Penn 330LD

[AlohaDan]

First let me say great board!

Also I have read the tutorial on the GTI series and GLD20/30 series. But the LD mechanism for my 330LD (Penn lists it in with the GTI series) doesn't match.

I have had this 330LD in the shop twice. The drag washer has been replaced as the reel proved very reliable fighting 50# ahi/40# mahi, etc. out of a kayak. But the shop seems befuddled by the LD mechanism. Right now it's difficult to get some serious resistance at full strike. PLUS when returned to "free" to let out line, resistance remains strong enough you have to pull line off by hand.

I've done a search for the 330LD and not found a rebuild for this model or the 20. Your GTI series only covers the star drag. I'm a little shaky interpreting Penn's schematic. Haven't found anything that seems awry.

LD's BTW are great for fighting pelagics out of a kayak as the lever drag enables you to adjust pressure quickly on the fly. Any help on my problem would be appreciated.

[alantani]

yeah, never been a big fan of the 3 series lever drags.  the gls series is close.  you're right, though.  a write up needs to be done on these reels.  i just need the time.......

your reel sounds like the drag washer is stuck against the pressure plate.  the reason for this is that the bearing is probably rusted to the spool shaft.  that is the most common cause.  for a kayak reel, this would not surprise me a bit.  it you open up this reel, you will probably find it also packed with salt.  kayak fishing is tough on lever drag reels.  personally, i'd switch to a star drag reel, something simple like the shimano tld star 15/30.  alan

[AlohaDan]

Thanks Alan

The rusted bearing could be the problem.

Will tear apart and see.

But not giving up LD's for kayak fishing. Fighting a fish and safety aspects take precedence over rust (which I might be able to lick following your other guidelines)

I contimue to dig into the site. amazing amount of data you have here.

[alantani]

yeah, there is probably twice as much stuff that i've written that i've lost track of.  hey, if you can to a tutorial, i'll post it up here!  alan

[AlohaDan]

Well I dug into it. The good thing is I'm learning about the reel and it's parts.

Bad thing (from problem identification) was no rusted bearings to shaft.

But thinking about it the short bushing piece, Penn item 13B spool sleeve
[  http://www.pennreels.com/exp_views/conv/407_330LD_Rev_8.pdf  ], didn't move on the shaft  71L . Is it suppose to? If so do I free it up with WD40, carb cleaner or ?
------------
Fell free to post these non original tips on use of drag in a kayak.

Fighting a big fish like a pelagic in a kayak requires the ability to adjust your drag and be ontop of when to do so. A reason LD's are popularfor many guys in the islands, and elsewhere.

For example the yak itself acts as a drag mechanism. If the fish is pulling line out when your at sunset give the boat a few strokes so it picks up speed in the direction the fish is moving. You can generally get the fish to pull the boat without taking more line.

Also don't forget as line goes out and reel diameter shrinks the drag will increase anyway, resulting more often than not in a sleigh ride.

As you work the fish to the boat (or boat to the fish some say) try slacking the drag off a bit. Frequently as the fish gets closer, like a mahi for example, they will make last minute charges  that would normally allow more line to go out. If you had set it up high earlier there might be enough pull to capsize you. Particularly if you had gotten a bit careless and let the rod point perpendicular to the yak, versus pointing along the center line.

Where to put the initial drag depends a lot on what species your after. For initial hookup for ono (wahoo) it could be higher versus a fish like a mahi that turns the bait before swallowing. In either case you'll have drag adjustments to make after hookup.

Here's a victim of the 330LD in question on 30lb test.

[AlohaDan]

Well freeing the bushing up... didn't help.

Open to any other suggestions.

[reelspeedsouth]

I read this whole thing and I think you may have missed a very important thing.  The 200 and 300 LD have a little plastic wall that the bast of the lever drag sits in.  Penn's Design on this is poor because the corral the base of the lever sits in is weak and after years of use it starts crumbling.  Once the reel is perfectly
serviced iif the corral is broken and they do quite often..  you cannot get the lever drag to work. The symptoms are exactly as the gentleman explained.  The only way to fix it is to buy a new right side plate that has that.  If you go to Mystic Parts and look up the side plate #1 you'll find a picture of what I am talking about.  Most of us miss this nuance and no matter what you do without this intact the lever drag will not work.  I have repaired 3 or 4 of these this year, and do a comparison and look at your side plate.  If the base of the lever drag is not sitting in a little corral as I call it..  your dead meat.  The reel will never work properly...
Believe me!!!