here's weird one.

I have a Penn 850 I bought on eBay last year. Just got back in the surf and used it Friday night, or tried to. The drag will not tighten down no matter what I do.

Took out all the drag washers, cleaned them and printed out the schematic from online to make sure they were in the correct order Hex, teflon, keyed, black fiber etc.

Fished with my old surf partner "The Rockhound" last night and asked him as he is good with reels. He said he doesn't have a clue and would have done what I did.

Figured I'd ask you guys before I pack it up and send it to Mike at Buckos.

Any thoughts???

interesting thing happen to mine last night, and i rebuilt the drag as well, and realized tha with braided esp. the knote on the spool broken and it was actual the string turing not the drag the drag tighten down. let me know
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That's a good thought paul..... does it have braid w/o backing?

41489

Make sure your thrust washer is under the spool.#60.On my old penn it wash a rubber washer.I also had line spin on the spool on an older penn 711.Make sure you let us know what you find.

Snap ring in place?

No visible damage to the underside of the knob?

Backing under braid?

If it's all yes to the above, the only thing that I can see is that something is keeping the spool from sitting all the way down on the shaft. Missing teflon thrust washer? Some kind of obstruction underneath the spool?

If the washers were in the wrong order, the drag would tighten and finally lock up on you.

After what you completed I would suspect the problem with the drag knob.
Simulate the underside of the drag knob with a washer and nut.
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Also check the threads of the shaft and the nut that is in the knob along with any blockage in the hole of the knob.
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After what you completed I would suspect the problem with the drag knob.
Simulate the underside of the drag knob with a washer and nut.
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Could it be that the drag knob is from a different Penn?
I had this problem with a few 450's that I have. (got them mixed up and one wouldn't tighten)

That is a possibility. If that is the case and you want to use the same knob may drilling out the underside of the knob to allow a few more turns.

The appropriate size washer and nut to lock down the stack may isolate the problem to the knob.
Could it be that the drag knob is from a different Penn?
I had this problem with a few 450's that I have. (got them mixed up and one wouldn't tighten)
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I see it all the time
When the drag was not working with the drag knob tightened
You can tell if you had the last spool washer jamed up on the brass when you take the spool off you will see a score in the brass.
Turn the spool upside down place it on the spool shaft to line up the washers . flip the spool upright and line up the drag washers back on the shaft making sure the last metal one is not caught on the Brass shaft. Make sure it is seated and the clicker works. If the clicker is not working it is not seated all the way.

Snap ring in place?

No visible damage to the underside of the knob?

Backing under braid?

If it's all yes to the above, the only thing that I can see is that something is keeping the spool from sitting all the way down on the shaft. Missing teflon thrust washer? Some kind of obstruction underneath the spool?

If the washers were in the wrong order, the drag would tighten and finally lock up on you.


This happened to me a coupla weeks ago. Make sure the fiest two washers are lined up correctly or the spool will not sit all the way down thus leaving it untightenable. Second washer has a subtle groove. I messed with mine for quite a while before I got it lined up right.

This happened to me a coupla weeks ago. Make sure the fiest two washers are lined up correctly or the spool will not sit all the way down thus leaving it untightenable. Second washer has a subtle groove. I messed with mine for quite a while before I got it lined up right.

Bingo!! That fixed it. Thanks to everyone for their input.

Nice.Glad to hear you got it fixed up.Hopefully you hook into one that will test it for you!:)

Nice.Glad to hear you got it fixed up.Hopefully you hook into one that will test it for you!:)

Me too! Midnight run to the Canal will tell.

Another thing to watch out for--the inside edges of those slotted metal washers have a way of getting bent, and preventing the spool from fully seating on the shaft.

Thanks Mike