Daiwa nn00X series reel upgrades

[Wolfram M]

Been goofing around with these reels a bit, got some neat things to work. I would say that most of the reels from 1000X to at least the 2600X would be similar.

Like TheFishingHobby has posted before, the 1000X can be upgraded to three ball bearings by replacing the plastic main gear bushings with Type 687 ball bearings, which are 7mm ID, 14mm OD, and 3.5mm thick across the faces. The 1600X and by extension the 1300X can also use these ball bearings, however the end play of the main gear needs to be addressed-a shim washer here or there will make sure the gear mesh stays correct. You will need either a 7mm ID, 10 to 13mm OD, 0.5mm thick shim washer to go between the main gear and the ball bearing, or a 14mm OD, 7 to 10mm ID 0.5mm shim to go between the case and the ball bearing. Alternatively, two shims, 0.25mm thick, will work between the bearing and each side of the housing, and would act as shields to keep debris out of the open ball cages.

In a very similar fashion, the 2600X can be upgraded to three ball bearings by using three of the pinion shaft bearing for that reel. Type 689ZZ double-shielded bearings can be used in all three locations, BUT you must deepen the 14mm counterbore approximately 1mm on each side to get the bearing case to close back up. Alternatively, the main shaft could be turned .5mm on the non-oscillator side, and only the removable sideplate would need counterbored.

Both the 2600X and the 1600X can use a Penn 6-155 drag washer, I used Carbontex replacements in mine. The drag stack on both reels needs 3 carbon washers.

[PacRat]

I've done several of these over the years and it's been a while so I'm foggy on the details. I have never had to mess with shims (maybe I got lucky?). I just measure the plastic bushing and then purchase a bearing of the same size. Sometimes I had to really hunt for the correct size and I had to look outside the box but the results were well worth it.

-Mike

[Wolfram M]

Unfortunately, even the closest standard size ball bearings are slightly off for these reels. The issue mainly comes down to end play on the shaft. You could forgo the shims on the 1300/1600 but as you turn the handle and the gear mesh changes, the feel goes from smooth to grindy to smooth again-a shim in the right place to set the gear mesh properly fixes it. The plastic bushings often had a spring washer and a shim washer with them to take up the slack, however they do get lost easily if you aren't looking for them. Adding in the shim washer to set the minimum gear lash and then fitting the spring washer to the other side smoothed out my 1600, but it still has some end play that I could shim out.

On the 2600X, the next standard size thinner ball bearings would fit, but would have over 40 thousandths of an inch of end play, and the gear mesh between the brass pinion and the Zamak alloy hypoid gear would potentially wear very quickly. I'd rather have a nice tight fit with proper gear tooth clearances than sloppy fit. It is possible to get a "correct" bearing for this application but at the price of two bearings, you could buy 20 reels...

I am a machinist, and used to set up racing engine rear gear sets, which use the same type of gears as these Daiwa reels. Hypoid gearsets require rather exact meshing to not cause serious wear and these gears are a simplified hypoid setup-a little less sensitive to wear, but if you get the gear mesh correct you'd be hard pressed to feel the teeth meshing in the handle. When I shimmed in the 1600X this evening with paper shims, it got *very* smooth, that's when I took a look at how much slop was really there.