Bearing pins. Replacing the bearings.

[Richard Isaacs]

Hi Ralph,

Yep the bearings are doing great. They are still silky smooth. I got the bearings from this supplier on Aliexpress, they’ve got a billion and one bearings on there. I think these are the ones.

Yes, the rear bearing sticks out a little from the central hub. Here’s a shot of the original rear bearing, you can see it’s not flush.
View attachment 30837

I would guess it’s probably different reel to reel. I measured it once the hub removed, 0.793 mm.
View attachment 30838

When replacing the bearings in the hub, I pushed the rear one in close to final position:
View attachment 30839

Then I made (hacked) a shim as close to 0.793 mm that I could get. As you can see quality British engineering
View attachment 30840

Clamping the hub down vertically on the shim got the rear bearing in the right spot.

Another thing to be wary of is of any distortion of the spool front plate when reattaching the hub (if you did a full dismantle). See the gap below between hub & spool:
View attachment 30841

If it’s significant, the spool will likely rub against the retaining nut and won’t spin well. Easily rectified but good to look out for.

If you do a full dismantle, photo, video and label EVERYTHING. That way you end up with a Haynes Manual you follow in reverse to put everything back. I labelled parts, small position markers, screws, you name it. Being anal helps.
View attachment 30842
View attachment 30847

I ended up doing a full resto on this reel during crappy weather when I wasn’t fishing. Turned out alright.

On arrival from fleabay:
View attachment 30844

Post fettling:
View attachment 30845
View attachment 30846

Hopefully this helps!

Beautiful job
Nicely done and great work

 

[Ralph Harris]

Hi Ralph,

Yep the bearings are doing great. They are still silky smooth. I got the bearings from this supplier on Aliexpress, they’ve got a billion and one bearings on there. I think these are the ones.

Yes, the rear bearing sticks out a little from the central hub. Here’s a shot of the original rear bearing, you can see it’s not flush.
View attachment 30837

I would guess it’s probably different reel to reel. I measured it once the hub removed, 0.793 mm.
View attachment 30838

When replacing the bearings in the hub, I pushed the rear one in close to final position:
View attachment 30839

Then I made (hacked) a shim as close to 0.793 mm that I could get. As you can see quality British engineering
View attachment 30840

Clamping the hub down vertically on the shim got the rear bearing in the right spot.

Another thing to be wary of is of any distortion of the spool front plate when reattaching the hub (if you did a full dismantle). See the gap below between hub & spool:
View attachment 30841

If it’s significant, the spool will likely rub against the retaining nut and won’t spin well. Easily rectified but good to look out for.

If you do a full dismantle, photo, video and label EVERYTHING. That way you end up with a Haynes Manual you follow in reverse to put everything back. I labelled parts, small position markers, screws, you name it. Being anal helps.
View attachment 30842
View attachment 30847

I ended up doing a full resto on this reel during crappy weather when I wasn’t fishing. Turned out alright.

On arrival from fleabay:
View attachment 30844

Post fettling:
View attachment 30845
View attachment 30846

Hopefully this helps!

Hi Daniel,
You made a fantastic job of that reel and you really documented it well. Thanks for the links to the bearing supplier I think I will give it a go.
My reel does not have the clicker it just has the central drag. I only use the drag when not actually trotting, I.e. moving swims etc. other than that I want it as free as possible. In my case the bearing positioning is critical since it affects the operation of the central drag. There is only about half a turn from drag off to drag on. The drum has to be positioned so that when the drag is fully unscrewed the drum is totally free and when screwed in half a turn it clamps the drum.
To be honest the way I use the reel I would be better off with the clicker style rather than the drag but I’ve had it from new so I am used to it.
I did not dismantle the reel like you did, I only removed the drag which released the drum. Working through one bearing I knocked the other out. Then just using machine screws, washers and nuts I could pull the second bearing out and pull the new ones in. I’m hoping this technique will not damage the new ceramic bearings.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Daniel Jeffery]

