113 hn baja special

[Alto Mare]

I was going to buy one of those new USA Senators but after hearing about these problems I'm going to take apart one of my Jvariance reels & finish loading it up with whatever SS parts it doesn't have yet. All it needs yet is BP's double dog plate & SS yoke & 3 Se7vens drags. All together it probably won't cost more the the new USA Senator. I know this reel will not need a recall.    RUDY

There is no recall on those Rudy, that was just my opinion.
Sal

[RowdyW]

Not yet anyway. Just a figure of speech.

[JoePlo]

It looks to me like the ratchet is cutting right through the tip of the dogs.    Since the dogs were not mashed on the top, it is not the tilting dog problem.   The dogs are not sliding all the way into the ratchet teeth, or are sliding back out before engaging.   The teeth on the ratchet are small and pointy.  The dog springs look pretty light too.   The worn die problem at the factory mentioned by John would make the ratchet extra pointy- so this lines up. The dogs will be less likely to fully engage once they get notched. The problem will keep getting worse.

I am compelled to state that I am more sympathetic to the folks that are unhappy with the Baja Special.  Even with a cleaner die cut on the ratchet, I'm not a fan of this AR design.  The ratchet teeth are small and pointy, the ratchet sits high above the bridge plate.   The dogs float at the top of the posts, resting on a lightweight spring with practically zero lateral support.  The dog posts are supported on only one side.  My guess is that the design focused a bit too much on minimizing handle backplay and loud dog clicking, and not enough on AR reliability.  Beware of getting what you asked for

My thanks to the folks who have broken reels and posted their findings and photos. 

-J

I think you really summed it all up quite well. After taking this reel apart a few times, I always did a fair bit of cussing when attempting to get the dogs set on top of the springs and then manage to get everything lined up without one of those dog springs slipping off the dogs. Just seems like a poor design feature on an overall great reel.

[Keta]

As of now I'm thinking it's a spring/spring design issue (weak spring/poor design) made worse by small contact surfaces between the AR dogs and AR ratchet.  I have had the drawings for "improved" dogs and ratchets at the cutter for 5 or 6 weeks but he's swamped.


If anyone wishes to "get rid of" one of these reels I will try to scrape up some $, preferably a "N" and one that has this issue. 

[Alto Mare]

As of now I'm thinking it's a spring/spring design issue (weak spring/poor design) made worse by small contact surfaces between the AR dogs and AR ratchet.  I have had the drawings for "improved" dogs and ratchets at the cutter for 5 or 6 weeks but he's swamped.


If anyone wishes to "get rid of" one of these reels I will try to scrape up some $, preferably a "N" and one that has this issue. 

I thought Mr.Tutle sent you one to play with

[JoePlo]

I have mine in the mail to Keta for him to fiddle with. Coming all the way from AL so gonna take a sec.

[johndtuttle]

I have mine in the mail to Keta for him to fiddle with. Coming all the way from AL so gonna take a sec.

Joe, unless you don't need the reel for a bit while Keta works on his project send it in to Penn. They are the ones to get it back in service right away and should have a better cut ratchet already.

I had to get mine back for a trip to San Diego.

[steelfish]

I had to get mine back for a trip to San Diego.

Baja... never leave home without it

[Keta]

I thought Mr.Tutle sent you one to play with

He did but he needed it for a trip, I'd like to have one of my own.

[johndtuttle]

I am compelled to state that I am more sympathetic to the folks that are unhappy with the Baja Special.  Even with a cleaner die cut on the ratchet, I'm not a fan of this AR design.  The ratchet teeth are small and pointy, the ratchet sits high above the bridge plate.   The dogs float at the top of the posts, resting on a lightweight spring with practically zero lateral support.  The dog posts are supported on only one side.  My guess is that the design focused a bit too much on minimizing handle backplay and loud dog clicking, and not enough on AR reliability.  Beware of getting what you asked for

My thanks to the folks who have broken reels and posted their findings and photos. 

-J

The reel has been produced for over 15 years.

We know of 4 reels that have documented this problem (and only recently).

"the people not happy with the Baja" represent something like one in a thousand guys actually using the reel.

The number of other reels of any type and from any manufacturer in the world that have failed (at every price point) is higher.

There is nothing wrong with the design. If you used the exact reel as some of those that failed and didn't try to hammer the drag down and pull snags out with brute force you would never have a problem in all likelihood.

There is not one documented failure on a fish. Most reels will break trying to pull snags by brute force (sooner or later).

If the ratchets need to be stamped with a fresh die going forward or something simple like that that is all that is needed. Anyone that has a concern should be working with Penn. If Keta water cut the exact same dogs out of SS plate you would also have a solution for anyone interested in stump pulling.

To be honest, I am kinda tired of the needless drama and over reaction. This sort of thing happens to every single reel in the world. The sky is not falling. 

The vast majority of doom predictors chiming in here have never held one of these reels in their hands. If they had, they would be embarrassed at how good it is. 

[broschro]

John i know you like this reel and that's fine .My friend got his back from Penn and its doing the same thing after a month or two. and just so you know they have failed on fish Amberjack to be exact.

[johndtuttle]

John i know you like this reel and that's fine .My friend got his back from Penn and its doing the same thing after a month or two. and just so you know they have failed on fish Amberjack to be exact.

And what did Penn say?

[broschro]

they fixed it and sent it back.now he has to send it back again.

[johndtuttle]

they fixed it and sent it back.now he has to send it back again.

It's a QC issue. Not a design issue after 15 years of actual real world use with no issues. The design has landed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of AJs, YT and Tuna.

If it was a design issue it would have come up....about 14 years ago.

[MarkT]

But, but, but I read it on the Internet!