Saltist BG 40 "spongy" Anti-Reverse

[nelz]

I have a brand new Saltist Black Gold BG Star Drag 40 size and the infinite anti-reverse feels very "spongy". It works, but it does not have a solid feel at all when it engages. I'm not sure if it's defective or if that's just the way they are from the factory. It does not have oil intrusion. Anybody here experience this too?

[Fish-aholic]

I've come across this and after further inspection, I found spongy operating one way clutches were greased from the factory. Thoroughly cleaned and lightly lubed with C/X, I found the spongy function ceased.

[nelz]

I did that too, it reduced it a bit but still unacceptable. I can push the spool almost 3/4" before it locks solid. I think the roller bearing is just too wimpy for this reel. What a shame because the rest of the reel is built very robustly. The main gear is HUGE!

I wonder if I can get a better quality after-market roller bearing somewhere?

[SoCalAngler]

You may have a bad ARB out of the box. The BG stars have a backup dog in their smaller reels, maybe the BG 40's have two I don't know. But either way to me it sounds like the ARB is not working correctly/slipping and the backup pawl is stopping the anti-reverse.

I have a BG 20H with out any slip, spongy feeling. The instant anti-reverse is solid, strong and offers no slop. I have fished this reel like 10 years now and it still feels the same as the day I bought it.

[Cor]

I have an SST40H that is 13 year old and still works well.   I presume the bg20h also has an AR Pawl so I would not worry about it too much.
I once had a reel that was also like that, (can't remember which one) it gave no problems.

You can remove the AR pawl and test the bearing to see if/at what pull it starts to give way.

[nelz]

Yeah, the clutch actually does work, it just doesn't inspire much confidence being all bouncy like that. I noticed the clutch part number is the same as the Luna 300 and that reel's AR feels rock solid without any backup.

I called Daiwa and they said I'd have to send in the entire reel, and that they may void the warranty upon seeing that I opened it up myself (depends on the mood of the tech I guess).

I'm just going to have to replace the clutch at some point. I read somewhere that a Shimano clutch will fit this reel, anybody know which part # that would be?

It's a Saltist BG40H star drag.

[boon]

I have two Toriums that behave very similarly. In practice you don't notice it when fishing - if anything it gives a tiny bit of help to the drag because it compensates for the startup inertia/grip of the drag.

[nelz]

I have two Toriums that behave very similarly. In practice you don't notice it when fishing - if anything it gives a tiny bit of help to the drag because it compensates for the startup inertia/grip of the drag.

Well, I finally replaced the AR roller and it helped a bit, but not completely, there's still a little "bounce". These reels and the Toriums I'm guessing, really need a more robust roller bearing. You're right about it helping the drag a bit, I thought of that too. But the drag on these Saltists BG's has 3 big greased carbon fiber disks though, so little to no startup inertia, very smooth and powerful too.