Penn 50W - Immediate Drag

[Marlinmate]

Of course....the last of 6 reels is giving me grief.

Stock Belleville configuration of ()().   

The pre-set is backed all the way out.....unscrewed

As soon as I push the drag lever up....I'm getting TONS of drag.   There is no "very little" drag settings.

What causes this?

[Donnyboat]

Possibly one of your bearings is not totally in place, especially the tale plate bearing, good luck, cheers Don.

[Marlinmate]

Started playing with it again.

put the springs like this ((((....and didn't have any freespool.


put them like this ((() and got it to work.

Maybe the springs are thicker than normal and in the stock config, ramp up the drag too fast??

[Tightlines667]

Yea.  This seems likely.  Some of the newer washers from Penn are thicker than the old ones.  You can order thinner washers, or just change the config to create some space.  Some of the newer bearings are also a slightly tigher fit.