Abu Record 61. Serviced/cleaned over winter. Has thumb bar to put in free spool. It wont immediately engage when I crank..... Not a reel mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, but does anyone have an idea of what to look for? It has been the go to reel for livelining so the parts have a lot of usage and the reel body is showing its age.
I have pulled out the back up, but still looking to have this one serviceable.....

Drop it off to Martha.
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mine did that and I brought it to a guy in fall river and he replaced 3 parts inside that have a problem sticking and its been fine since,,, any Abu service person should be able to fix it.

There is a little metal tab that the center thumb bar pushes down. My experience has been that if that is not pushed all the way down , the thing will not pop up when you turn the crack. .Its not obvious that its not all the way down but pushing down on it hard usually gets it to reengage when cranked. Now I have also found that exercising it a bit with the end caps off the reel and using your finger to push it down hard each time it gets stuck will eventually get it working again . The problem will come back if the reel is stored again for any length of time so maybe you want to have Bucko's or someone do the repair T17 mentioned.

I had the same problem with an Abo 6600W (which they don't make anymore). Took it to Mike at Buckos and bingo...fixed.

Saltheart has the right idea. I take mine apart often as it's my go to reel. You might try loosening the side plate screws and then retightening, as I've experienced the part in question getting jammed in the past when I don't line things up perfectly.

On the handle side, there are two screws besides the three thumb screws. How tight are those two screws? Back 'em out a touch. I know if those are too tight, things inside will bind.

Take it to Martha. :smash: