Scorpion missing the sting.

A customer sent in a Shimano Scorpion XT with the complain that it feels like a reel he used to know. There's something amiss with it that he cannot pinpoint. Everything seems to be working fine, accept that there's a weird kink or grind on a downward stroke of the crank handle.

It's one of those things that isn't going to stop the reel from functioning or create further damage when in use. It's a tiny splinter that gets under your skin that it's not 100% to your liking. It irritates the hell out of you with that niggling sensation resulting in a self imposed handicap.

We're off to taking this reel apart to see if there's anything wrong, worn off or perhaps just misaligned when reassembled together.

Excellent condition from the outside. Cranks creamy smooth with the exception of a weird kink on downward crank.

First to be eliminated, free spool support bearings. Both are in excellent condition spinning freely without any grittiness.

Not much to do with the weird kink but does look like it needs a bit of a clean up and regular grease rub maintenance.

Spinning the crank shaft without the gears produced the weird kink. To confirm this suspicion, a quick reassembly with the gears and crank case somewhat indicated to the crank shaft. When free spinning, it didn't look like it was bent or wobbly. Possibly a misalignment during installation. A total removal of the crank shaft should reveal the issue.

The culprit discovered. With closer inspection, the crank shaft support bearing seemed to be scrubbing against the shaft retainer metal piece. The outer ring scrubbing against the metal retainer (red). Another quick test this time with a thin shim slotted in (green) in order for the inner ring to be the contact point against the metal retainer/shaft so that the bearing can function properly with the outer ring flushed against the reel housing.

A tiny thin shim is all it takes to sort out the weird kink. Free spinning of the shaft doesn't produce the weird kink anymore. Light oil in the bearing, grease rub down all over and the reel's ready to be reassembled.

The entire drag disc systems just needs a clean up and new coat of marine grease for protection and smoother drag action.

The weird kink was quickly eliminated with an additional shim for proper bearing fitment. My suspicion is that minor wear and tear on the related parts may have generated that weird kink. It's just a matter of tuning the fitment to 'fix' the issue and give this Scorpion the sting it deserves.

Rusty anti-reverse on a Speedmaster

This Shimano Speedmaster's been pimped with speedy hybrid ceramic bearings and recently been used offshore for jigging without much fuss except for a weird rough and grinding feel while cranking.

A quick check by popping open the brake side cover reveals the spool support hybrid ceramics to be in excellent condition. Unscrewing the spool tension cap on the crank handle side also reveals a speedy clean hybrid ceramics. Pop the entire spool out of the body and gave it a few cranks to reveal that the roughness comes from within the inner works of the crank case.

Rusty one-way bearing (anti-reverse). Looks nasty, some damages done but not critical.

It didn't take long to discover that the one-way bearing's probably exposed to salt water for a tad too long. These bearings are generally lubed with light one-way bearing oil and if they are not well taken care of and regularly checked and serviced, this is the outcome.

Upon removing the phenolic resin cage, the roller pins should fall off quite easily. In this case, rust is holding them in the cage. Even the steel outer ring (steel ring in the crank case body) shows some serious damages are about to go deep.

Damage assessment can only be confirmed after thoroughly cleaning of rust and gunk collected over time. A combination of lubricant, rust remover and contact cleaners were used to flush out these nasty rusty bits to reveal an almost new bearing.

Almost new roller pins with signs of typical wear, phenolic cage is like new, crank shaft sleeve is almost new with slight signs of uneven wear.

The outer ring didn't like the rust that much as there was initial signs of deep corrosion if it were to be left un-serviced longer. Note the dark patchy stains on the left most grove.

Fitting the roller pins back into the phenolic cage was a tricky affair as it keeps dropping out and getting stuck onto greasy patches around the crank case. Grease is a big NO-NO for one-way bearings and has to be cleaned before assembly. Shown here fully lubed with one-way bearing oil.

Assembly was tricky with the tiny pins falling off the cage like rice choc chips. Upon assembly, ensure that there's proper lubrication with quality one-way bearing oil. Take extra care not to get any grease into the bearings. Give it a few rotation to fully lube the bearing and try it out on the crank to see if it does stop any reverse crank with little to no back play.

Good thing that this is an early detection, could have avoided some deep corrosion if it were to be serviced sooner. The bearings worked fine with no back play shows that the damages didn't affect it's function. With this discovery, prevention is key by packing in some salt water grease around the star drag screw system where I suspect salt water can seep through. Although not 100%, little TLC does go a long way for you to enjoy fishing with minimal interruption and prolonged lifespan of your gear, any gear really.

More speed for the Shimano Speedmaster

It's been quite a hectic month lately with very little time in between to scratch the itch of bent rods, tight lines, screaming drags, fighting fish, any fish. Nevertheless, a friend was kind enough to help me fill the little emptiness by handing me his seasoned Shimano Speedmaster (Curado for some) for a little bit of pimpin in search for more SPEED!

This calls for some quality hybrid ceramic bearings and some tuning.

The Shimano Speedmaster patiently waiting in the operation theater.

First to go in, brakes side spool support bearing, oiled with high speed bearing oil.

These hybrid ceramic bearings are of ABEC 7s and have very little tolerances for play. Notice that they are opened bearings with less friction. Perfect for a speedier spool tune up.

They usually come lightly lubed with their shields in. These came opened and already lubed with high speed bearing oil. If you are anal like me, you'll clean the bearings and lube them with your preferred oil/grease. Cleaning can be effectively done several ways either using grease solvent or contact cleaners and compressed air dried. I prefer to use an ultrasonic cleaner while soaking it in grease solvent for a thorough job, then add a few drops of high speed bearing oil in after drying.

Just a quick check on the handle crank shaft reveals plenty of gunk and dirt trapped. Just needs some basic cleaning and grease rub down to get it back to battle ready condition.

With the spool tensioner knob removed followed by the pentagon shaped retainer wire, out comes the standard bearings to be replaced by the speed tuned hybrid ceramic bearings.

If you notice that the crank shaft collected quite a bit of dirt over time, the original bearings were in excellent condition due to the fact that they are quite shielded from water exposure. The spool tensioner knob has and o-ring while on the brakes side, it's located quite deep into the casing and therefore running opened bearings are ok as long as you regularly oil it for longer life as much as retaining it's high speed spool characteristics.

The spool spins up to speed quite quickly and free spin noticeably longer than regular bearings. I will wait for a full catch report later then the owner has an opportunity to try out its new found speed.

Cheers for now and I'll see if there are any opportunities to go fish during this holiday.