A success story, the importance of persistence.

[JasonGotaProblem]

Quite a lot of talk has happened in the daiwa board about my SS700, and its a great little reel. There had always been what I can best describe as a "tight spot" where the handle was much harder to turn (but felt only when cranking slowly) when the spool was near the top of the run, not terrible, but like van staal tight for 60° of the circle, that I could not eliminate no matter how hard i tried. Well since I'm about to build a custom rod for it, I decided im damn sure not building a custom rod for a reel that doesn't spin right. So I made up my mind that if I couldn't fix it then the rod I build would be for a different reel, and I needed to know that asap.

So i went in, disassembled, cleaned, and lubed the worm thinking maybe something was caught in there. No change. So I polished every single spot where a moving part touches the frame. No change. Then I found it. The bearing for the far side of the main gear stuck out just a hair from its home in the frame, and the worm's slider rubbed against it on the way past. So I took out the bearing, and there was a tiny, but big enough, casting imperfection that prevented it from seating all the way in. So I excitedly reassembled the reel, and it was worse than before! Now it was tight across the entire rotation not just the top. I felt gutted.

Well after going back in and checking literally everything, it turns out the pinion has a bit more vertical play than it should. And as a result it can deflect ever so slightly, enough that the spool shaft rubs the whole way up and down. So the solution was to put the spool shaft in place and keep it there while installing the pinion, bearing, and retainer plate so that it goes in with perfect alignment. Remove the shaft, put on the rotor, finger tighten the nut, then reinstall the spool shaft before tightening the nut.

And it worked! This thing spins like a champ now! I call BS on people saying this old-design reel can't ever be as smooth as a modern reel. With all the refinement I did while not understanding the problem, this thing is incredible now, every bit as smooth as my BG. And if it weren't for that reoccurring problem I never would have done any of that, and the reel would have remained decent but not amazing. And frankly it was perfectly fishable when it was still rubbing. But I decided that the quality I wanted from the rig was worth the effort I'd have to put in (probably 6 hours this week alone, all of which could have been spent sleeping), and I couldn't be happier with the result.

Sorry for the long post but this was last night and I'm still over the moon thrilled about what I accomplished.

[oldmanjoe]

   Perseverance pays off.   

[Mic]

BULLdog

Just because Plan A didn't work, doesn't mean that Plan B, C, X, Q13......whatever, won't work.

Life is what you make it. Glad you didn't quit.

I like old reels myself

Mic

[Rancanfish]

You get an 'ATTABOY' for sticking with it.  I still have an old baitcaster that has new everything but it is just not as smooth as it's twin sister's.  I'll go back in as you did and keep looking.

[alantani]

So many times I've had an odd problem that required multiple teardowns.  Sometimes I'd put it back together and the problem would just go away.  We've all been there. Glad you figured it out!!!

[Brewcrafter]

That's great news Jason!  And we all have learned something from your tenacity!  Great job! - john

[JasonGotaProblem]

Thank you everyone. I decided to go toss a lure around a bit on the way home from work to test it out. Man, I barely recognize the action. this is what I was looking for. I'm not gonna go on about it for fear of jinxing myself. Now I just gotta build a fitting rod for it and I'm set.

[Bill B]

Bravo Zulu brother....Bill