[togmaster]

FRAME 1

FRAME 1-

Left side plate and the graphite clicker kit.

What we do is remove the graphite clicker kit and install the stainless P', and first generation G' clicker set. They are available from newell. All you have to do is tell them what series, since the 200 series reels require the smaller stainless clicker button. The 300/400/500/600 ss clicker sets require the addition of a thin nylon washer which you put under the clicker button to take up the slack. The graphite clicker setup you see in these reels, is pretty cheaply made and should be replaced. Also when you remove the screw that holds down the clicker horseshoe, i would cut off one or two threads before i insert the stainless clicker horseshoe...on the older plates, if this is not done, you may see a little dimple on the outside of the leftside plate, which means the screw is close to puncturing the plate!

 

[togmaster]

Part 2

FRAME 2-

Bridge assembly sans bridge sleeve.

This is what you should see when you remove the bridge assembly from the rightside plate, and remove the C-CLIP off the top of the bridge spindel. You have to remove this clip if you have the older stainless bridge sleeves, or the first generation bronze bridge sleeves that used the recessed main gears, to change the pinion gear. Lubricate the spindel with blue diawa grease. Clean all the gunk off the bridge assembly with WD-40. Look for wear on the yoke, and make sure that the dog spring has enough tension against the teeth of the bridge sleeve. If it does not, just bend the dog spring TOWARDS the dog, which will now apply more tension on the dog. Spray with Corrosion X before you put the gears back on the bridge assembly.

 

[togmaster]

step 3

FRAME 3-

Cleaned up bridge assembly.

This is what your bridge assembly should look like when it is cleaned off and Corrosion X applied. No heavy greases, on these parts. Heavy greases just attract and hold the dirt!

 

[togmaster]

step 4

FRAME 4-

Fiber and metal washers along with belleville washer along with main and pinion gear.

Pull out the older newell black fiber type washers if you have the older blackie, P' and G reels. If you have the newer engraved reels, remove the washers that look like smoothies, but are actually developed and made by Newell. Install the HT-100s that fit the jigmaster reel. If you look closely in this picture at the belleville washer, these were installed in the latter G series reels and later. I do not like them, and find that their is a better made belleville on the market. Pickup the Penn belleville made for the 505 reel and install that on the drag stack. I sometimes, if their is room, stick a squidder size HT-100 washer under this belleville. This gives me slighlty more drag surface, and raises the drag stack slightly higher, taking up some of the space between the washers between the drag spacer and drag star. If you take a close look at the main gear, you can see the angle of the teeth. This gear happens to be a 3.6 main. 5 to 1 main gears have teeth that have a greater rake' (more angle on the teeth). To figure out the gear ratio on any set of gears, count the amount of teeth on both the main and pinion and then divide. 48 on the main and 12 on the pinion will give you a 4-1 ratio while 48 on the main and 13 on the pinion will give you a 3.6 ratio.

 

[togmaster]

Step 5

FRAME 5-

Rightside inner ring, along with a dental tool.

What this picture is suppossed to show you is that you may need a tool like this to remove the bearings out of the bearing cups. Many times, the bearings are pressed into the cup or become bonded within the cup due to corrosion over time. You need a tool, with a hooked end to remove the bearings from the cup. If the tool does not work, remove the oring or split ring from the cup, grab a pier of needle nose pliers, and hold the ss cups over a flame...the cup will get hot, and allow you to remove the bearing from with the cup. To prevent this from happening, get a dremel tool, and bore out SLIGHTLY the inside of the cup to a point where the bearing just needs a little pressure to push it into the cup.

 

[togmaster]

step 6

FRAME 6-

Complete bridge assembly with drag spacer and gears.

This is what you should see when you pull out the four screws from the right side plate. What we have here is a bronze bridge sleeve along with a brass drag spacer. If you have a graphite drag spacer which was used for a short time in the second generation G reels, remove it, and get the newer BRONZE spacer. The graphite spacer was a poor attempt at trying to limit the corrosion problem of this reel due to dissimilar metals. It does not matter if this part gets corroded since the metal spacers can be cleaned very easily. Also check out the amount of teeth on your bridge sleeve. The bronze bridge sleeve originally came with 8 teeth which required the squared end long dog ratchet, while the newer bronze bridge sleeves come with a 10 tooth that requires the rounded end short dog ratchet. You cannot interchange the two dogs. Many of us with the older G reels, will replace the bridge sleeves, and find that their dog ratched does not work right since they now have the newer 10 tooth bridge assembly. Remember this when you change this part. The short dog ratchet is needed.

