tld 20/25

Started by alantani, December 07, 2008, 05:11:22 PM

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alantani

for spool bearings, you'll need to oil then to keep freespool.  you likely won't need infinite freesspool, so anything is fine.  for non-spool bearings, i like to pack them with grease, but i have a special grease packer.  any grease is fine.  you could also use corrosion x on all of the bearings if you wish.  it's less important what you use, just as long as you use something. 
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

alantani

had a chance to go through four brand new shimano tld 20 single speed reels and was reminded how much i really appreciate these reels.  like all things, there is good and bad. 

well, the bad first - the design of these reels is ancient.  you could almost argue that they would be better off in a museum than out on the water.  these graphite frames will crack under too much pressure, the anodized and painted parts corrode, drag range is necessarily low straight out of the box, the handle grip is so small that it borders on criminal, and the stupidest thing is that they still have a canvas drag washer in this reel when the rest of the world uses greased carbon fiber!!! ugghhhh!!!!

the good things - the frame and right side plate are graphite so they won't corrode.  fade?  yes, but not corrode and you can fix the fading with a greasy toothbrush.  the important parts like the reel seat and gears are stainless steel.  the power to weight ratio is fine for straight 30, 40 or 50 pound mono.  not everyone in the world can fish with braid or even wants to.  the price point is great, even with upgrades.  and they are among the easiest reels in the world to work on.  how many times have people asked me about "the best reel," and how many times has my answer been that the best reel is the one that you can service yourself? 

in more modern "4/0" sized reels like the makaira 20 and international vsx/visx 20, we would be looking at 500 yards of 80-100 pound braid, 25 yards of 80 pound fluoro, 25 pounds of drag at strike and 40 pounds of drag at full.  these reels will likely be used for northern california albacore trolling, so schoolie fish that might average 15-25 pounds.  these reels were loaded with 270 yards of straight 50 pound mono. 







because of the graphite frame, we are limited to 20 pounds of drag at full.  with straight 50 pound mono, that means 15 pounds of drag at strike.  keeping the bellevilles in their original configuration of "(())" and just shimming the drag pressure plate, we get just that!







essential upgrades for this reel are a greased carbon fiber drag washer (Carbontex from smoothdrag.com) and a signature handle.  depending on how heavy you want to fish this reel, you are looking at straight 30, 40 or 50 pound mono.  keep the drag pressure under 20 pounds and you will have zero risk of catastrophic frame failure.  do an initial service and you will have a reel that should serve you for years with minimal maintenance.  even if you do have problems down the line, you should be looking at bearings only, and those are easy to replace.  just fish them within specs and you should have years of reliable service. 

john, your reels are ready!!!!



send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

conchydong

I still fish the single speed TLD's off of South Florida for light trolling. We typically do not catch large fish (50lbs+)here on the troll and those reels fill the role perfectly.  I fill the 15s with 20lb. mono and fill the 20s with 30lb. mono and set the strike drags at 6lbs and 9lbs respectively. Like Alan said, EZ PZ to work on. Still would like if Tiburon or Tom would make a aluminum frame but not really necessary.

Hardy Boy

Alan: I find that the new TLD's come with almost no grease in them from the factory. I tell guys to get the new one's serviced and the ones I see are dry and the ones that do'n't come in seize up before the summer is over. Must be a grease shortage over seas??? ???


Cheers:


Todd
Todd

fishyaf

#199
Hello,

I'm having an issue with my TLD 25.  The Drag Control lever doesn't move freely anymore.  It will loosen up if I back off the Pre-Program Dial all the way but when I tighten it again the Drag Control Lever will lock up again.  Anyone else have this problem?  I've taken it apart a couple times to see if anything is wrong.  Does my Lever Shaft Body look bad?




Scott

alantani

the lever has to be in the "free" position when you assemble everything.  try this.....  remove the preset knob, spring and the brass cam, leaving the lever in place.  make sure that the hole in the cam is square on both sides and not rounded off.   then push the lever back to the free position, install the cam so that it nests into the level, add spring, then screw on the preset knob and screw it in almost all the way.  now ease the lever forward.  too tight?  back off on the preset knob until you can push the lever forward with moderate ease, set the drag with a scale and i think you should be good. 
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

fishyaf

#201
I tried that with no luck unfortunately.  Made a quick youtube video showing the issue.



Scott

alantani

is the hole in the brass cam still square or has it rounded off?
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

SoCalAngler

First yes the spool should move to the right. When you tighten the preset knob that pulls the spool over to put more pressure onto the drag plate.

