Reel nut not gripping. Suggestions?

[Functional]

Had a fish on last night and the reel nut lost grip and the reel came off (lost a nice frog fish because of it). Rod is a diawa procyon casting. The threads on both look fine but it will not tighten to a lock and flexes and skips threads. When I fiddle with it enough and get it to grip any pressure on the reel makes it pop. 

 

I'm out of warranty so any thoughts on how to get this thing working or am I SOL?

[MN Fisher]

Plumber's teflon tape...put 4-5 wraps around the threads where the nut will be.

[Functional]

13 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Plumber's teflon tape...put 4-5 wraps around the threads where the nut will be.

I'll give it a shot. I thought maybe with the slickness of Teflon tape it wouldn't stay tight. 

[Deleted account]

57 minutes ago, Functional said:

I'll give it a shot. I thought maybe with the slickness of Teflon tape it wouldn't stay tight. 

 

That will probably only make things worse. Get some no stretch tape of the same width as the nut (or cut it to size) and wind a couple of layers tightly around it, then try it and see if that works (don't over tighten) if it does, and I suspect it will, the "proper" repair is to replace the nut, though not cost effective in this case. I have a couple of rods where this temporary repair has been going strong for years. On some salt water rods, I've put some vaseline on the threads, then wound some braid tightly around the nut and epoxied over it, and that too has worked fine (don't forget to clean up the threads).

[MediumMouthBass]

I have a backup spinning rod with this issue (mine will twist down, stay in place, but every 30 minutes or so i have to retighten....), teflon tape as suggested above was always the recommendation to fix it. Havent tried it because im not sure how much trust i would have in it, i was thinking about just using some loctite. Maybe throw a zip tie on it as a secondary measure.

But i dont clean my spinning reels, so there would be no need to remove it from that rod. Using loctite on that would be fine for me, but probably wouldnt be want you are wanting.

 

 

If its a backup or additional rod you carry trying some teflon should be fine, if its your main rod you might want to look into getting the issue fixed rather than working around it.

[Functional]

It's my main frog rod.

 

I put some tape under the reel seat legs and on top of the back leg to sit in the grips reel seat more snug. I wrapped a ton of Teflon on the threads and it seems to hold tight so far. Overall though everything is just sloppy on this rods reel seat. I'll have to fish it and see how it does with load and repetition. 

 

Backup plan is to wipe some wax on the inside of the reel nut and use devcon/marinetex/jbweld and cover the seat threads and screw the nut on. I'll let everything harden and the wax should be like a release agent and let it unscrew. Hopefully that gives me a durable enough thread that engages better. 

 

The nut itself is very flexible though and I can feel it flex to slip over the threads when it no longer wants to grip. Maybe a wrap of fiberglass would help too? Going to turn into an experiment because otherwise this thing is useless. 

[WRB]

ND Vibratite tape is ideal for reel lock rings, compatible with composite materials. Loctite 242 may not be compatible with composites as it uses  keystone solvents.

Tom

[bulldog1935]

You mentioned the rod, but haven't meantioned the reel.  

The only time I've had this happen was when either the reel foot was too long for the L3 thread engagement on the reel seat, or because the shape of the reel foot didn't engage deep enough into the rear reel seat pocket, producing the same effect.  

The ill result is that the reel seat nut can't engage enough threads to tighten.  

My suggestion is try pushing the reel foot deeper into the rear pocket before you tighten the nut. 

You need 2 fully engaged threads in the nut to prevent it popping open.  

[tholmes]

4 hours ago, WRB said:

ND Vibratite tape is ideal for reel lock rings, compatible with composite materials. Loctite 242 may not be compatible with composites as it uses  keystone solvents.

Tom

 

^What he said. The solvents in Loctite 242 can seriously damage some plastics.

The Vibra-Tite tape is a better option.

 

Tom

[OkobojiEagle]

google "Tennessee handle" for idea...

[WRB]

Tennessee handle on a casting rod?

Tom

[OkobojiEagle]

Taping over the locking nut and around the reel seat seems like a plausible  solution when all others have been exhausted.

 

oe

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Sounds like the reel foot is a little small for the seat. I’d put a couple layers of tape on the bottom of the foot and teflon tape on the threads. Locktite won’t do anything for you. 

[Functional]

22 minutes ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Sounds like the reel foot is a little small for the seat. I’d put a couple layers of tape on the bottom of the foot and teflon tape on the threads. Locktite won’t do anything for you. 

This is exactly what I did. So far it feels locked in but I need some load on it to really see. Took 4 layers of tape to get a snug fit.

 

The bottom foot was loose in the pocket and it also seemed like it wouldn't go deep enough to hit the fatter part of the foot. 

 

For those wondering its a Abu Garcia Revo Rocket.

[bulldog1935]

The way I've always shimmed a reel foot is to put a layer of moleskin on the bottom of the reel foot.  

[webertime]

If the tape fix doesn't hold, use an old soda can.  Cut a thin strip and put under or around the foot of the reel, with tape or the can you're essentially just making a shim.  It deforms less and is easier to work with.