 

[togmaster]

Step 7

FRAME 7-

Drag spacer through to the ss nut cap.

This is the way you should lay your parts out when you disassemble your reel. I have seen so many reels where the drag spacer washers are just jumbled up and put back in the wrong sequence. Working up from the drag spacer you have the drag spacer, and then you should have a small thin washer, PART # 3-18, in either flat or concave. What i do, is to buy the Penn 60 tension washer, and stick this between the drag spacer and star. This allows me more sensitive drag settings due to the spring in the tension washer. You must also pay attention to the amount of space on the sleeve at this point. You will probably need that thinner drag spacer washer at times, depending on the height of your drag spacer. Newell parts are never standardized as far as the sizing, and this is something you have to play around with. Next you have the graphite star. If your star breaks, or you do not like the look of this star, you can change it out with the Penn 505 star which has the same threads. You can also use the Pro Gear pacifica 2000/2500 stars which come in a number of color also. You must remember that when you go to these thinner stars, that you need more of those thin drag spacer washers to take up the space created here. This is something that takes time to master if you want to set up your reels with these stars. Next you will find a thin belleville style tension washer which keeps pressure against the star from backing off. Sometimes, after you install the HT-100 washers, you may not need this belleville. No loss here. They are prone to cracking and rusting if not cared for. Earlier P and blackie models came with the ss waffle style washers. These also are prone to crack, but are nice to work with if you have little space between the star and handle washer. You should replace this with the latter thin style bellevilles if you fish your reels hard. Next is the ss handle washer. On most reels these are the thicker type. Get a dremel and make two indentations in the middle hole on this washer. This allows them to come off easily without them getting hung up on the c-clip. I for the heavens do not know why Carl made this change on this part. His original reels came with a nice handle washer which just popped off! Just dremel it out, and you will have the same part here. Finally the handle, plastic nut washer, and finally the ss nut cap. The plastic nut washer comes in two colors, white and red. The thinner red is much easier to work with since it has a shorter lip. The white went onto the latter engraved reels and is a pain to work with. The ss nut came in two types, the earlier shorter neck ones, and the latter long neck type. If you use the white plastic nut washer, make sure you are using the latter long neck ss nut cap. It just makes life much easier when you cinch this all down.

 

[togmaster]

step 8

FRAME 8-

Dremel tooth with aluminum oxide bit and right side plate, along with drag spacers.

Newell reels were known for having such tight tolerances. Problem is that his drag spacers sometimes bind in the right side plate hole where it sits. You have to open this hole up slightly. A rattail file is a nice tool, but the dremel does the job quickly and cleanly. I cannot tell you how much this little trick will eliminate any binding when you turn the handle. To check for binding, just see if the drag spacer falls off the bridge sleeve when you flip the reel over. You can also check for binding when you turn the handle and the star is cinched down, and it takes more pressure to turn the handle. Get the dremel, and open up the hole. See if the spacer just falls through, and if it does, your done.

Assemble your reel, check for grinding sounds, rubbing and binding. Make sure all screws are tight.

CLEANING TIPS:
Use Reel-X on the bearings, and Corrosion on any other metal parts. Clean plates with WD-40. Clean rings with a metal tooth brush and clean off with WD-40.

GOOD LUCK!

EC NEWELL MAN*

 

[624082]

Newell 540 5.5 reel for tuna jigging

I am going on a trip called the iron man.It,s on the explorer on 11-11-02 for tuna and tile fish. I just brought a newell 540 5.5 reel for the trip. I was going at first to use it on the tile fishing part of the trip. But I now want to use it to jig tuna with 60# mono.Do you guys think that it can handle these type size tunas in the canyon.

 

[619627]

NEWELL SERVICE FROM THE TOP-

I will describe each frame and what to do and look for.

FRAME 1-

Left side plate and the graphite clicker kit.

What we do is remove the graphite clicker kit and install the stainless P', and first generation G' clicker set. They are available from newell. All you have to do is tell them what series, since the 200 series reels require the smaller stainless clicker button. The 300/400/500/600 ss clicker sets require the addition of a thin nylon washer which you put under the clicker button to take up the slack. The graphite clicker setup you see in these reels, is pretty cheaply made and should be replaced. Also when you remove the screw that holds down the clicker horseshoe, i would cut off one or two threads before i insert the stainless clicker horseshoe...on the older plates, if this is not done, you may see a little dimple on the outside of the leftside plate, which means the screw is close to puncturing the plate!

FRAME 2-

Bridge assembly sans bridge sleeve.

