US113n binding at high drag??

[Fishy247]

If you still have the reel apart, or if you are going to take it apart again, you might check the pinion gear for any abnormalities. I've had other Penn reels feel like they were binding, only to find that a tooth in the pinion was messed up and wasn't meshing with the main properly.

Mike

[Fishy247]

I just reread the first post. If it was the pinion, it wouldn't matter what the drag setting was...

[Bryan Young]

Man! That reel is a bear to get back together. The eccentric assembly and the bridge installation makes me wish I had more patience (and tiny fingers). Everything looks solid in there but I'm not so sure about the design of the dogs. Seem to have an awful lot of play. Bet they get tore up when catching big fish on heavy drag. There was no smoking gun as far as the binding issue. Guess I'll order some new spring washers as that one was less cupped than the other two.

In the meantime I'll spool it up and test the drag weight. Thanks again for all the help guys! I'll report back when I know more. 

One of our members makes replacement bridge assemblies. Check this out. Well worth the money I my opinion.
https://www.cortezconversions.com/product-page/penn-113hn-us113-senator-bridge-assembly

[Swami805]

That replacement bridge assembly is very easy to install too. Even I put one in and that's saying something

[Rivverrat]

The replacement bridge from Tom here on this sight is one of the best ugrades for any classic reel I have seen. Your experience with chewed up dogs will be a complete thing of the past. This upgrade allows you to fish the Baja/US113 at it's max drag & past it. This upgrade also makes the headaches of takedown & putting this reel back together a complete thing of the past. If you fish this reel a lot you need this upgrade... Jeff

[Penn]

Tony, Its pretty nice when a Penn Engineer can take the time to monitor and help people out here! Its appreciated.
Regard's,  ..  Lou

Thanks Lou,

It's what I do!  Alan has been nice enough to allow us to post and help out.  By the way, I am just a lonely Parts and Service guy, no Engineering degree 

tony

[foakes]

Hi Michael --

These reels are tough as they come -- the weak spot is the "floating A/R dog assembly", IMO.

It may be OK for you as it is.  However, if you intend to fish and service this reel regularly -- a good consideration would be one of Cortez Conversion's drop in bridge, spring, dog, and sleeve assemblies.

Tom, the owner or Cortez, and one of our extremely talented members -- has engineered and manufactured this upgrade, which makes the US Senator or its pre-runner, the Baja -- just about perfect and bulletproof.

It just drops into the place of the original.

No more finnicky springs, dogs not floating anymore, rock solid A/R engagement, SS mostly where it counts, and everything supported solidly on the deck of the bridge.

$65 on Tom's link under Cortez Conversions, on our site.

Best

[C Michael Bergen]

Hey guys- I checked out Cortez Conversion's upgraded bridge.  I'll definitely be picking that one up.  Thanks for the recommendation.  I'm putting this rig together for a no-excuses heavyweight grouper rig so I want it to be bomb proof-- and I've spent enough money setting it up that I want it to last, so easy maintenance is definitely a plus as well.  Looks like the new bridge will provide both.

Regarding the original "Issue"... It appears to be a non-issue.  I spooled the reel with 150 yards of 100# JB hollow and 25' of 100# mono.  Filled the spool exactly to the 1/3 mark ring.  (I'm only bottom fishing in 1-300 feet of water and wanted the flexibility of being able to remove the wind-on and add a couple hundred yards of lighter weight mono in case I wanted to add it to a trolling spread). 

Anyway... With the spool 1/3 full I'm getting close to 40 lbs of drag out of the reel before the handle starts to bind.  I was under the impression that you could "hammer" the star drag down and fish these reels-- maybe years of construction have made my hands stronger than I realized because I can just twist it down and basically lock the reel up.  No worries though- When I back the drag off until I can't feel any binding I'm making something like 30-40% more drag than Penn claims so obviously there's no problem with the reel.

I'll tell you what though- lifting 35 pounds of weight on the end of a fishing rod is no joke!  Those grouper don't stand a chance!  Now if April would go ahead and come around so the season would open :/

Thanks again guys.  Interesting conversation about the reel and good recommendation on the bridge.