I dont feel like doing a pre-fishing service on this one is really that necessary.

The Baja Guy

fishmeluck

J&H Tackle, Oakdale, NY, currently has the Penn Fathom LD 2-Speed reels on sale. I just ordered a FTH40NLD2 yesterday for $198 and free shipping.
http://www.jandh.com/penn-fathom-2-speed-lever-drag-reels.html
Give a man a fish and he will have fish for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

Aiala

Quote from: fishmeluck on July 07, 2016, 09:23:55 PM
I just ordered a FTH40NLD2 yesterday for $198 and free shipping.

Wow, that is a spectacular deal! I bought one for about twenty bucks more last month and thought I made out like a bandit.  ::)

At any rate, good score! I'm sure you will be extremely pleased. It's one heckuva great reel!  ;)

~A~

I don't suffer from insanity... I enjoy every minute of it!  :D

Mjg378

Thank you for posting the sale.    Picked one up

Kit

Hi guys, I bought a FTH30LD2, I got it spooled and took it home - it was then I found out that the reel didn't have free spool - even with the lever taken off!

I don't quite know what to do, I took the reel apart and put it back together, and loosened the spool a bit, but still no freespool. Please advise.

johndtuttle

Quote from: Kit on July 13, 2016, 11:03:14 PM
Hi guys, I bought a FTH30LD2, I got it spooled and took it home - it was then I found out that the reel didn't have free spool - even with the lever taken off!

I don't quite know what to do, I took the reel apart and put it back together, and loosened the spool a bit, but still no freespool. Please advise.

Probably over greased from the factory. This is common. Follow the tutorial and clean the grease out of the spool assembly and replace with a fast oil and you will be fine. Sometimes the drag is over greased too and that will kill free spool.

Kit

Hi John, Thanks, will do that and report my progress. thanks! :)

steelfish

Quote from: Kit on July 13, 2016, 11:03:14 PM
Hi guys, I bought a FTH30LD2, I got it spooled and took it home - it was then I found out that the reel didn't have free spool - even with the lever taken off!

make sure the lever is on OFF position, when you take out the lever on a lever drag reel the spring that is sandwiched on the fiber drag sheet and the metal drag plate its desactivate (the spring) and that cause to have no freespool, in order to have the factory freepool back you need to assemble the lever correctly and put it on the OFF position (you will feel a small bump and click) in that zone the spring separate the drag plate and drag sheet and then you have your freespool (not with technical language but more or less thats how it works)

you might have a problem with the spring or whit the Drag Cam wrongly installed.
The Baja Guy

mley1

Quote from: fishmeluck on July 07, 2016, 09:23:55 PM
J&H Tackle, Oakdale, NY, currently has the Penn Fathom LD 2-Speed reels on sale. I just ordered a FTH40NLD2 yesterday for $198 and free shipping.
http://www.jandh.com/penn-fathom-2-speed-lever-drag-reels.html


I picked up one of there FTH30LD2's. Got it in a couple days ago. Free spool was about 5 seconds worth. So I'll be cleaning the spool bearings and shaft. Then a few drops of oil. I'm looking forward to seeing how much her free spool improves.
Good luck fishing,

Marty

mley1

I decided this evening to try and clean and lube my spool bearings on the new FTH30LD2 I got a couple days ago. I ran into some trouble. This is the first lever drag I've ever tried to take apart, EVER. I figured what the heck. If I screw it up I can send it to one of you fella's to help this poor Texan out. So, in I went.

It started off well enough. I got the left side plate off. Then I took the lever drag pieces off, making sure it was in the free spool position when I did it. Then I tried to take the little phillips head screws out of the spool that hold the clicker gear. Well, they wouldn't budge. In fact I was afraid I was going to round them out. So, rather than bugger them up too bad, I left them alone. I went to the other side of the spool. Took the spring off. Took out the one bearing, and a washer. Then I took the long brass looking thrust bearing. That's as far as I was willing to go on it. I cleaned as much as I could off the spindle, and thrust bearing. I cleaned the bearing itself with some carb cleaner, and aired it off. Then I oiled the bearing, thrust bearing, and spindle. I added a few drops to the spindle on the other end as well, hoping it would get down into it well enough. At that point I figured I'd gone as far as I dared, and was going to put her back together. And, in a colossal brain fart, I accidentally tipped the right side plate far enough the drag break fell out, and nearly took the anti reverse dogs with it. I was horrified that I'd just messed up my new reel. A close inspection revealed the dogs ears were more robust than I thought. And, thankfully, they weren't bent. I gently placed the brake plate back into its nest, and proceeded on.

