Shimano torium 14hga drag problem

[JonPHangler]

Hello guys I'm Jon from the Philippines. I bought a torium 14hga (righty) and was able to tried it out once for catching trevs averaging 5-10lbs. The reel is nice and smooth but i noticed something when i'm fighting a fish the drag is weak than it should be. So when i came back from the trip i tried tying it to a scale the max drag i got is 8-9lbs but in the box the torium 14hga has 17 lbs. The 8-9lbs drag is to the point that i cant turn the handle anymore. And when i lessen it with just 3 clicks i only got 4-5 lbs drag which is really weird i dont know if i have a faulty reel or it is really normal like that. And it is really hard here in the phil. To find someone that can service reels and shimano doesnt have any service center here on philippines. Im thinking of opening the reel i have a little expirence servicing spinning reels but i have no experience on these type of reels, i hope someone can give me tips on what to do. Or a guide on how to take the torium 14hga apart with pics or a vid on the step by step procedure. I really appreciate any kind of help. Thanks in advance and sorry for my english

[alantani]

any chance that you have braid that is slipping on the spool?

[JonPHangler]

I don't think so. I'm using braid but it is spooled nice and tight. Btw thanks for the reply

[alantani]

take a look anyway.  that's the most common cause. 

[JonPHangler]

I just finished looking about the braid and the spool but i dont seem to se anything wrong. I'm really confused what to do next

[alantani]

ok, so you pulled on the line and the braid was clearly not slipping on the spool.  if it is not, then likely you have the maximum amount of drag from this reel.  to help any further, i'd have to pull it apart and look.  unless someone else can help, i just don't have time to do a full tutorial on the reel. 

[Fish-aholic]

Hello guys I'm Jon from the Philippines. I bought a torium 14hga (righty) and was able to tried it out once for catching trevs averaging 5-10lbs. The reel is nice and smooth but i noticed something when i'm fighting a fish the drag is weak than it should be. So when i came back from the trip i tried tying it to a scale the max drag i got is 8-9lbs but in the box the torium 14hga has 17 lbs. The 8-9lbs drag is to the point that i cant turn the handle anymore. And when i lessen it with just 3 clicks i only got 4-5 lbs drag which is really weird i dont know if i have a faulty reel or it is really normal like that. And it is really hard here in the phil. To find someone that can service reels and shimano doesnt have any service center here on philippines. Im thinking of opening the reel i have a little expirence servicing spinning reels but i have no experience on these type of reels, i hope someone can give me tips on what to do. Or a guide on how to take the torium 14hga apart with pics or a vid on the step by step procedure. I really appreciate any kind of help. Thanks in advance and sorry for my english

Re: blue text...

Button the star down for max drag and check the area I've put in a red rectangle to see if the lip of the star wheel (yellow dot) is bottoming out against the right side plate (blue dot). Bottoming out means no more adjustment.

If the handle begins to stiffen when max drag is set, this can be one culprit. If this suggestion is correct, the sequence of parts below the star wheel needs addressing as its likely a tolerance issue.

HTH, Steve

 

[JonPHangler]

Hi Fish-aholic, thanks for the time to read and reply regarding my problem. But i think i have a different torium model. I have the black body torium 14hga. But I still tried the things you said. I tried bottoming down the drag and I checked there is still enough space and the handle is not stiff. Thanks again

[Fish-aholic]

Hi Fish-aholic, thanks for the time to read and reply regarding my problem. But i think i have a different torium model. I have the black body torium 14hga. But I still tried the things you said. I tried bottoming down the drag and I checked there is still enough space and the handle is not stiff. Thanks again

Yup, its a Trinidad 14A which I think the gear sleeve assembly would be similar (star wheel is not threaded to gear sleeve but keyed to an adjustable nut). I cannot find a schematic for your model reel on the www which makes things difficult. Would of thought they would be very similar like the prior gold trinidads and older toriums.

Like Alan said, hard to diagnose without reel in hand - or if you can take apart and post pictures as pictures speak a thousand words.