Penn 112h with a shredded SS main gear

Started by Lane Grant, July 17, 2020, 02:14:14 AM

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Lane Grant

Hi all,

First post so bear with me. I recently caught a 40 lb blue fin tuna on my Penn 112h and shredded the stainless steel main gear during the fight. I have upgraded a number of reels following the instructions on this website (thanks Alan Tani and all the innovators that consistently post here). All the other stainless steel parts held up nicely. I did install Bryan's 5+1 drag stack and applied some stopping power to the fish. Im thinking I applied too much drag and the main gear teeth couldn't handle it. The pinion gear teeth seem fine but I will replace both. Is this a common problem and is there a max drag that these after market main gears are rated for?

nelz

Wow, that's some serious damage. Is it just me, or does that damage pattern look odd? To me it looks like the gears were misaligned or something.

What ratio is that gear set?

RowdyW

#2
Who is the manufacturer? Is it that company on ebay with the cheap gears made of softer ss & not heat treated? More info needed.       Rudy

Rocket Dog

#3
Well, way to go landing the fish and testing your "gear" so to speak. How long did it take to land?

Lane Grant

Thanks Rocket Dog. Took me one lap around the party boat and about 10 minutes to land. Right before that I landed a 20 lber and the gears seemed to be operating smoothly. It wasn't until I was a couple of minutes into fighting the second fish that I noticed a rough grind that turned into an audible clunking sound when I cranked the handle.

I bought the gear from Mystic Parts and it's a 5:1.

Am I to assume that this isn't normal wear and tear?

alantani

yeah, it looks like the gears were misaligned.  you might be better off with standard penn 4:1 gears.  at least they will be cheaper.  there is a limit to what any of these gears can handle.   you may be pushing them too hard.   :-\
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

Alto Mare

#6
I think you did pretty good landing that fish, I know how those little Blue Fin put up a fight.
Your main gear doesn't appear to be heat treated by the way.

As for numbers, Penn rated their gears, same size as these above at 17lb. Max
I'm comfortable saying that the ProChallenger custom gears could be pushed a little more when well equipped with other components, figure around 22lb max.
I have personally pushed the ProChallenger's gears to 30lb, but that was only for testing.
A customized 112h, filled with goodies should handle 22lb.
Now of course how you fish your reel has a lot to do with it.

Alan makes a good point, you might be better off with 4:1 ratio.

Sal
Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.

Lane Grant

Thanks for the info. I'll try the 4:1 and make sure its from pro challenger this time. I did push that reel a little farther than I would my "stock reels". I didn't max the drag out completely but I got pretty close.

Quick question: what could lead the gears to be misaligned? They seemed to operate pretty smoothly prior to the trip and even during the first fish fight.

Alto Mare

Quote from: Lane Grant on July 17, 2020, 04:12:31 AM
Thanks for the info. I'll try the 4:1 and make sure its from pro challenger this time. I did push that reel a little farther than I would my "stock reels". I didn't max the drag out completely but I got pretty close.

Quick question: what could lead the gears to be misaligned? They seemed to operate pretty smoothly prior to the trip and even during the first fish fight.
The 4 to 1 will definitely help!

This is just my take on your question.
Yes gears could be misaligned, but I don't believe that is the case here.

When gears are under a lot of stress they want to pull away from each other and that's what happened here.
Your gears felt smooth prior to the trip, probably because you didn't have the star cranked Far enough, things change when under stress.
Sal
Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.

SoCalAngler

#9
Wow a 40 lb BFT did that to a gear? If so something is very wrong. Even with the drag way over tightened the line should of snapped way before it mangled a gear like that.

Edit: What line were you using? Maybe if it was like 80 lb braid to 60 lb mono/fluorocarbon with the drag to tight I'm guessing then that could happen.

Lane Grant


RowdyW

Is it possible that the gears were not fully engaged? Did the clutch lever get partially knocked out of gear in the heat of the fight? The main gear looks like it only has damage half way across the teeth. 30# line will break way before the gear will be damaged. A pure stock 112H can handle 30# line without any damage.

oc1

You should have a frame shop mount those gears along with a photo of the fish.

It seems like when something is going to give and the gears move away from other, there has to be misalignment.  If a gear moves away then the shaft it is on is being flexed or bent.

I would have expected to see the teeth bend and break before the gears pushed themselves away from each other.  Or, maybe the dog distorting and slipping off the ratchet.  This is very instructive.  Pushing something until it breaks is always instructive.
-steve

sabaman1

Did you buy the matching pinion for that gear ?
JIM

Bryan Young

Quote from: Lane Grant on July 17, 2020, 04:12:31 AM
Thanks for the info. I'll try the 4:1 and make sure its from pro challenger this time. I did push that reel a little farther than I would my "stock reels". I didn't max the drag out completely but I got pretty close.

Quick question: what could lead the gears to be misaligned? They seemed to operate pretty smoothly prior to the trip and even during the first fish fight.

If you purchased them from Mystic Reel Parts, those gears are likely ProChallenger gears.

I think ProChallenger came out with a different set of gears for the 112H than the jigmaster because of similar issues with the 112H gear diameters  the tolerance stack up become more critical when you are running higher gear ratios because of the fiber and shallower gear teeth, and the 112H gear sets were slightly different than the jigmaster.

Congratulations on the BFT.
:D I talk with every part I send out and each reel I repair so that they perform at the top of their game. :D