Penn International 30 grinding feeling under drag

Started by ronk, May 15, 2019, 02:40:20 AM

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ronk

Going through a bucket of family reels and came across this Penn 30.  I have never fished it.  when i first cranked it, under full drag felt as though it had a bad gear set.  i broke it down to find the belleview washers were rusted and fell apart on table.

Did a service on the reel and here is where i am.  When the drag handle is in the free position and up to about half way to full drag it cranks smooth as butter.  When you move the drag lever forward even with the drag adjuster backed all the way off it feels as though the gear set is wiped out.
I have had the reel apart adn can not see any defects or chips in the gear set.  When i reassembled i installed new belleview washers.  After first rebuild i have broken the reel down and tried thicker, thinner, more than 4 washers, less than 4 and so on.

Two odd things i saw inside is the main shaft that runs through the spool is stuck in the bearing that rides on the drag adjuster, and i can see where someone hit that bearing with a screw driver.  I am assuming someone tried to pry out the shaft before. That being said it still spins really smooth.    I rotated the pins that the drag bar clips into so that each tab started on top to see if it was a timing issue.  Reel has definitely been apart before so i am wondering if there is some timing issue that i do not know about.  This is my first time having an International apart but i am quit comfortable rebuilding the Senators, GLS and Shimano TLDs.  

Before I get involved with removing that bearing and separating it from the shaft is there any ideas on what to try before?

Ron

Tightlines667

#1
Roughness under load indicates a bad pinion bearing.  Remove/replace it.  Check the others while you are at it, rusty bellevilles often cause problems with the right spool bearing as well.  Also make sure your belleville stack is oriented correctly...

()()

and they are the right washers for this reel model (18-20 for the origional International 30, or 18-30 on 30T, or 18-30TW for the 30SW, or TW models).

the spacing here is important.  It along with the cam ramp determines your reel's drag curve.  It is possible to change the condfg to (()) or ((() to get a steeper curve, but this might require shimming to maintain stack height.  It sounds liie your reel may have heavier washers, a steeper curve or too great a stack height for that reel.  Another, less likely possability is burrs or marring on the spool shaft causing it to not slide freely through the bearings or drag components when you move the lever.

Bear in mind the 30t and 30tw were designed to be spooled with straight 30lb mono, with the drag set at 7-10lbs at strike and 15-18lbs at full.  If you upgrade the drag and use heavier bellevilles with proper spacing you can achieve bigger drag numbers with a steeper curve, but if you push it too steep you will fry the pinion bearing when cranking under load or at high settings.  If you feel binding or grinding when cranking it is set too high, or the pinion is already toast.

Good luck!

John
Hope springs eternal
for the consumate fishermen.

ronk

Hi John,

Thanks for posting this for me. I will get it broken down again and remove/replace that bearing as well as checking both spool bearing for issues.

Two quick questions. 

The thicker or more washers put in my belleville stack the more drag it will add?

The drag lever sits on two pins.  Do i need to screw it clockwise or counter clockwise a number of turns, or is it built like a wave meaning there is only one up and one down regardless of how many times it is twisted.

Look forward to breaking this down over the weekend and seeing what is in there for a problem.

Ron

Tightlines667

Quote from: ronk on May 15, 2019, 04:49:53 PM
Hi John,

Thanks for posting this for me. I will get it broken down again and remove/replace that bearing as well as checking both spool bearing for issues.

Two quick questions. 

The thicker or more washers put in my belleville stack the more drag it will add?

The drag lever sits on two pins.  Do i need to screw it clockwise or counter clockwise a number of turns, or is it built like a wave meaning there is only one up and one down regardless of how many times it is twisted.

Look forward to breaking this down over the weekend and seeing what is in there for a problem.

Ron

I am not sure which reel model you have and exactly which pins you are referring to?  If you have one of the older reel models, you might be talking about the 2 protruding tabs that stick up from the cam and engage the lever.  If this is the case the cam will self align when reinstalled in the cam pocket in the headplate, there are only 2 possible orientations (180deg apart), and only 1 which will aloow the lever to seat in the freespool position when fully backed off.  If it's wrong take the cam assembly out and rotate in 180deg.  Or maybe you are referring to the 2 cam pins.. these also can only be installed one way.  They ride on the cam ramp and in the cam pocket slots.  If you are talking about a hewer reel with spring loaded pins on the preset knob, they just allow the preset to click when adjusting.  The preset itself should be backed all the way back when installing.

Hope springs eternal
for the consumate fishermen.

ronk

Thanks for jumping in.  Yes, I have one of the old Penn 30.  IT appeared that there was only two positions 180 degrees apart. Thanks for confirming.

Have a great day,

Ron

ronk

Got to it last night.  Removed the old bearing and installed the new one.  restacked the beliville washers in stock configuration with the wider version washers and it works awesome. 

Thanks to all,

Ron

Tightlines667

Quote from: ronk on May 31, 2019, 08:25:28 PM
Got to it last night.  Removed the old bearing and installed the new one.  restacked the beliville washers in stock configuration with the wider version washers and it works awesome. 

Thanks to all,

Ron

Great to hear you got it sorted!
Hope springs eternal
for the consumate fishermen.