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Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:43 pm
by bigfishslanger
I have had a Calais 200DC for 4 years and it is a great reel but not as smooth as it was. Would replacing the main/drive gear and pinion gear remedy this? I sent it in to Shimano last year for service and tried to get them to put in new gears but I don't think they did. I used the "free service" coupon that came with the reel. I saw a site I could get these kinda cheap. Don't want to sell it on ebay. I want to keep it and have it smooth again.

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:49 pm
by Zimbass
Would be very surprised if the main and pinion gears are worn in any way. Had mine for 10 years and still as smooth as the day it was made.

Maybe worthwhile getting your reel service man to give it a once over, if you don't do it yourself. Otherwise you will be wasting money on parts that are unlikely to be worn.

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 10:56 pm
by jeb
bigfishslanger wrote:I have had a Calais 200DC for 4 years and it is a great reel but not as smooth as it was. Would replacing the main/drive gear and pinion gear remedy this? I sent it in to Shimano last year for service and tried to get them to put in new gears but I don't think they did. I used the "free service" coupon that came with the reel. I saw a site I could get these kinda cheap. Don't want to sell it on ebay. I want to keep it and have it smooth again.
I have the same issue. What really brought it home was buying a 2nd one last year. The new one, while still not as smooth as, say, a Gen2 Revo Premier, is much smoother than my 4 year old one. Calais DC's are just not overly smooth reels to begin with, especially retrieving under load. But I do think mine, like yours, is showing some gear wear. I need to break both of them down and swap parts to figure it out, I guess.

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 1:49 am
by bigfishslanger
I have bought main gear and pinion for TDZ that engaged when I cast that never was right again. I wasted money on those parts and never got it back on ebay when I sold it. Dont want to replace if not neccessary. I figured someone on here would know why reel in not smooth anymore. Yes you are correct it is really not smooth under load.

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:02 am
by hobobob
Try to contact Ian, e_bassfisher on this board. I swear I had a reel that was cursed and unfixable no matter what I do, he got it done and it's better than new. I am willing to to bet that's one of the few tough job that he had handled over the years. What can I say, the man is a magician when it comes to reel repair / super tuning.

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 8:48 am
by rubs96
I've had mine now for almost four years... still smooth after handling hard running steelhead and salmon.

Might be something wrong with it.

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 2:40 am
by Markanthony404
Too much lubrication will cause that, maybe shimano did not do a very good job of servicing it. A lot of guys think you need a tone of oil and grease to service a reel, but you only need a small amount. Yea I don't think the gears are worn out, if its not a lubrication problem more likely a bad bearing or something else. If you have some mechanical skill try taking it apart yourself but the calais is a little more difficult to service than other shimano reels. Here is a tutorial that shows you how. You prob won't have to do everything he does, just get the side plate off and report back.

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=895.0

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 5:22 am
by Bantam1
Gears do wear. With a tight tolerance reel like the Calais, any imperfection will be more noticeable. The reels also require annual maintenance. The gears require the correct amount of grease. Too little or the wrong grease will lead to premature wear of the gear set. Too much or too thick of grease will make the reel feel sluggish.

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:38 pm
by jeb
Markanthony404 wrote:Too much lubrication will cause that, maybe shimano did not do a very good job of servicing it. A lot of guys think you need a tone of oil and grease to service a reel, but you only need a small amount.
Agreed you can have too much or too little lube. But with my pair of DC's, I clean and lube them the same (regularly too), and there is a marked difference between them. Pretty sure it's gear wear based on how they feel.

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 1:16 am
by Markanthony404
jeb wrote:
Markanthony404 wrote: Agreed you can have too much or too little lube. But with my pair of DC's, I clean and lube them the same (regularly too), and there is a marked difference between them. Pretty sure it's gear wear based on how they feel.
I'v had my Calcutta TE for 10 years. I fish over 50 days each year and the gears still run smooth, there's a lot of other things wrong with it, but I can't complain she's been a workhorse. I'v had the threads strip on a spinning reel pinion gear but I have never had the gears simply wear out and not run smooth. I service them at least 1-2 times a year.

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 2:19 am
by Bantam1
The DC uses an aluminum main gear which is a harder material. This will transmit more feel when the gears wear.

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 2:44 am
by crankmaniac
Check the anti-reverse sleeve or the anti-reverse himself.I dont have a calais but most of the time after some use the anti-reverse sleeve start to be mark by the anti-reverse and that cause a less smooth operation. ;)

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:40 am
by buster 2900
I have a Calcutta TE 200DC I’ve used in saltwater for about four years. It developed a sort of silent ‘grainy’ feel on retrieve--like a slight vibration--and maintenance of the reel did not solve this problem. I ordered a new drive/pinion gear, and the reel is now as smooth as it was out of the box. I also replaced the bearing that supports the pinion gear.

I’d discount apples to oranges comparisons. A lot depends on the environment in which the reel is used and how often it is maintained. I use my reel in saltwater, and there is a lot of stuff in seawater besides salt, including sand and other mineral grit. And parts also do wear from normal use. I maintained the reel as often as seemed necessary, but the drive/pinion gear were worn out. It doesn’t take much wear to loosen the tolerances.

Don’t know the environment in which you use your reel, but if it were me I’d replace those gears, particularly in view of the cost of a DC reel. The Calcutta DC reel has brass alloy drive/pinion gears, and the parts together are under $20. The bearing supporting the pinion gear is only a few dollars. Like I said, this nearly $500 reel is now as smooth as it was out of the box four year ago--well worth the <$20 fix.

For the Calais 200DC the cost would be about the same. The parts I ordered for the Calcutta 200DC weren't indicated as available on the Shimano on-line parts listing, but I gave their Customer Service a call anyway. They had the parts. I think maybe their on-line parts service isn't quite up and fully running yet.

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 6:20 pm
by Markanthony404
Bantam1 wrote:The DC uses an aluminum main gear which is a harder material. This will transmit more feel when the gears wear.
That would make sense , that's why I prefer brass gears in a baitcast reel over aluminum.

Re: Calais 200DC smoothing out?

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 6:21 pm
by Markanthony404
Markanthony404 wrote:
Bantam1 wrote:The DC uses an aluminum main gear which is a harder material. This will transmit more feel when the gears wear.
That makes sense , that's why I prefer brass gears in a baitcast reel over aluminum.