This is what you should see when you remove the bridge assembly from the rightside plate, and remove the C-CLIP off the top of the bridge spindel. You have to remove this clip if you have the older stainless bridge sleeves, or the first generation bronze bridge sleeves that used the recessed main gears, to change the pinion gear. Lubricate the spindel with blue diawa grease. Clean all the gunk off the bridge assembly with WD-40. Look for wear on the yoke, and make sure that the dog spring has enough tension against the teeth of the bridge sleeve. If it does not, just bend the dog spring TOWARDS the dog, which will now apply more tension on the dog. Spray with Corrosion X before you put the gears back on the bridge assembly.

FRAME 3-

Cleaned up bridge assembly.

This is what your bridge assembly should look like when it is cleaned off and Corrosion X applied. No heavy greases, on these parts. Heavy greases just attract and hold the dirt!

FRAME 4-

Fiber and metal washers along with belleville washer along with main and pinion gear.

Pull out the older newell black fiber type washers if you have the older blackie, P' and G reels. If you have the newer engraved reels, remove the washers that look like smoothies, but are actually developed and made by Newell. Install the HT-100s that fit the jigmaster reel. If you look closely in this picture at the belleville washer, these were installed in the latter G series reels and later. I do not like them, and find that their is a better made belleville on the market. Pickup the Penn belleville made for the 505 reel and install that on the drag stack. I sometimes, if their is room, stick a squidder size HT-100 washer under this belleville. This gives me slighlty more drag surface, and raises the drag stack slightly higher, taking up some of the space between the washers between the drag spacer and drag star. If you take a close look at the main gear, you can see the angle of the teeth. This gear happens to be a 3.6 main. 5 to 1 main gears have teeth that have a greater rake' (more angle on the teeth). To figure out the gear ratio on any set of gears, count the amount of teeth on both the main and pinion and then divide. 48 on the main and 12 on the pinion will give you a 4-1 ratio while 48 on the main and 13 on the pinion will give you a 3.6 ratio.

FRAME 5-

Rightside inner ring, along with a dental tool.

What this picture is suppossed to show you is that you may need a tool like this to remove the bearings out of the bearing cups. Many times, the bearings are pressed into the cup or become bonded within the cup due to corrosion over time. You need a tool, with a hooked end to remove the bearings from the cup. If the tool does not work, remove the oring or split ring from the cup, grab a pier of needle nose pliers, and hold the ss cups over a flame...the cup will get hot, and allow you to remove the bearing from with the cup. To prevent this from happening, get a dremel tool, and bore out SLIGHTLY the inside of the cup to a point where the bearing just needs a little pressure to push it into the cup.

FRAME 6-

Complete bridge assembly with drag spacer and gears.

This is what you should see when you pull out the four screws from the right side plate. What we have here is a bronze bridge sleeve along with a brass drag spacer. If you have a graphite drag spacer which was used for a short time in the second generation G reels, remove it, and get the newer BRONZE spacer. The graphite spacer was a poor attempt at trying to limit the corrosion problem of this reel due to dissimilar metals. It does not matter if this part gets corroded since the metal spacers can be cleaned very easily. Also check out the amount of teeth on your bridge sleeve. The bronze bridge sleeve originally came with 8 teeth which required the squared end long dog ratchet, while the newer bronze bridge sleeves come with a 10 tooth that requires the rounded end short dog ratchet. You cannot interchange the two dogs. Many of us with the older G reels, will replace the bridge sleeves, and find that their dog ratched does not work right since they now have the newer 10 tooth bridge assembly. Remember this when you change this part. The short dog ratchet is needed.

FRAME 7-

Drag spacer through to the ss nut cap.

