Reel Mechanic or other reel junkies

[Jimzee]

Reel Mech or other reel junkies, I have been tearing down all my reels and getting them ready for the upcoming year. Well, to make a long story short, I finally ran out of newer reels and started in on my old ones like the Quantun US 300 pictured below. It and the three others I own have been good reels especially for deep cranks and I wanted to give them some new life. I cleaned them, replaced the bearings inside, and give them longer handles for increased cranking power, as well as a good polish job.

After examining the insides, I noticed the drive shaft wasn't bearing supported on the bottom side. It was only supported by the roller bearing. It this very common in older style reels? It looks like it would cause excess play in the drive shaft causing premature wear and tear. The drive shaft rested in a brass pocket and was held there with an e-clip. The only thing between the two pieces of metal was grease.

The reel appeared to be fine other than 10 years of neglect hence the bearing replacement. I was just amazed this whole reel was operating on two spool bearings and a roller bearing. Fishing reels have come a long way in 15 years.

[burleytog]

Fishing reels have come a long way in 15 years.

You ain't just whistlin' Dixie!  

[Raul]

Reel junkie .......... that gotta be me !  

Back in the old days not many reels had bearings all over the reel like now, most reels only had a couple of bearings and that was it, lots of bushings or in other cases like you pointed out, the only thing between two pieces of metal was grease, in some cases you can slip in a bushing or a shim between the pieces, in other cases the tolerance is infimal and you can 't slip in anything except for lubricant.

You got a pretty nice reel there after all that work you put into it.

[Pencil Pusher]

That's typical round reel construction. The Calcutta 250 has the same 2+1 bearing arrangement. The new Calcutta 200b has 3+1. The Daiwa TD Luna has a 5+1 arrangement, same as the Quantum USA 600 had. So, it's not really a big advancement as far as round reels go in the last 15 years. As far as that goes, the new, OhMigod, I gotta have one $350 Core only has 4+1 bearings.

[Alpster]

Hey Jimzee,

Do you have the schematic for that reel? Also, where did you get the new bearings/parts. I have the same reel and would love to up date it.

Thanks,

Ronnie

[roadwarrior]

As far as that goes, the new, OhMigod, I gotta have one $350 Core only has 4+1 bearings.

I bet it has the "right" ones!

I don't have a Core...yet, but The Bait Monkey thinks I "need" one.   :

8-)

[Pencil Pusher]

Hey Jimzee,

Do you have the schematic for that reel? Also, where did you get the new bearings/parts. I have the same reel and would love to up date it.

Thanks,

Ronnie

Sent you a PM.

[Jimzee]

Hey Jimzee,

Do you have the schematic for that reel? Also, where did you get the new bearings/parts. I have the same reel and would love to up date it.

Thanks,

Ronnie

Ronnie, I do have the schematic for these reels. Here is the schematic for the US 600. It is identical to the 300 with the exception of part 41 which is a drive shaft bearing. The 300 didn't come with this extra bearing. It is a PDF file so you will need Adobe to view it and save it.

http://www.mikesreelrepair.com/schematics/schematic.php?url=Quantum/Quantum%20US600.pdf

The bearings I buy from different places in bulk like Boca Bearings, VXB Bearings and Smooth Drag. Reel Mech sells bearings on his site and I was not aware of this until recently. The bearing size you need is 5x9x3 for the spool. I wanted to put ceramic bearings in but did not have any in that size. I installed ABEC 5 SS bearings and they do spin longer than the older style. That is also because the older ones were probably trashed.

[lubina]

Hey Jimzee,

Do you have the schematic for that reel? Also, where did you get the new bearings/parts. I have the same reel and would love to up date it.

It make sense to replace bearing for bushings in any place you can and they don't have to be high grade except for the spool support ones, which in that reel is probably not significant due to the spool weight and lack of a free spooling design.

I had added bearings to worm shaft on Alphas, Pixy and Zillions with great results.  

[.ghoti.]

Hey Jimzee, what kind of handle is that? I like the knobs.

[Jimzee]

Hey Jimzee, what kind of handle is that? I like the knobs.

It is the last one. I think they are out now. They do feel good on the hands for a $10.00 handle.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_16523_100004001_100000000_100004000_100-4-1

[.RM.]

Looks like you have it in good shape, keep it that way, it's a discontinued reel.....

It this very common in older style reels?  It looks like it would cause excess play in the drive shaft causing premature wear and tear.  The drive shaft rested in a brass pocket and was held there with an e-clip.  The only thing between the two pieces of metal was grease.

That's the way Quantum builds a lot of their reels, heck some of the ones they claim multi bearing packs on are actually bushings set in the mixture.

Tight Lines!!!!

[fathom]

As far as that goes, the new, OhMigod, I gotta have one $350 Core only has 4+1 bearings.

I bet it has the "right" ones!

I don't have a Core...yet, but The Bait Monkey thinks I "need" one. :

you're gonna love it on that 844.

8-)