And, this is where I thought I was done for. I put the left side plate on, and then tried to put the drag lever back together. Funny thing that drag lever. It refused to be screwed back on. And, the adjustment knob just flat out would not catch on the end of the spindle. I fiddled with it over an hour. Then, it dawned on me as I was thinking of the tutorial. I was supposed to hold the spool over, compressing the spring, and pushing the end of the spindle through so the adjustment knob could catch. That's it!!!

So, off the left side plate came. And, I gave the drag lever another go. I thought I had her licked, but each time I got the adjustment knob on the drag lever either wouldn't move. Or, when it did move it wouldn't move far. Plus, there was no free spool!!! What did I do?? I was thinking this ole country boy done messed up his new reel again. It was then that I noticed the little lip on the lever that fits over the little rail on the reel. Well, howdy do. It's supposed to go over that little rail, ain't it. So, I put the little lever over the rail, and gave it another go. After about 5 more tries I finally got the adjustment knob on, the lever straight, in free spool, and on the little rail. I think I'm in business. So, I adjusted the drag just by feel. Shucks, I don't even have line on this thing yet. When it felt about right(I know, no scale, sorry), I tested the free spool.

When I started this hours long adventure I had only about 5 seconds of free spool on my new reel, barely 5 seconds. After my mishaps, feaupaux's, and goof ups, I now have an honest 20 full seconds of free spool with an empty spool. I quadrupled my free spool time with nothing more than cleaning one spool bearing, wiping some grease off the spindle and thrust bearing, and adding some oil. Happy! Happy! Happy! ;D ;D ;D

I just want to say thanks for the tutorial here ya'll. I'd still be in my man cave scratching my head without it!!! ;D ;D
Good luck fishing,

Marty

Rivverrat

#71
mley1, I would make the friendly suggestion that you order up some extra parts such as dogs, an extra set of all fasteners & small parts. This can save you the headache when these mishaps that can & will take place when servicing our reels. Having these extra parts on hand will give you confidence & help remove some of the anxiety that can go with this endeavor when learning.
I highly recommend Scott's Bait & Tackle for Penn parts. There staff is highly knowledgeable, helpful & they are very quick with your order....Jeff

mley1

Quote from: Rivverrat on August 07, 2016, 04:10:19 PM
mley1, I would make the friendly suggestion that you order up some extra parts such as dogs, an extra set of all fasteners & small parts. This can save you the headache when these mishaps that can & will take place when servicing our reels. Having these extra parts on hand will give you confidence & help remove some of the anxiety that can go with this endeavor when learning.
I highly recommend Scott's Bait & Tackle for Penn parts. There staff is highly knowledgeable, helpful & they are very quick with your order....Jeff

Thanks for the suggestion Jeff. I agree. When it comes to these lever drag reels I don't have a clue, and having some spare parts on hand is a good idea. I have a few spare parts for my Abu's.  I was really just winging it from memory of this tutorial here. My man cave is in the garage, away from my big screen computer screen. I probably should have popped out my Iphone and looked at the tutorial while I was working. But, I didn't until I got into some trouble trying to figure things out. That lever drag was a lot different than my Abu's or my Penn 704z's, or any of the other reels I have. Right now I only have the Penn FTH30LD2 lever drag and the big Daiwa SLT30 2 speed lever drag. And, after my experience with the Penn I'm not too sure I want to crack open the Daiwa by myself.

You know, I really don't think the Fathom was more difficult to work than my Abu's, just different. I had never worked on one before. I think once I do it a few times, and get the hang of how everything goes together it will go a lot smoother. I will say that once I got her all buttoned up, and she ran better than when I started, it was very satisfying. It always feels good when you can work on your own equipment, and are self reliant. And, again, thanks to everyone who do these tutorials. They are a godsend to those of us who are less experienced.
Good luck fishing,

Marty

lonehawkstation

Any chance someone recorded a service video on this reel?  I'm a total N00B in service reels and a vid would help tremendously.  Willing to buy beer.  ;D

johndtuttle

Quote from: lonehawkstation on May 10, 2017, 02:53:57 AM
Any chance someone recorded a service video on this reel?  I'm a total N00B in service reels and a vid would help tremendously.  Willing to buy beer.  ;D

I personally don't do vids as I don't find them as useful to find just the part you are having trouble with...a photo tutorial always has more detail, imo and allows more discussion.


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