Every now and then, the reel will jam and makes it hard to turn. I cleaned the reel pretty well about a two week ago too, and it's still not functioning correctly as it should so I'm perplexed. What am I doing wrong? 

When you clean the reel, have you check that friction ring, if it is swollen or out of place. 

5 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

When you clean the reel, have you check that friction ring, if it is swollen or out of place. 

That I did not do, but the reel still jams w/o the spool so what could be the issue?

The friction ring is under rotor, spool has nothing to do with it. You have to remove rotor to check the ring. Remove rotor is pretty easy, then remove friction ring to see if the jam problem is solved. If not and if you are not sure how to open up the reel. It might be a good time to send to professional for tuneup and clean. 
If problem solved, then you might need new friction ring which pretty cheap. If you reel is 2500 size, I have old friction ring from Stradic CI4 that might work in your reel.

19 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

The friction ring is under rotor, spool has nothing to do with it. You have to remove rotor to check the ring. Remove rotor is pretty easy, then remove friction ring to see if the jam problem is solved. If not and if you are not sure how to open up the reel. It might be a good time to send to professional for tuneup and clean. 
If problem solved, then you might need new friction ring which pretty cheap. If you reel is 2500 size, I have old friction ring from Stradic CI4 that might work in your reel.

I was thinking of drag washers...Geez. let me look into that and see if that will do the trick. I think Symetre might be 2500 size. I'll let you know. Much obliged! 

Binding was/is a pretty big issue with the Symetre it seems like. Mine all had terrible binding issues any time they got wet at all.

42 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Binding was/is a pretty big issue with the Symetre it seems like. Mine all had terrible binding issues any time they got wet at all.

This ^^^ Once it dried out it was back to normal. The reels became unusable in any sort of rain

8 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Binding was/is a pretty big issue with the Symetre it seems like. Mine all had terrible binding issues any time they got wet at all.

What is the culprit? Bad gear, latch, cheap plastic parts or bent shaft? 

40 minutes ago, Eddie101 said:

What is the culprit? Bad gear, latch, cheap plastic parts or bent shaft? 

The friction ring most likely. I believe a lot of guys were removing it completely and using it without it. I switched to Daiwa and it fixed the problem. 

Any one with binding reel issues feel free to contact me directly and I’ll help you out. Probably will post the answer one day. ?