Chronarch B buzz

[Swifty]

Hi there,

I recently replaced the frame and spool bearings in my Chronarch B (Abec 7 stainless under the drive shaft, Boca ceramics for the spool and pinion gear).

I greased the pinion gear and drive shaft bearings and used oil on the spool bearings (Hot sauce grease and oil)). All bearings are OK as far as I can tell.

The one thing that mystifies me is that the gears buzz slightly but noticably when flinging the handle. As if they need regreasing. Cranking is ultra smooth though, and the freespool is impressive (22 seconds, wow).

I only became aware of this buzzing because I recently tried a couple of new reels in a showroom, and noticed them being ultra smooth. Also, I cannot recall my Chronarch buzzed when it was new, although I do believe it buzzed before opening it up. The reel is just over 2 months old by the way, and has about 5 hours of fishing under its belt.

Canyone shed some light over this?

[ballistik]

Try putting a couple drops of oil on the left side of the spool. Yes the break side. Put the oil on the tips of the breaks. I will cast smoother and quieter and the breaks work better. This is recomended by shimano. And it cast much better.

[Swifty]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't have any problems with casting.

The buzzing occurs when the spool is engaged and i give the handle a flick. while the handle turns about 10 times, the buzzing is audible and feelable. It definately souds like the main/pinion gear.

I'll try oiling the spool/brakes though, and see whether that helps.

[DougL58]

I had a disturbing buzz in my 50MG after a complete cleaning/relube and found it was the handle paddles spinning as I spun it. May not be your problem though.

[Swifty]

Try putting a couple drops of oil on the left side of the spool. Yes the break side. Put the oil on the tips of the breaks. I will cast smoother and quieter and the breaks work better. This is recomended by shimano. And it cast much better.

I did that, but unfortunately it did not alleviate the problem. Any other ideas anybody?

[Bantam1]

Did you regrease the main gear? I suggest using our grease and not the "Hot Sauce" I'm sure people will get pissed about me telling you that. The gears sound to be dry, the main gear requires the grease and not the pinion. Grease approximately 1/2 of the teeth on the main gear. This will lubricate the gear set correctly and hopefull eliminate the gear noise that you speak of.

If this does not help then the gear set will need to be replaced.

[Swifty]

Dan,

thanks for replying. I did grease the main gear, first very sparingly, later a bit more. I'll do as you suggest, and try the Shimano grease. For what it's worth,the reel's performance is not affected. I went fishing this evening and casting and cranking were noiseless and smooth. got a 70cm (27.5 inch) pike too!

Has anyone experienced the same noise as I described while using Hot Sauce?

[dustlane]

Sounds like you need a new pinion gear to me. Sometimes you can't tell by looking at one, but the noise and feel you describe is a sure sign of a bad pinion gear.

[Swifty]

Yeah, that's what I fear as well. How is it possible though for a pinion gear to turn bad after just a couple of hours worth of fishing? Mind you, I did not even take the reel out for fishing with the Hot Sauce before this evening.

How bad is it to just keep fishing it? The stupid thing is, I work for Shimano Europe, in the Bike division. The Fishing division is on the same floor, about 30 meters from my desk. So although you would think a replacement pinion gear is easy to obtain, that's not the case. See, over here in The Netherlands, Baitcasting reels are hardly used. It's a genuine spinning reel country. Therefore, spareparts for the Chronarch are not even in stock! The people from the Fishing dept. will have to special order them from the US

[dustlane]

I, too, have had pinion gears go south after just a short time. Maybe it is a fluctuation in the material they make them from. Who knows. I have the same problem right now with a cheap Callisto. It may be a cheap reel but I really like it. It started making that noise and feel shortly after I got it. But I was using it pretty hard throwing 5" swimbaits and deep cranks. I made a call to Shimano and they are sending me one at no charge. Shimano is, by far, the best company in the industry for customer service. For that reason alone, I buy all Shimano products. Give Shimano USA a call and see what they'll do for you-especially since you are a Shimano employee. Good luck!!

[Bantam1]

Replace the gears as a set or you will continue to wear out pinion gears.
The pinion gear has the least amount of tooth surface area. You can distribute more load across the main gear than the pinion gear. Being that you work for Shimano you should be using Shimano grease If you have trouble obtaining the gears over there then let me know. I'll get a set over to you.

Car differentials are the same way. When you up the gear ratio the pinion tooth count will go down. This is why the higher the rear axle ratio = less strength. Although this does not really apply to fishing tackle because you cannot generate the tourque levels that a combustion engine can produce.

[Swifty]

Dan, you have pm

[dustlane]

Swifty, Bantam1 is right on the money. If at all possible, replace both the pinion and drive gears. Also, when doing your maintenance/lube, it is a good idea to mark where the pinion gear and drive gear mesh. That way you can put them back together the same way they came apart. Gears can wear "together" over time and if you don't line them up the same way when you reinstall them, you may get some new noises and the gears will wear alot faster. In may case, with the Callisto, it is actually my oldest son's reel. He told me not to worry about replacing the gears. He said I could just get him a new Core and he would be okay with that. Both of my sons have champagne taste with beer pocketbooks. But they love to spend my money. They say it is easier to part with my money than their own.

[Swifty]

Funny that

My son just turned three, but already wants to hold my rods as well, I'd better start saving up the way this is going...

[adamwstewart]

Dustlane,

What do you use to mark a greasy gear with? Does it really matter that much, because the pinion makes so many extra revolutions relative to the main gear--it's not as though a single tooth on the pinion is matching to a single tooth on the main every time around.

AWS