Spheros SWA 6K Question and Report

[StriperFun]

Hi Bantam,

I'll ask the question first and follow with my report:

1) what is the factory spec "feel" for the Spheros 6K SWA in terms of lateral play in the reel handle. Trying to figure out how much adjustment/shimming is ideal on the drive gear. I have installed a set of replacement gears and put .68mm of adjustment washers on the drive gear. The reel feels good, light spinning, with some lateral play in handle but not a lot, but I don't want to damage the gears by fishing an overshimmed reel. I have digital calipers but probably no good way of measuring lateral play except by "feel" and sound e.g. clicking of gears when pushing in handle.

Lateral play=movement or sound when pushing and pulling the reel handle away/toward the reel case.

Thanks if you can advise.

Here's my report:

Got my second Spheros SWA 6K. Unfortunately, like the first one I got, this one was fairly geary out of the box with a very distinct feel of gear meshing. Fished it for a couple days and decided it was way too geary--very strong vibration composed of individual gear teeth meshing--and extremely annoying when retrieving anything without rod action. Annoying for the reel hand.

I opened the reel and measured the adjustment washers on the drive gear: .68mm total. There were three .20mm and what I'm guessing you'd call a .05mm washer but my cheap digital calipers are measuring them as .21 and .07, respectively. Some lateral play in the handle--pushing the handle in would generate a click. Tried a few combinations from .63 to .78 total thickness of adjustment washers, went out and casted lures with them, and while these adjustments produced differences in feel it didn't change the basic individual gear meshing vibration/feel. .71 was less annoying than .68 I would say and still lateral play in the handle. .78 there was virtually no lateral play.

I happened to have bought a pair of replacement gears for this reel a couple years ago so I greased those up and put them in the reel adding .68 total adjustment washer thickness. Free spinning the reel it felt light and slight grainy at points. There was enough lateral play to generate a click when I pushed on the reel handle. No gear mesh feeling at all. Took it fishing and it there was no gear mesh vibration just the slight graininess at points. This felt like what I have been told these reels should feel like--less refined, a bit of feedback from the gears due to the hardness of the material, etc. but not coffee grinder.

My first 6K SWA wasn't as bad as this second one and I just fished it as is accepting the geariness as it wasn't annoying.

[StriperFun]

Some guy said body defect could be source of the gear problem. How realistic do you think that is as a cause?

Only reason mentino it is if it could lead to these replacemnt gears to go south too.

[Slazmo]

Strip down the reel and check the bearing OD and the bearing cup OD - see if there is slop between those two surfaces - if there is either shim the radial surface or bearing retaining fluid.

Do this for the main gear and the pinion bearings.

Just a idea.

[Bantam1]

I can say that 99.9% of the time we do not measure shims in repair. We do all of it by feel. The gears in Spheros and the other larger SW reels have some slight gear feel to them because of the hardness of the gear materials used. It is normal to have a little gear feel. Even the Stella SW has some slight gear feel which is completely normal. If the reel was new I ask why didn't you send it back for warranty repair? That is why the reels come with a warranty.

I can't give you a measurement of the handle play as this is also something we check by feel. You do not want it too tight as the reel will bind under a load, or you will get excessive gear wear. I have measured the shims a few times over my 20+ year career and can say it was only for reels that were giving me issues trying to find the best adjustment. This is very, very rare. I have had to sand the spacers at times to get the feel I wanted.

I have never seen an issue with the body to cause bad gear feel. The only way that can happen is if the body is so badly warped, or the screws holding the frame and side cover together are loose. As with any mechanical object there are going to be tolerances. The gear teeth on the drive gear are forged and do not vary. The variance comes from the stem or hub the ring gear is attached to. There will also be some tolerances in the bearings, but typically very minimal. The bearing pockets on the frame and side cover are machined and can have some tolerance, but these are also very minimal. This is why there are shims used to adjust for it.

I can say we almost never adjust the spacers for the pinion gear. The pinion depth is pretty much set. The spacers simply eliminate any possible play. The only time I have ever seen the spacers change is when the tolerance of the frame machining varies in production and the factory adds or reduces the spacers to compensate for it. If replacing the gear set, we never alter the factory adjustment on the pinion gear and bearings.

[StriperFun]

Bantam,
Thank you so much for your lengthy and informative reply. Really appreciate it. As to why I didn't return for warranty claim it's sort of a combination of things my expectations were low for the reel based on my previous 6K SWA. And based I felt there was a good chance the claim being rejected based on my past experience. But now having tried these replacement gears and seeing how they feel perfectly satisfactory, I would probably have sent reel in right away b/c the difference is pretty profound.

Thanks again for your informative reply. Really interesting and helpful.

[StriperFun]

I tried .60, .62, and .66 on this 6K using the replacement gears I installed and yamalube which is the grease I have on hand. .60 was a little loose it felt very light turning. Added a thin washer to get to .66 and that felt a little tight--didn't catch a fish on it just retrieving lures felt tight. Then tried .62--some of these .20 washers measured out to .21 so I was able to combine those slightly larger ones to get to .62. This felt pretty good. So leaving it there.

Mentioning the adjustment thickness totals just to give sense of the relative change between these adjustments.

[Bantam1]

The grease may alter the feel of the reel. We only recommend our lubricants for the record. I am glad you got the reel adjusted to your liking.

[StriperFun]

Bantam,
Followup question on this: I was able to combine adjustment washers to get a .65 total thickness and tried that. It felt fine except that when the handle passes from about 2 o'clock to 11 o'clock there's a geary sensation. I tried greasing the gears which muted the sensation but definitely still there.

I'm curious what this might indicate and if you have any suggestions on things to try to alleviate it? I mark the drive and pinion gears so when I put them together the gears mesh at the same point.

I switched back to the previous adjustment thickness but was just curious if there is anything I should try at that tighter tolerance setting which did seem to benefit the feel of the reel except for this geary patch in the handle rotation.

[Bantam1]

I would drop the spacer dimension down a little. More than likely it's a hair too tight and the grease is just masking the feel.