Second it looks like after you moved the lever into gear you then tightened the preset knob some more. The preset should only be tightened in freespool and not when the reel is in gear. This is true for all lever drag reels.

SoCalAngler

Also you look pretty aggressive when you are turning the preset. What I mean by that is I have a brand new in box TLD 20. With none to very little drag at the strike setting, like less than 1 lb, when I put the reel into freespool and turn the preset one full turn I'm getting somewhere around 6-7 lbs of drag pressure. I'm not really sure as I don't have any line on the reel to do a real test. I'm just guessing at the lb range by feel. But, in the video it looks like you make several turns of the preset after you reset the reel in freespool. Turning the preset that much you may be setting the the drag way over specs and that may be the reason when you try to put the reel back into gear the lever will not push forward, the drag is set too high.

Try setting the reels drag at say 10 lbs at the strike setting. Put the reel into freespool adjust the preset and measure the drag at strike. If you need more or less drag put the reel into again into freespool adjust the preset, move the lever to strike and remeasure. Do this until you get 10 lbs at strike. Then test the lever and it should operate properly if everything is right inside of the reel.

I don't know what lb test you plan to use on that reel but on my lever drag reels I set my drag between 1/4 to 1/3rd of my lines breaking strength at strike. That way I use the strike setting as my main setting position and then adjust the lever if I want more or less drag while fighting a fish.

Jim Fujitani

Quote from: SoCalAngler on November 28, 2020, 06:46:39 PM
...
Second, it looks like after you moved the lever into gear you then tightened the preset knob some more. The preset should only be tightened in freespool and not when the reel is in gear. This is true for all lever drag reels.

This!!

 
Quote from: SoCalAngler on November 28, 2020, 07:58:33 PM
...in the video it looks like you make several turns of the preset after you reset the reel in freespool. Turning the preset that much you may be setting the the drag way over specs and that may be the reason when you try to put the reel back into gear the lever will not push forward, the drag is set too high.

Try setting the reels drag at say 10 lbs at the strike setting. Put the reel into freespool adjust the preset and measure the drag at strike. If you need more or less drag put the reel into again into freespool adjust the preset, move the lever to strike and remeasure. Do this until you get 10 lbs at strike. Then test the lever and it should operate properly if everything is right inside of the reel.

I don't know what lb test you plan to use on that reel but on my lever drag reels I set my drag between 1/4 to 1/3rd of my lines breaking strength at strike. That way I use the strike setting as my main setting position and then adjust the lever if I want more or less drag while fighting a fish.

And this!!

Well-explained.  

fishyaf

Quote from: SoCalAngler on November 28, 2020, 07:58:33 PM
Also you look pretty aggressive when you are turning the preset. What I mean by that is I have a brand new in box TLD 20. With none to very little drag at the strike setting, like less than 1 lb, when I put the reel into freespool and turn the preset one full turn I'm getting somewhere around 6-7 lbs of drag pressure. I'm not really sure as I don't have any line on the reel to do a real test. I'm just guessing at the lb range by feel. But, in the video it looks like you make several turns of the preset after you reset the reel in freespool. Turning the preset that much you may be setting the the drag way over specs and that may be the reason when you try to put the reel back into gear the lever will not push forward, the drag is set too high.

Try setting the reels drag at say 10 lbs at the strike setting. Put the reel into freespool adjust the preset and measure the drag at strike. If you need more or less drag put the reel into again into freespool adjust the preset, move the lever to strike and remeasure. Do this until you get 10 lbs at strike. Then test the lever and it should operate properly if everything is right inside of the reel.

I don't know what lb test you plan to use on that reel but on my lever drag reels I set my drag between 1/4 to 1/3rd of my lines breaking strength at strike. That way I use the strike setting as my main setting position and then adjust the lever if I want more or less drag while fighting a fish.

It appears to be the cam that's the issue after a talk with Alan.  It's rounded on one side but square on the other.  Tried to post a picture of it but my imgur skills apparently suck!

You say to put it in free spool and then adjust the preset knob.  I was under the impression that you're supposed to adjust the preset while at the strike position until you reach your desired drag setting. 

boon

Quote from: fishyaf on November 29, 2020, 06:28:45 PM
You say to put it in free spool and then adjust the preset knob.  I was under the impression that you're supposed to adjust the preset while at the strike position until you reach your desired drag setting. 

Broadly speaking you should never touch the preset without first putting the reel in freespool.

whalebreath

Quote from: boon on November 29, 2020, 08:37:06 PM
...you should never touch the preset without first putting the reel in freespool.
^ this

RowdyW

When in doubt read the instructions then reread them again & again until you really understand them.