Hi Daniel,
You made a fantastic job of that reel and you really documented it well. Thanks for the links to the bearing supplier I think I will give it a go.
My reel does not have the clicker it just has the central drag. I only use the drag when not actually trotting, I.e. moving swims etc. other than that I want it as free as possible. In my case the bearing positioning is critical since it affects the operation of the central drag. There is only about half a turn from drag off to drag on. The drum has to be positioned so that when the drag is fully unscrewed the drum is totally free and when screwed in half a turn it clamps the drum.
To be honest the way I use the reel I would be better off with the clicker style rather than the drag but I’ve had it from new so I am used to it.
I did not dismantle the reel like you did, I only removed the drag which released the drum. Working through one bearing I knocked the other out. Then just using machine screws, washers and nuts I could pull the second bearing out and pull the new ones in. I’m hoping this technique will not damage the new ceramic bearings.
Thanks for your help.

One thing I should have mentioned is that different AS reels have different bearings. The 5” different to the 4.5” (and probably 4”). I’m not sure about the drag version, so make sure you measure the bore, outer diameter & width as accurately as possible before ordering anything.

The second thing to consider is lubrication. In theory hybrid ceramic bearings don’t need grease (or very little). Some come with grease, some not. Part of the reason grease is added is to these reel bearings is to help dampen noise & low frequency vibration. The downside is it can increase the starting torque. I think the bearings I ordered are greased. I was more concerned with rumble than torque. You can remove the grease (lifting the shield and flushing with alcohol) but be prepared for rumble. Swings & roundabouts.

Like you I tried removing the bearings without dismantling, but I just couldn’t shift them. Even with the hub removed I had damn time knocking one of them out ( I don’t have a puller). In the end I stuck it in a pan of boiling water (hub aluminium, bearings steel - different thermal expansion) and popped one out. Once one out it was easy. Access to the hub does make reinstalling the bearings easy, just gently clamping it (keeping everything true) until it slides into place.

Not an easy job and the reason I bought a crappy old fleabay AS to test it on rather than ruining my user. That said it worked out great and the fleabay reel is now my user.

 

[Ralph Harris]

One thing I should have mentioned is that different AS reels have different bearings. The 5” different to the 4.5” (and probably 4”). I’m not sure about the drag version, so make sure you measure the bore, outer diameter & width as accurately as possible before ordering anything.

The second thing to consider is lubrication. In theory hybrid ceramic bearings don’t need grease (or very little). Some come with grease, some not. Part of the reason grease is added is to these reel bearings is to help dampen noise & low frequency vibration. The downside is it can increase the starting torque. I think the bearings I ordered are greased. I was more concerned with rumble than torque. You can remove the grease (lifting the shield and flushing with alcohol) but be prepared for rumble. Swings & roundabouts.

Like you I tried removing the bearings without dismantling, but I just couldn’t shift them. Even with the hub removed I had damn time knocking one of them out ( I don’t have a puller). In the end I stuck it in a pan of boiling water (hub aluminium, bearings steel - different thermal expansion) and popped one out. Once one out it was easy. Access to the hub does make reinstalling the bearings easy, just gently clamping it (keeping everything true) until it slides into place.

Not an easy job and the reason I bought a crappy old fleabay AS to test it on rather than ruining my user. That said it worked out great and the fleabay reel is now my user.

My reel is a 4.5 inch and the shaft is 3/16” and the bearing of is 1/2”. The reason I know the bearing position was critical is not because I thoroughly examined the reel before dismantling. I pushed the new bearing in flush when assembling ( the first time) and then found the drum was too low in the backplate so the drum and the backplate formed an unwanted lip where loose line would catch and possibly go behind the drum. Also the drag would not engage at all.
I now had my new bearings in the wrong place and did not want to work through one to knock the other out. I needed some sort of puller! I put a machine screw in my drill and filed down the head to just less than 3/16”, I filed the thread down behind the screw head. I could then pass the head through the bearing move it to one side so it caught on the bearing and pulled.
That did not work!
I removed the plastic handles put the drum in the oven, 100 degrees C, then pulled again and it popped out.

Thanks for the heads up about grease in the bearings, although I want low inertia, the river I fish the most has high flow and is deep so I use quite heavy floats so there is plenty of force to get the reel going.
I know that If I blow on the drum the drum moves, so I have a subjective test to check how easy it is to get the reel to spin.