This is the way you should lay your parts out when you disassemble your reel. I have seen so many reels where the drag spacer washers are just jumbled up and put back in the wrong sequence. Working up from the drag spacer you have the drag spacer, and then you should have a small thin washer, PART # 3-18, in either flat or concave. What i do, is to buy the Penn 60 tension washer, and stick this between the drag spacer and star. This allows me more sensitive drag settings due to the spring in the tension washer. You must also pay attention to the amount of space on the sleeve at this point. You will probably need that thinner drag spacer washer at times, depending on the height of your drag spacer. Newell parts are never standardized as far as the sizing, and this is something you have to play around with. Next you have the graphite star. If your star breaks, or you do not like the look of this star, you can change it out with the Penn 505 star which has the same threads. You can also use the Pro Gear pacifica 2000/2500 stars which come in a number of color also. You must remember that when you go to these thinner stars, that you need more of those thin drag spacer washers to take up the space created here. This is something that takes time to master if you want to set up your reels with these stars. Next you will find a thin belleville style tension washer which keeps pressure against the star from backing off. Sometimes, after you install the HT-100 washers, you may not need this belleville. No loss here. They are prone to cracking and rusting if not cared for. Earlier P and blackie models came with the ss waffle style washers. These also are prone to crack, but are nice to work with if you have little space between the star and handle washer. You should replace this with the latter thin style bellevilles if you fish your reels hard. Next is the ss handle washer. On most reels these are the thicker type. Get a dremel and make two indentations in the middle hole on this washer. This allows them to come off easily without them getting hung up on the c-clip. I for the heavens do not know why Carl made this change on this part. His original reels came with a nice handle washer which just popped off! Just dremel it out, and you will have the same part here. Finally the handle, plastic nut washer, and finally the ss nut cap. The plastic nut washer comes in two colors, white and red. The thinner red is much easier to work with since it has a shorter lip. The white went onto the latter engraved reels and is a pain to work with. The ss nut came in two types, the earlier shorter neck ones, and the latter long neck type. If you use the white plastic nut washer, make sure you are using the latter long neck ss nut cap. It just makes life much easier when you cinch this all down.

FRAME 8-

Dremel tooth with aluminum oxide bit and right side plate, along with drag spacers.

Newell reels were known for having such tight tolerances. Problem is that his drag spacers sometimes bind in the right side plate hole where it sits. You have to open this hole up slightly. A rattail file is a nice tool, but the dremel does the job quickly and cleanly. I cannot tell you how much this little trick will eliminate any binding when you turn the handle. To check for binding, just see if the drag spacer falls off the bridge sleeve when you flip the reel over. You can also check for binding when you turn the handle and the star is cinched down, and it takes more pressure to turn the handle. Get the dremel, and open up the hole. See if the spacer just falls through, and if it does, your done.

Assemble your reel, check for grinding sounds, rubbing and binding. Make sure all screws are tight.

CLEANING TIPS:
Use Reel-X on the bearings, and Corrosion on any other metal parts. Clean plates with WD-40. Clean rings with a metal tooth brush and clean off with WD-40.

GOOD LUCK!

EC NEWELL MAN*

 

[togmaster]

THE FINISHED PRODUCT>>>>>

hi guys Ec spend many hours with me to write this article. I know the board is light because of fishing season coming to an end. But this is a valuble piece of advice so use it well and don't let the post fall to the archives for a while.the lube part can be done on all reels so you can pick up things besides just on Newell's thanks mike

 

[Leprechaun]

Thanks to you two

First of all, Big thanks to TM and ECNM for taking the time and effort to further our knowledge of the super-tuning of these excellent reels.

I held back my comments on that other thread regarding Newell (Difficult to tune - no quality, ect) vrs other available reels. Since I own at least 7 (Or is it 8 now?) of all the various letter and no-letter series, I can say that without a doubt once you fish one of these in our inshore fisheries - fine-tuned if you wish, no other reel can measure up. I know of no alternative that combines the light weight, ease of disassembly, corrosion resistance and cranking power that these reels have. Even the current S-series are normally fine right out of the box. Much of the chatter about quality issues originates on the West Coast, where these little Squidder and Jigmaster-sized reels have been routinely used to beat the heck out of good-sized albacore, YFT and BFT for better than 20 years. In that super-demanding application every ounce of performance is positively required and frankly I believe there are better, newer choices in reels that can be better suited - the Shimano Trinidads, Progears, Accurates and the newest Avets all are very recent designs and I would think, stronger choices in that fishery. All of them are double or treble the cost of the Newells however, which is another reason that the mate's reel-of-choice out there remains the Newell.

In our EC less demanding INSHORE fisheries, there is just no fish that can stress these reels like that WC offshore stuff can. Come on, no bass, I don't care if its a 60+ is gonna put the strain on a little 229 that a 45lb YFT can. Just not gonna happen. As far as our inshore bottom fishing goes - there is no other reel that I'd rather hold all day than an all-graphite 220 or 229 Newell. Just the most comfortable, powerful and ergonomically correct reel available.

The tuning thing is not really a necessity, they normally fish fine right out of the box. But for the little "Extra edge" that many look for, both hard fishermen and tinkerers, the above tips will certainly increase the overall utility of the reels.

Here's another tip that I have found useful upon occasion - and this pertains only to the earlier reels that had the SS bearing carrier in the right-side plate.

Many times on free-spooling or casting there would be a very slight "Tinking" noise coming from deep inside the reel and this is often mistaken for a spool-to-sideplate rub.

Not the case. Unless the reel was dropped and the frame bent slightly, Newells do not normally suffer from that frame-to-spool malady.

