my 1 year old pfleuger supreme 30 spinning reel has dragged out some 5 lb bass from heavy weeds throughout its life and i always reel through the drag when fighting a fish from going into the weeds. So this year 2 weeks ago my reel was hard to turn, i even took off the spool and rotor assy and and it still was hard to reel in spots of the rotation.

 

So i didnt take it apart at the gearbox but i did oil up what i seen at this point of teardown and it worked fine untill yesterday. I fought a 3.5 lber out of the weeds reeling through the drag and darn if the reel rotation started gettin hard again to where i had to force handle to turn the spool.

 

So today i tore reel completely down and did find a loose screw on the crosswind block aka ossilating slider which is connected to the main shaft which through the drive gear moves the spool up and down. Is that a problem to cause stiff rotation due to binding? i dont know but all the gears look good except for the pinion gear?

 

The pinion gear is machined to where it looks sheared off and worn flat,  Theres no way the gear has worn itself on my reel because if that was the case there would be shavings of the pinion gear stuck in the grease and the drive gear and there isnt. Look at the gear pinion, do you see anything that would cause a problem?

I cant find a good pic of a new pinion gear to compare with.

 

I am including a video of a guy explaining what can cause a spinning reel to not rotate. This is a very good learning vid. The pflueger supreme has the same type of crosswind block except plueger only uses 1 screw to hold to shaft not 2.

 

 

 

Looks like its that way by design 

 

supreme all back together, works great, nothing worn gear wise. I cleaned all the old grease out for the first time for this reel. I used 409 to clean it along with q-tips and paper towels.

The AR system was a bit confusing to put back together but like a puzzle it only went together 1 way. The parts breakdown can be a bit confusing.

 

I oiled the sealed bearings by putting drops of rem oil on the cover plate and didnt put any grease on them like some folks do.

I didnt put any oil on the AR system other than the switch which will get into the ar bearing system just from that.

Some say to oil ar clutch some say dont. I used Red Devil synthetic gear oil/grease and didnt slop it all around inside but did get the gears a good coating on, under, and around.

 

The drag system showed some felt laying around loose like little tiny pieces of fiber stuck together. I oiled the felt with rem oil and works as it always did which was good but would like more drag than the 10 lb factory drag.

 

 

3 minutes ago, throttleplate said:

I oiled the felt with rem oil and works as it always did which was good but would like more drag than the 10 lb factory drag.

One thing I did before this season started was to upgrade all my spinners to carbon drag. Pres-25, Pres XT-30, 2 Avocet RZT-1000s, Avocet RZT-2000 and Avocet RZT-3000.

 

Couple different thicknesses of carbon sheets, calipers, compass with etching tip and an X-Acto were all the tools I needed...the balsa was my 'work table' so I didn't cut into my actual work-bench.

 

2 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

One thing I did before this season started was to upgrade all my spinners to carbon drag. Pres-25, Pres XT-30, 2 Avocet RZT-1000s, Avocet RZT-2000 and Avocet RZT-3000.

 

Couple different thicknesses of carbon sheets, calipers, compass with etching tip and an X-Acto were all the tools I needed...the balsa was my 'work table' so I didn't cut into my actual work-bench.

 

thats awesome, how does the pfleugers react to the increased drag, like do you only have to turn the drag adjuster 1/2 as much from before to get it to pull hard?

4 minutes ago, throttleplate said:

thats awesome, how does the pfleugers react to the increased drag, like do you only have to turn the drag adjuster 1/2 as much from before to get it to pull hard?

All my spinners are 'loving' the carbon drag. I actually did a test, put 50# braid on the RZT-3000, locked the drag down, hooked my scale to a loop and pulled. Reel was rated at 18# drag with felt washers...got it to 26# before it started slipping...so 44% increase in drag strength.

 

I still set my drags to about 1/3 the test of the line...but as you say, takes fewer turns of the dial to get there...probably not 1/2 as many, but a reduced number anyway.

11 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

All my spinners are 'loving' the carbon drag. I actually did a test, put 50# braid on the RZT-3000, locked the drag down, hooked my scale to a loop and pulled. Reel was rated at 18# drag with felt washers...got it to 26# before it started slipping...so 44% increase in drag strength.

 

I still set my drags to about 1/3 the test of the line...but as you say, takes fewer turns of the dial to get there...probably not 1/2 as many, but a reduced number anyway.

kool, thanks for the info. Where did you get the carbon paper?

2 minutes ago, throttleplate said:

kool, thanks for the info. Where did you get the carbon paper?

1mm: https://www.amazon.com/Cabric-1-0mm-Carbon-Smooth-Washer/dp/B083XMZWFF/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Smooth+Reel+Drag+Washer+DIY&qid=1627953355&s=sporting-goods&sr=1-1

 

0.8mm: https://www.amazon.com/Cabric-Carbon-Shimano-Smooth-Washer/dp/B083XKXRMZ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Smooth+Reel+Drag+Washer+DIY&qid=1627953355&s=sporting-goods&sr=1-2

 

They're small sheets (2 per pack), but it was enough to do my spinners with a couple 'oops' thrown in.

With carbon drag washers you lose some of the middle range.  Carbon drag washers will ramp up much more quickly, making it harder to get a specific middle setting.  Also, if you're putting more drag on your reel than it was designed for, it can damage other parts of your reel.

 

Just some things to think about.  I switch out all of my reels with regular drag washers for carbon fiber ones if they don't come from the factory that way.  I prefer them, but they're not without their drawbacks.

On 8/3/2021 at 9:30 PM, Bankc said:

With carbon drag washers you lose some of the middle range.  Carbon drag washers will ramp up much more quickly, making it harder to get a specific middle setting.  Also, if you're putting more drag on your reel than it was designed for, it can damage other parts of your reel.

 

Just some things to think about.  I switch out all of my reels with regular drag washers for carbon fiber ones if they don't come from the factory that way.  I prefer them, but they're not without their drawbacks.

thank you for the info, makes sense. Maybe i just leave it as is because today while fishing the lilly pads i had to grab the line and pull straight with my gloved hand to winch them out of the pads today.

The supreme 30 just didnt have the muscle to get them out on its own.

Dang man...sounds like you should be using casting equipment if you're in that deep.  I guess whatever work for you though.  My uncle never used casting equipment and he did fine most of the time.

On 8/5/2021 at 10:13 PM, Fastbee said:

Dang man...sounds like you should be using casting equipment if you're in that deep.  I guess whatever work for you though.  My uncle never used casting equipment and he did fine most of the time.

yeah i need a winch where i fish. Thought about the casting reel but not liking the stories of birds nests especially out wading and then having to deal with that and also wading i need to be able to bomb cast baits to any location when the water gets to deep for my waders.

 

I am pretty happy my 30 lb spiderwire, vmc touchlock clips, spro #8 barrell swivels and the 30 lb fluro leader at the end of all that has held up to me pulling by hand.

If it's working I'd stay with it.  Like I said before my uncle never used casting gear and was a very successful angler.  He taught me a lot about fishing and even after I got quite proficient at using casting gear he didn't seem to ever be at a disadvantage.