Shimano TR1000LD Charter Special misbehaving!

[mingle]

Hi guys,

Firstly a big "Hello" from Melbourne, Australia - stinking hot outside at the moment (about 100 degrees on the old scale), so it's much better to be sitting here at the keyboard, infront of the air-conditioner! :-)

Secondly, I've just came into possession of a nice second-hand Shimano Charter Special TR1000LD (lever drag) reel. Looks in good shape - no corrosion evident, almost no external wear. Bearing could be on their way out - I think they sound a bit noisy, but since I've never used one of these reels, I'm unsure...

However, it has one annoying problem that I'd like a bit of advice on: If I have the drag adjusted (via the large plastic knob/screw next to the handle) to anything other than a fairly light setting, the free-spool doesn't want to engage.

If I 'flick the drag-lever into the free-spool position, it sometimes (maybe 1 out of 10 tries) will click into free-spool, but most of the time I have to turn the plastic screw forward (clockwise) a small amount, then there is an audible 'click' and I can see the spool move left slightly as the free-spool mode engages...

Does anyone know what the cause of the problem could be?

I'm thinking of taking it apart to have a look, but since this is my first lever-drag, is there anything I should be aware of before taking the plunge?

Thanks for any comments or suggestions!

Cheers,

Mike.

[mingle]

Hi,

Just noticed the rebuild tutorial tucked away on the site...

I'll have a look now!

Cheers,

Mike.

[alantani]

thanks, mike.  can you let us know? 

[mingle]

Hi Alan,

Well, thanks to your excellent tutorial, pulling the reel apart was a breeze (I'm used to old Penns and Ocean City's!).

I couldn't see anything wrong - looked like it'd never been apart and all the bearings were nice and clean, and the drag washer was spotless.

Then I started cleaning all of the parts (it's a habit I've got - clean EVERYTHING!), when I noticed the bottom of the brass insert on the lever shaft body (#116) was looking very chewed-up. Here, have a look - I'm assuming it's meant to be nice and flat with a square hole!



I guess the twist of the Pre-Program Dial that I had to do to engage freespool was enough to get the mainshaft to slide into the mangled hole in the Lever Shaft Body?

I think I might be the culprit here, as I didn't know how to adjust the drag (the reel came with no instructions), so I was twisting and levering without a care in the world... I think I forced the drag lever after adjusting the drag while it was in the strike position... Hmm...

I'll get onto Shimano tomorrow and see if I can get a replacement...

I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers,

Mike.

[alantani]

that's it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mingle]

Hi Alan,

The spare parts arrived and I put the reel back together - after a complete strip-down service - and all is fine.

Hopefully I won't hit the same problem again, but that does seem to be a potential weak-point in the design of the reel - or maybe it's just me?!? :-)

Thanks for the info and inspiration!

Cheers,

Mike.

[CaptDavDavis01]

Mike, as with any lever drag reel, always adjust your drag with the reel in freespool. Then test your drag pressure at the strike setting. Turning the preset in "gear" (not free spool) can cause the brass to deform like your did.

Those TR1000's are great little reels, I use mine for just about everything.


Danny

[alantani]

yeah, sorry, mike.  we're going to have to chalk this one up to "operator error!!!!!!"   

[mingle]

Ha Ha! I'm prepared to take the blame on this one - I was cursing the reel at first, wishing I'd kept my bullet-proof Penn 320GTi (which was actually a little too big for my intended use)...

One final question I do have:

I gave the reel a complete clean, regrease and rebuild (it was actually pretty clean inside, with no wear) and noticed that the drive/pinion gear noise is quite noticeable when winding the handle, not in a bad way - it doesn't sound like there's anything wrong - is this usual for these reels?

Do I maybe need to put more grease on the gears to quieten it a bit?

I was even more noticeable when I had it attached to a hollow glass Ugly Stik rod...

Cheers,

Mike.

[alantani]

compare it to a new reel.  if it is obviously different, then you have some gear noise due to damage sustained during use.  when you have alot of pressure on the gear teeth, they tend to deform slightly.  that is what makes the noise.  to get rid of it, you have to replace the gears.  when you do that, always replace them as a set.  do not replace only the main or only the pinion gear.  they both have to be replaced.  a damaged old gear will quickly damage a new one, and you're back to where you started.  alan

[mingle]

Hi Alan,

I'm not able to compare to a new one, but it's definitely noticeable, but not REALLY bad...

I checked with the local Shimano service centre and the new pinion and main gears will cost about AU$ 65! (which is around $US 58)

Do you happen to have these spares at a better price than that? :-)

Cheers,

Mike.

[BigT]

Not sure about the prices, Mingle but I've just ordered a bunch of parts for a reel from Mikes Reel Repairs and the prices were better than here in Aus. May have to wait a while for delivery though.


Cheers, BigT

[alantani]

ugggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!  i think i paid $25 for that same gear set.  if that's the case, you guys are really getting ripped off!  if you need me to ship anything to you, let me know.  those prices are crazy!  alan

[akfish]

I'll bet at least a quarter of the Charter Specials I see in my shop need new gears. I think that's because the graphite (read: plastic) frame torques under very much pressure and causes the gears to misalign. The same thing happens on the single speed TLD series reels; the two speed TLDs have a much beefier frame and don't have this problem. This is a main reason why very few charter operators fish them any more.

[Bruce]

Hello all

         I have 3 Charter Specials and while serviceing the older 2000,( I think older because it says ( Triton ) Charter Special,and the reels that I see in tutorials and the schematics have slight differences ). Such as this has no # 190 brake collar ring  ,pins or blocks,the drag adjust lever does not have the large brass insert.
          I got ths used a couple of years ago and from what I recall it was from the Northwest and I think was used to crank Halibut or some large rocks off the bottom.
           The frame had cut marks from line running over the rear of the spool and out the frame somehow, up to 3/32 in. deep .I was able to lightly sand and polish it back to a  decent finished look.
          The add said makes a small grinding noise when cranked and of course the photo did not show the frame damage. Well I thought no problem , new bearing and problem solved. Not so.
         The bearings were unshielded cleaned inspected and lubed. Excellent! Reassemble Turn crank handle wow works great no noise , Pull against dog then crank , Again grinding noise.  On carefull inspection found that the pin the dog pivots on would tip back about 10 degrees allowing main gear to rub the corner of post. At first I thought it was rubbing the pinion bearing. This is certainly a case where two dogs would be beneficial ,but I can`t see any room to add one.
          You would not think with the stock drag that enough pressure could be put on that pin to tip it back , but it did. Has anyone else had this problem?
          I am giong to clean it up and epoxy the pin in the sideplate and add a small piece of metal to the sidplate on the side it gets pushed toward as a buffer.
          I used new carbon fiber drag disc so with even more drag potential it needs to be fixed.
           Is there a schematic anywhere of this specific model?
                           Thanks   Buzz