Hello All,

 

I have a very specific question that I hope there is someone here that can answer for me.  I have several Tica Libra spinning reels that I purchased back in the early 2000's.  I haven't used them in quite a while, so before taking them out again I wanted to tear them down and  give them a good clean & lube.

 

BUT as soon as I took off the spool, I was stopped dead in my tracks with a little white nylon "Key Washer" that doesn't seem to want to come off (at least not easily).  It appears to be set into a notch in the spool shaft, so in order to remove it, it would need to be pulled up out of the groove (basically expanding it) onto the larger shaft in front of it.  But I'm afraid that doing so might break it, and I'd hate to turn a perfectly good fishing reel inoperable just from a broken nylon washer.

 

Anyone have experience with these reels and know if it's OK to force it off (and it won't break)?   Would a little heat work without distoring the washer?  I thought maybe some of you guys that work on these would know how to deal with it.

 

If not does Tica still offer replacement parts for them?  I'd hate to think they'd make a reel that couldn't be taken down to clean and lube without breaking off a part every time you do so.

 

To help better understand what I'm dealing with, I attached a photo of the said washer, AND a graphic I made up that shows how the washer is seated into the slot (or key) in the shaft (you can't really see it in the photo).

 

Thanks...Chugbug5

 The drag dial may be sold only as an assembly. You may be able to service the bearing in place. If you don't have a schematic for this reel abandon ship until you lay your hands on one. Neither heat nor excessive force should ever be needed to disassemble a reel. 

is the "key slot" a full circle groove all the way around the shaft?  if its not it might be as simple as turning the nylon washer to the flat spots on the shaft.

The few Tica reels I serviced (around a dozen) did not look designed to be completely disassembled without breaking parts. Clean and degrease what you can, but don't kill yourself figuring out how to take it down - it wasn't meant to be taken apart by design. I recommend Perfect Solution for degreasing and cleaning parts.

Hi All,

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply!  To answer the questions posed:

 

Schematics... YES, I do have the schematics, and the parts (shown in my photo) ARE labeled and listed as separate parts, not an assembly (Key Washer - TWO bearings and a sleeve - metal washer - Click Spring & Holder).  See additional attachment)

 

Shape of the Key Washer and shaft... The shaft is FLAT on the sides with notches top and bottom.  

 

Rotaing Key... Unfortunately the Key Washer can't be rotated.

 

More bad news is that even if I did get that one off, there is another larger one behind the click spring (not visable).

 

The good news though is that all the parts I need to check are accessable without removing the Key Washer.  After closer inspection, I found that the two bearings (visible in the photo) are sealed, so I couldn't do anything with them if I did get them off.  They spin smooth, so for now I don't realy need to tear it down further.  I just cleaned the shaft behind the parts (not visible) and added a little bit of new grease.

 

But in the meantime I'll email Tica to see if I can get new washers for when the time comes that I have to tear any of them down to replace bearings.  I have  FIVE of these reels (two 2500's & three 3000's) that all have the same size washers, so if the bearing do start to fail, I may need quite a few new washers.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to post!

 

Tight Lines... Chugbug5

If they call that a key washer and it doesn't rotate to unlock my guess is it's pressed onto the shaft and pops into the groove. It will likely need replacing should you need to pry it off. The bearings in that location should last the life of the reel.  

What I see in the picture is a shielded bearing pack, not sealed. The entire assembly can be soaked in a degreaser, scrubbed clean in warm water, dried, and the bearing properly oiled without complete disassembly. I would also swab the threads with an oil soaked eye shadow applicator. I've stopped using cotton swabs since they shed fibers.

Hi All,

 

Thanks for the additional comments about the bearings.  I n case someone else may be interested in this disassembly sometime in the future, I though I'd add the following information...

 

When I posted my original inquiry, I also sent an email to Tica asking the same question just in case I didn't get any suggestions here.  I ddin't expect to get a response, but suprisingly I got a reply back today.  They stated that I should be able to pry it off with a (flat blade) screwdriver without damaging it, which I did and the first one I tried (this time with more confidence) it came in one peice.

 

Turns out the other KEY WASHER that was back further was metal and came right off.

 

Ready to hit the water again!

 

Tight Lines...Chugbug5