Pinion Gear slipping off the spool shaft when eccentric lever is engaged

franky · February 03, 2020, 11:49:27 PM

Okay folks I'm working on a 4/0. It is a Cortez Conversions side plates, tiburon frame, stainless double dog bridge, stainless gear and pinion gears.

When I have the original Penn pinion and gear, I have no issues.

When I put in the stainless gear and pinion now there is an issue.

When fully assembled, I crank the handle and suddenly stop. The spool continues to turn (about half a rotation) and it is somehow pushing the pinion and yoke off the rectangular box at the base of the spool shaft and there is a clicking sound from the pinion moving off the base of the spool shaft. It surprises me that the two bridge springs are not keeping the yoke and pinion in place over the base of the spool shaft when the cast lever is engaged.

At first when I opened the reel, I noticed the ring on the pinion was off the pinion. I then pressed it back on and test fitted the pinion of the spool shaft. I noticed the pinion was kind of snug. I then sanded a little off the insides of the pinion gear prongs and refitted....perfect, it sits over the rectangular box at the bottom of the spool shaft easily. I then reassembled the reel and when I cranked the handle fast and stopped, the spool did not slip as much. Then when I did it again, the pinion started to slip again.

Again, when I put the original penn gear and pinion set in the reel, I don't get the pinion slipping off the spool shaft. I crank the handle fast and stop...and everything including the spool stops.

Any thoughts?

Alto Mare · February 04, 2020, 12:37:06 AM

Check your custom pinion and see if it goes on the spool shaft all the way with very little force.

Sal

franky · February 04, 2020, 12:44:17 AM

One thought....

Could it be that when the pinion is fully sitting on the base of the spool shaft, it becomes "one" with the spool? And when the spool is loaded with line, it is a heavy spool. Now, with a heavy spool moving with a pinion attached to it has all that "one way momentum" is suddenly stopped, the directional angle of the helicut teeth on the pinion gear will continue; and the force will corkscrew the pinion gear away and off the base of the spool shaft?

However, when compared to the factory Penn gear and pinion teeth, it is different from the helicut teeth that is on the aftermarket pinion and gear set. Could this be the reason it does not happen to the factory Penn gear and pinion? Hmmm... If this is the case, does this happen to all aftermarket pinion and gear sets with the helicut teeth?

franky · February 04, 2020, 12:46:17 AM

Thanks Sal,

Yes, I slightly sanded the inside prongs of the pinion and it fully sits over the rectangular box at the bottom of the spool shaft easily.

alantani · February 04, 2020, 12:51:32 AM

and, of course, you do not have left handed gears in a right handed reel, or vise versa..... $:-\$

Alto Mare · February 04, 2020, 12:53:09 AM

Is the spool centered?

franky · February 04, 2020, 12:53:41 AM

Nope. Aside from this issue, the reel works perfectly.

franky · February 04, 2020, 12:55:09 AM

Yes, the spool is centered. I also removed the side to side play.

Alto Mare · February 04, 2020, 01:05:20 AM

Just for the heck of it, back the left side baring and screw in the right side about a turn.
Make sure the spool has a little side by side movement.
Also back all bridge screws just a turn, work the reel a couple of times and snug the bridge screws... not crazy tight.

franky · February 04, 2020, 01:07:38 AM

In a normal world of fishing, no one will crank the handle and stop. If I do it, Ill crank the handle and flip the eccentric lever to cast mode to test free spool.

But in the normal world of fishing, there will usually have counter tension on the spool. For example, spooling line in the reel or fighting a fish. In this case, there will be enough counter tension on the spool and pinion to prevent this slipping of the pinion from occurring because when the spool is turning up and over (line paying out), the directional movement on the helicut teeth pulls the pinion toward the base of the spool shaft. Without this counter tension, even so slightly, will cause the helicut teeth to push the pinion away from the base of the spool shaft. I hope I make sense...

If I pull on the line like a fighting fish, the pinion will not slip off the spool shaft.

This is one of those issues that the customer will make a comment about, but in reality, it will not fail while fishing.... $:-\$

franky · February 04, 2020, 01:11:47 AM

Quote from: Alto Mare on February 04, 2020, 01:05:20 AM
Just for the heck of it, back the left side baring and screw in the right side about a turn.
Make sure the spool has a little side by side movement.
Also back all bridge screws just a turn, work the reel a couple of times and snug the bridge screws... not crazy tight.

ok, Ill give it a try. I cant turn the right side bearing cap because the cortez plate does not have an adjustable bearing cap. The side plate is one piece aluminum. Only way to play that is from the inside.

Alto Mare · February 04, 2020, 01:22:52 AM

Sorry I forgot to mention, you will need a shim on the right side.
Tom might have included it with the kit.
Sal

franky · February 04, 2020, 02:01:25 AM

Even with the shim on the right side, no success. Still slipping.

Alto Mare · February 04, 2020, 02:15:22 AM

Maybe someone else could help.
All I could do from here is to have the reel in hand.
Of course I wouldn't mind checking it out for you and make sure it would work.
Just in case you did decide, your cost would be shipping only.

Good luck Frank!

Sal

franky · February 04, 2020, 02:53:18 AM

Ok, got it.

Thanks Sal for the help and offer.

I just threw in the towel and simply changed the pinion. It worked. No slippage.

In looking back, the customer tried to install it himself and the bridge screws for the double dog bridge was too long. He tried to install everything and did not screw in the bridge screws securely to avoid scratching the inside of the new red spool. Well, in doing so, the bridge was loose and moving around while he was reeling the reel. This most likely caused the pinion and main gear to be misaligned and therefore created uneven wear on the pinion.

I cut all the bridge screws to be flush with the bridge plate when securely fastened in.

Now with everything aligned, and a new pinion installed, problem solved. I can crank the handle really fast and stop on the dime. No slippage.

Sometimes the hardest part is I try to fix a problem assuming all the parts given to me are okay, especially when the reel and all its internal parts are supposedly new. Not fully knowing what another person did prior to me having the reel makes things challenging. After several attempts of fixing, sometimes the solution is just changing the part. $:-\$ Well, I tried....

Thanks again Sal and Alan.