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Reel Maintenance 2
The reel won't work!
Reel Maintenance 2 by Tim Kelly
(Summer 2002 Edition)
This is a series of articles to show how to carry out basic maintenance on all ABU round reels. The reel in the pictures is a 6501C4 with a power handle attached. All the reels are basically similar and any variations will be explained in the text.
This article describes what to do when the reel suddenly won’t go back into gear after a cast.
Remove the gearbox side of the reel by undoing the 3 captive screws.
Unscrew the screw holding the plastic nut cover and remove it. Undo the nut remembering that it has a back to front thread.
Remove the circlip by carefully pushing one arm of it with the screwdriver while holding the other arm in place with your fingernail. Try to keep another finger on the circlip while you’re doing this or you will spend hours trying to find it on the carpet!
Remove the handle and the washer underneath it.
Undo the star drag and remove it. Undo the end tension cap and remove it.
Pull the plastic clip off the axle and remove. Once you have done this a few times the axle never seems to be really held in by this clip, but it doesn’t seem to matter.
Undo the two screws on the gearbox and remove.
Carefully lift the cover from the gearbox. Be careful to hold it horizontally as illustrated so the stack of drag washers don’t fall out.
Lift off the plastic part with the spring leaves on.
The spring which is responsible for the gears re-engaging when you turn the handle is the small one located just below the thumb release button.
Unhook the spring and lift it off the brass post. (This one is in good working order, so yours probably won’t look like that!)
Order replacement spring and fit by sliding it onto the post then hooking it to the chromed arm.
If the spring is OK but the reel’s still not working it might be that the release arm is worn out. This is usually caused by either a prodigious amount of use, or re-engaging the reel before the bait has landed. Lift off the brass gear and drag assembly.
Lift off the plastic arm with the brass gear, then remove the release arm.
Inspect the very end of the arm where it bends up at 90 degrees. If the inside corner is worn away you need to replace the release arm.
Re-assemble the reel by reversing the previous stages, making sure the components are put together the correct way up. If anything doesn’t re-assemble easily you’ve probably got a part the wrong way round. Re-check the assembly and continue.