i have had my daiwa tatula ct 100hs for less than a month now and after using it in heavy rain for 1 day. I also used it in salty conditions in a bay but washed it off straight after. Is there a chance that it rusted or something got in the gears? Ive checked the spool and side plate but im afraid to open the reel side plate for fear of losing pieces or not putting it back together correctly. Is it easy to take apart the plates and reassemble?

Take off the brake side plate and remove the spool. Turn the handle and let us know if it still grinds. This is the First place to start

it does. it sounds louder and feels more agressive when the tension is higher

17 minutes ago, little giant said:

Take off the brake side plate and remove the spool. Turn the handle and let us know if it still grinds. This is the First place to start

Never ever remove the spool from a Tatula and turn the handle. Never.

13 minutes ago, fishinnont said:

it does. it sounds louder and feels more agressive when the tension is higher

Send it in for service if you're not confident opening it up yourself.

2 hours ago, fishinnont said:

Is there a chance that it rusted or something got in the gears?

Probably not, but you may have pinion bearing issues now. It isn't a salt water reel.

20 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Never ever remove the spool from a Tatula and turn the handle. Never.

is there a way to reverse the damage? what happens?

If saltwater got into the reel, the salt my have solidified in the gears or bearings. Saltwater may also have micro sand particles. Freshwater Tatulas do not have sealed bearings. Take it to a professional repair shop.

1 hour ago, fishinnont said:

is there a way to reverse the damage? what happens?

I have no idea how aggressively you cranked the handle without the spool installed, so there's no way to know. Gear sets aren't expensive, but yours might be OK still. The pinion bearing, anti reverse bearing, or the outer crankshaft bearing are vulnerable, and rinsing will often just send salt and suspended fines deeper into each.

 

Send it to site sponsor DVT: Delaware Valley Tackle - Home

2 hours ago, little giant said:

Take off the brake side plate and remove the spool. Turn the handle and let us know if it still grinds. This is the First place to start

Don’t crank on reels with full length spool shafts without the spool in place unless you’re 100% sure the pinion has bearing support on both ends. 

If its more of a scraping sound it's the anti reverse bearing.  It's It's a uniform buzzing sound and vibration then it's the gears meshing and perfectly normal for that reel.