I'm working on a Carbon X 3000 spinning reel that has developed a "roughness", deviating from it's normally smooth operation.  The problem developed on a hookset of a small bass. I retired the reel for the day and used my backup. This particular reel has seen some pretty serious service the last 2 years and admittedly I should have been more aggressive in maintaining it.

 

I disassembled the reel (I'm no stranger to doing this). I'm not ruling anything out now but my prime suspects are the pinion/main gear engagement and the associated bearings. With such small bearings I find it difficult to determine if a bearing is going bad. Catastrophic failure would be obvious, but I don't think you'd see that in a spinning reel.

 

Any help to diagnose this reel will be appreciated. I really like the Piscifun Carbon X. It's light, smooth and is perfect for my type of fishing.

Looks like the only replacement part available from them is a spare spool.  You may have reached the usable life of the reel.  You can test a bearing of almost any small size on a sharpened pencil or chopstick.  It should spin freely and quietly.

Spare parts are available from Piscifun although it's not clearly indicated on their website. I've contacted them via email, specified the part #'s I needed for the model I have and they charged me via Paypal. The only caveat is that the parts come from China (no surprise), so it takes longer than what I would like. It's still not bad, just inconvenient. It's one reason why I have 4 of this model. This is the first time one has gone down for repairs but I just swap in a spare waiting in the wings and I'm back out on the water. Time really doesn't play a role and hurt my fishing.

 

I've read that Piscifun are made in Daiwa factory but haven't been able to confirm this.