Penn 650 SS question

[Frankie G]

I cleaned and greased a Penn 650 SS reel today, but something is wrong with the drag. Everything sits on the reel properley, but the drag never tightens down, even if the cap is screwed tight. Any suggestions? Also, has anyone ever the retrieve (crank) come in contect with the bail? It drives me nuts.

[Tuna Hunter]

Hey Cap,
I have a bunch of those SS series reels and have had the same thing happen a number of times. It's the way the washers are aligned (their circular rotation vs. one another)thats the problem. I usualy restack them and re-install them a couple times to get it right. I cant tell the difference visually when its going to "take" and when it wont. I've learned to just line them all up as centered as I can and re-install as many times as it takes to get it right. Usually takes 2-3 times but might take 4-5.
Two other tips for these reels if your not that familiar. Take the clicker assembly (worthless anyways) off the underside of the spool and throw it away. They rotate loose over time (very quickly when hooked to a big, hard running fish) and jam up the works preventing you from reeling.
The other tip is to be sure to Loctite the bails screws. They back out also.
Hope this helps !
Merrill
P.S. A light coating of Shimano drag grease on the drag washers smoothes up the drag nicely on the 9500 SS....probably work well for you also.

[Frankie G]

So is it that I need to put more washers into the spool side of the reel where the drag piece screws on, or is it something else? Good at fishing but not good on the mechanics. Also, any experience with the crank rubbing up against the bail ring every four turns or so? Thinking of blow torching the bail piece and bending the curve up 1/4". Am I nuts? The year after this reel came out, the problem disappeared with the advent of the newer rubber handles cranks. Awesome reel...It casts a mile and is a workhorse.

[lemaymiami]

the stack of washers in that reel alternates fiber and metal discs... Look carefully at the metal discs, particularly the ones that don't have a nice round hole in the center.... the ones that are keyed to the shape of the shaft are the problem. One is hanging up on the shoulder of the spool shaft, preventing it from pressing down to tighten the stack when you tighten the drag knob. The guilty party is usually the metal disc that's on top of the stack (the one that's on top...). If you rotate the spool a bit before you replace the drag knob you'll see it drop into place. If that last washer hangs on the shoulder of the shaft you can tighten the drag knob until you're blue in the face and never get any drag... Hope this helps, if not - any competent Penn repair guy can sort the drag out in just a moment...

[JoeA]

i took all of the washers out and the first one is the octogonal shaped steel washer the next one is white plastic, third oval shaped steel center washerthen another octogonal one followed by a black fiber one. then the last steel one and replace the o ring.

[RogerStg]

A tip to get the alignment right is to put the spool on the reel, then stack the washers over the spindle. Usually you won't need to resort to this and simply rotating the spool will do.

[boden]

Another way to do it is to go to the Penn Website and look up the exploded version of the 650SS. This will show you the way that the drag washers are aligned.