What that tinking actually is is a slight rub of the spool's pinion engagement blocks on the retracted pinion gears trailing edge. Its not a bad thing, just a bit annoying.

I initially tried to adjust this out by manipulating the dog mechanism, bending the tangs fwd and back, attempting to physically push (Pull, actually) the pinion gear further into the sideplate and away from the spool.

Not real successful. The solution was to unscrew that Rt-side bearing carrier and remove the little red washer (Part number U-2) and gently sand it on fine emory cloth to about half its original thickness. On reassembly the bearing carrier will now sit a few thousanths deeper into the side plate and will therefore push the spool just a wee bit further away from the pinion, thus eliminating that source of inteference.

I think WAY back when, like 15 years ago I can recall Newell offered those little washers in a few different thicknesses, they even might have been different colors, I really can't recall. The purpose of those different washers was to accomplish just what I suggested above - moving the spool in and out, relative to the retacted pinion gear.

This tip probably will not apply to about 99% of the reels out there, but if yours "Tinks" on freespool, this is the cure.

Oh, and by the way - Based on a tip the ECNM gave here in an earlier thread, I got 3 of those custom Delrin handle knobs from Jerry "Reelman" for my tog reels - various 220's of different vintages and they are GREAT - well worth the few bucks that Jerry charges. I highly recommend them as an upgrade.

ECNM/TM - as to tip #1 - do you recommend that the SS clicker upgrade be done on reels that have the graphite spool? It was my understanding that the very hard SS clicker tang would destroy the little plastic clicker cogged wheel on the spool-end in short order. If this is not the case, let us know, that's just another opportunity to talk with the very friendly Norma out there in Glendale and to spend more lira on my favorite hobby.

Last time I spoke with her, Carl was standing next to her desk and she put him on the phone and we shot the bull for about 20 minutes. What a friendly, nice guy he is. Definitely made my day. Don't get to talk with a successful reel-inventing icon every day, that's for sure.

BTW - he says the "New" P-series will be out in about 3 months. They have all the old aluminum die-casting gear out of storage and they're working away on getting these new "Old" reels to market.

How many are YOU buying?

 

[togmaster]

Excellent post

that was right on the money the lep!
The red washewr you're refering to is actually a spacer. there were many diffrent colors and thickness's to bal, the spool. I had Daryl from Newell walk me through the problem your refering to and corrected it by doing the same thing you did but with diffrent size spacers. They no long use them. There is a new material which Ec uses in place of the sealed bearings which is hard to get. they were custom made for him and with these bearings the Newells are unbelieveable. maybe when we get more or try anf produce them will post it up and make them available? Good post again.

 

[623858]

Wow!!

Thx EC and Tog,
This info is priceless. I appriciate the hard work that you guys put into this. As I speak, I'm tearing my Newell apart! And thx to you guys with no problems.
I'm so excitted, I think I'm going to name my next offspring after you guys,
(Tognewell) ; )

 

[623858]

Thx EC and TOG.

Once again EC and Tog,
Thx for this thread. I serviced my Newell 332.5, following your inst with no problems at all.(I replaced the drag washers with HT-100 along with the Penn Bellvue washer.I plan to pick up a stainless steel clicker at a fishing show in the future) I was also supprised how dry the reel was inside! After lubing with corrosion-x and adding some blue greese to the main and pinnion gears, she's purring like a kitten. I was supprised how hard it is to buy Newell parts, you would think that they would have a website!
I was also supprised that you diden't get many hits on this thread. This stuff is priceless!

 

[Billy40]

How'd I miss this - GREAT POST!!!

I bought 2 332's and love them both, especially since they were given a lot of TLC by a Newell Junkie. I think more of my rods will see Newell's over the next couple of years.

Only problem I have, is that I cannot use the clamp with a size 20 Fuji trigger. And I did have to do a minor amount of filing to prevent the reel foot (actually the black plastic which surrounds the reel foot) from digging into the slots on the reel seat when I (over) tighten.

Well worth the bucks, just don't bid on the ones I that bid on EBAY, OK?

 

[bigbillybass]

help

guys either i'm too lazy or i can't get over my fear, but do you know of anyone who would perform this type of service with all the things you recoomend??

 

[619627]

If you are around Brooklyn, let me know and you can drop by with the reels and i could take a look at them....

EC NEWELL MAN*

 

[togmaster]

REPOST:

Someone pm'ed me to repost this for them. this is an older link on Newells so here it is good luck

 

[addict]

TM - Thanks!

I just bought a 229, so this will come in real handy.