penn 30s international II rebuild

[Mark D]

Alan .. what you are doing here is great. You are absolutely correct when you say gear failures happen and teaching these guys to rebuild their equipment is priceless. To add to this , not only should you know your fishing equipment inside and out , but know your boat and running gear as well. Hats off to you for a job well done ....


Mark

[capt crunch]

Thanks Alan...I just did my 50VSW and I would probably never have tried it without your encouragement and help!

[keith91]

Same here capt crunch. I have done 2 Penn 50SWs, 1 Penn 50VSW, and 1 Penn 30VSW so far. I will be doing 2 Avet Pro 30s next week.
Would not have attempted without the help of Alan.

My dad has never serviced or maintained any of his 50+ reels...just buys new ones if needed...but his are all spinning or casting reels. These "big boy" offshore reels are too expensive to not take care of them.

He does have 2 Penn 114Hs that he has used for years for trolling without any maintenance. We will probably need to use as well offshore and I am not looking forward to trying to tear these apart since the salt build-up on the outside is crazy.

Kg

[alantani]

the dog spring is the most important. there's a post way back on the 113h and 114h. it should get you through ok.

[scubasteven]

Alantani, Is this process any different with a 50 TW? My bearings do not seem like they come out of the spool. Am I doing something wrong here? Also the covers on the bearings are made of nylon not steel, do I have an older model or something? Do you recommend applying the drag grease to the older style drag washer, and if so do I need to clean it with the brake parts cleaner first? I purchased this reel used and it was rode hard and put up wet (based on the salt and corrosion! ). Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks,


Scuba

[alantani]

you're not going to like most of these answers, but here goes.

remove the ratchet plate and the retaining ring will fall right out. it's the retaining ring that holds the bearing in. you may also have a spool with a really "tight" fit so that the bearing is basically "pressed" in. this could be very bad, because you might have to pound to get it out. it you do that, you could damage the bearing.

you also have the older cheap bearings. i have personally found these to be the worst of the worst if you are looking for 30 seconds of freespool. they may, however, prove perfectly adequate if all you need is 3 seconds of freespool. how badly do you need this spool to spin?

i hope you still have a coarse woven ht-100 drag washer. if that is the case, rub it down vigorously with a clean rag, apply a generous coat of shimano drag grease to the washer, including the edges, wipe off all the excess and you're good to go. don't spray it down with carb or brake cleaner. i think the solvents will mess everything up. do you have an "automobile disc brake" style drag washer? if so, call pennparts.com and get a new washer.

the kid at the local tackle shop told me something last week. he said that "lime away" works great for cleaning the corrosion off of penn fishing reel parts. HEY, IT WORKED!!!!!! they sparkled after only an hour.

well, it's midnight now, and i'm drunk. i will check back with you on monday.

[peters44]

Alantani, I love your informative posts. I just purchased 2 used Penn 30 TW and have some questions.
How do I tell if the drag washer should be replaced?
After removing the pressed in shields from the bearing do I reinstall them or don't put them back at all?
The thrust washers are dirty. Do I just clean them or replace?
Thank's again for your help.
Peter

[ant1]

Next time,try providing a little more detail !
























LOL Really,that was very informative,thanks.

[peters44]

Alantani, I just finished (3) 30 TW and (2) 50 SW with your help. I took these reels completely apart and cleaned as you have shown. When I got to my last 50 SW I found something different. At the bottom of the pinion gear there was a small copper washer which none of the other reels had and two of the thrust washers were on the other end of the spool towards the drags. All 50s are 6-8 years old and one was purchased 1 year from the other two. Did Penn just put two of the thrust washers at the wrong end of the pinion gear?
Thanks Peter.

[alantani]

i've seen a couple of those. hard to believe that a thousanths of an inch would make much of a difference, but i left them in anyway and the reels seemed to work just fine. so i think they were put there for a reason and are where they are supposed to be. how's that for round about reasoning?!

[picua]

Alan, thanks for a great post.

One question, I remeber reading that the international 20 series are basically a narrower 30 series but same inner gears, can you correct me on this? If it's true, can the 20T be brought to a reliable 30# of drag throughout a season? (thinking 80 spectra here).

[Jim31]

Question regarding the 30s. I have 4 of them, all of the levers are stiff. Not like my 50VSW which is real smooth. Is there anything I can do to them?
Thanks.

[alantani]

the drag washers are the same, so the answer should be "yes." if you are serious about using a 20T, consider getting the reel converted over to a 2 speed and having it blue printed to accomodate 100# spectra and an 80# topshot. you can get more info at http://cals2speed.com/. cal sheets is the one true master.

[alantani]

Jim31 - 12/10/2006 5:30 PM Question regarding the 30s. I have 4 of them, all of the levers are stiff. Not like my 50VSW which is real smooth. Is there anything I can do to them? Thanks.

the higher your drag setting at strike, the stiffer the lever is going to be. that much is unavoidable. but you are correct in that some of the levers can seem stiffer than others. usually the cause is a cam (key #19) and cam follower (key #141) that are gummed up. from this view of the inside of the right side plate, you can barely see the right side plate bearing and cam assembly. the spool shaft is sticking straight into that bearing. to avoid tearing apart the entire right side plate, try applying a little corrosion x around the cam assembly from the inside.



you can also dribble a little corrosion x down around the base of the lever and the work that lever back and forth to see if it loosens up a little. do this with the preset knob backed off all the way.



if the corrosion x solves your problem, then you can avoid tearing apart the entire right side plate. try this first and let us know. alan

[Jim31]

Alan, I will try this tonight. I have a bunch of reels to do this winter. And if I get good at it, my buddy wants me to do his too. I will let you know if it works. Otherwise, expect a PM.
Thanks,
Jim

[alantani]

pretty soon you'll be finding boxes of reels on the front porch, with a 6-pack, a $20 and a note that says "thanks for taking care of these, 'ol buddy. i'll pick them up this weekend."

[Jim31]

Alan, Not sure if I will be taking on any outside reels just yet.

A few questions.
Can I mix the Cals grease with the grease already on the reels or must I wipe completely clean?
Do you soak parts in Lime-Away? I was thinking of setting up three small buckets. One filled with lime away, one with freshwater, then the last with corrosion x.

I can see already I will be building a work table for reel maintanence. Each tool needs its own spot because your hands get very greasy and picking through tools can be a mess.

[alantani]

we've created another monster......

welcome to the club! to clean reel parts, by far the best thing is an ultrasonic cleaner. i bought one from a local dentist. here's something similar from ebay....



just load it up with green soap (not liquid arm and hammer laundry detergent) and use the 1 hour timer function (don't just leave it on) and you're all set. if you screw up, your reel will look like this....



if you want to remove a little light corrosion, you can try brushing on CLR, which is a phosphoric acid gel. let it soak for an hour, the use a toothbrush to clean up crust that is still stuck. also, a hard soft plastic scraper work well for stubborn spots of corrosion without badly scratching up the chrome or anodizing.

a mini grease gun is a "must have" item. tool caddys are helpful as well. keep us posted. alan

http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/t...ode=1#M1164424

[Jim31]

Alan,
The bearing cap. You remove it with a pen knife, is there a better way. I think I destroyed mine getting it out. Or, am I supposed to replace these each time?

[Jim31]

Oh, and that mini grease gun. I filled a West System syringe and grease came out the base, not the tip. Guess I will have to get a mini gun. But can I fill it with the Cals?