Drag froze!!

[cheferson]

My penn 5500ss drag froze up, was using this reel because my crank on my 6500 ss broke.. How do i go about fixing it? Lost some nice fish because of this!! First cast hooked into a 15lb, that about pulled me in the water.

[Crafty Angler]

Chef - It's probably just salt deposits on the drag washers.

Take off the drag knob, wash the spool and drag knob with warm soapy water and rinse.

Take out the retaining clip for the drag washers (don't lose it) and take out the washers in order and rinse 'em. Dry and replace in order.

Penns don't tolerate a lot of salt deposits - you should rinse in fresh water after use (taking the drag knob off) , especially if you're dunking them. If you remember to do it every nite you'll save yourself a lot of aggravation and it only takes a coupla minutes.

And always store them for the nite with the drag backed all the way off to keep from compressing the washers.

[Pt.JudeJoe]

yup what Crafty said....salt on the brakes, and it can happen faster than you think...don't want any drag malfunctions when the big ones get here for the spring..err fall run!

[tlapinski]

Originally posted by Crafty Angler
Take out the retaining clip for the drag washers (don't lose it) and take out the washers in order and rinse 'em. Dry and replace in order.

why try to save the fibers? it makes much more sense to start over and do it right with a new set. they cost mere cents each. if you care improperly for the reel to the point where the drag is frozen, the washers are probably toast. before you put a new set of fibers back in, very lightly coat them in Super Lube grease. you just barely want some on the washers. this will help, but not prevent, saltwater soaking into them.

[cheferson]

thanks

[fishweewee]

What Toby said.

[PurpelNoon]

Not sure how well it will work, but Penn now makes drag knobs that h ave a rubber seal on them. Helps to keep out water??

[Nebe]

Chef get new washers at quaker lane annd come by my shop... i'll show you how to replace them if you want

[cheferson]

Thanks eben, maybe ill shoot by tuesday, working my butt off till then,

[richs]

The SS's really need to be broken down and cleaned. Rinsing just pushed salt and sand in deeper on mine. Then the antireverse quit and it's a paperweight now.

[Mike P]

I agree with Rich. If enough crap is getting into the drag to make it freeze (Penn drags need a lot of crap to crap out ), it's a sure bet it's also getting up under the rotor and into the anti-reverse. And that part needs all the help it can get

[cheferson]

Yeah i gotta take em apart and clean em out good and lube em up. Not much time between 65 hours at two jobs and 3 all nighters a week.

[MikeTLive]

any pictorial howto on take apart and cleaning of 5500ss?
I have a pair and damned if I didnt notice the drag knob sticking.

I opened up the captiva and it has white corrosion formed inside it. yuck. I been rinsing it religeously too.

what is the proper care and feeding of these reels?

How about next month a side table for gear maintenance?
it being september already yikes!!

[Crafty Angler]

Hmmmm......I'm starting to think it might be a Penn problem peculiar to the Sand People

Of course, using my rod as a wading staff will occasionally lead to a dunking followed by a thorough rinse, check & cleaning before I go out again.

But as a rockhopper, basic washer maintainance (see above) and an occasional check of the innards with a shot of Superlube does me fine.

The SS series isn't exactly noted for being waterproof - get some Superlube and give the gears a good packing (not overpacked which creates it own set of problems) - the procedure isn't a lot more complicated than unscrewing the side plate.

Oh yeah - the other thing I do is polish the brass of the drag knob and main shaft with Flitz and then coat with Formula 2001 car polish which has urethane in it - that may help ya, hopefully.