avet sx rebuild

[alantani]

i've got photos of several avets that i'm going to post. i will start with the sx tear down because it's the one that i took a complete set of photos for. go to the avet website for schematics. you can also call them for any parts that you might need. the tear down on these reels is one of the most simple lever drag tear downs i know.

a local kid brought this reel over. it was fine. he was just looking for a little more drag.





pulling the right side plate off takes only two screws (key #31).



remove the right side plate and spool as a unit, then set it aside. let's take a look inside. the most common avet problem in the last half dozen reels i worked on was a stuck clicker assembly. this one is fine. if your's is stuck, drop a little corrosion x on it from both sides and work it, or let it soak. then slap some grease on top.



the screws (key #56) of the reel seat of this particular reel were already greased. check your reel, because that may not always be the case.



now to the guts of the reel. remove the preset knob and spring (key #'s 41 and 42). you'll have to hold the spool shaft on the other side. leave the lever exactly where it is and don't move it.



it comes apart pretty easily at this point. um, this is good and bad. for the photo, i've put the spool shaft back together so that you can see the bellevilles (key #5), the pusher bushing (key #6), the left spool bearing (key #7), the spool tube or bearing sleeve (key #8), the right spool bearing (key #14), two spool washers (key #16) with a spool spring (key #15) in between, and the brake bearing (key #17). note that i've already changed the configuration of the belleville washers from "()()" to "(())".



now, on to the drag washer. this one's clean as a whistle, front ....



.... and back.



i've applied a thick coat of shimano drag grease to the inside of the spool and to both sides of the drag washer. the purpose is to protect these surfaces from salt water intrusion. apply enough grease to prevent water from getting in between the drag washer and the spool.



now wipe all the excess grease. and i mean all of it! when you're done, you should be able to look at a greased washer and a dry washer and not be able to tell the difference.



lube the bearings with corrosion x. i've noted that some of the bearings have shields and some are open. either way is fine.



now put it all back together again



slide the spool shaft back through the side plate, hold the spool shaft on the left side and re-install the preset knob.



grease the screw holes, put everything back together.....



.... and watch it spin!



now, you will recall that this reel was brought to me because the owner wanted a little more drag range. to acomplish this, i changed the belleville configuration from "()()" to "(())". the result was interesting. with every click of the knob, the drag increased predictably, going from 2.5 pounds, to 4, to 6, then 8, 10, 12, then it jumped to 15 and then to 18 before i finally lost freespool. yup, 18 pounds of drag and i still had 45 seconds freespool!



the problem was that at 10 pounds of drag, i started noticing a lateral load on the right side plate bearing. the handle became increasingly difficult to crank. so from a practical point of view, 10 pounds is still the maximum drag setting that you can use. come to think of it, i should probably get this reel back and changed out the bellevilles again. there's no point in having anything more than 10 pounds of drag at strike. i'm sure the engineers at avet had already thought this through. still, it was fun to do, even just this once!

nice reel, but it holds some surprises. more on that later....

[dman25]

Surprises you say?

[Gandy Dancer]

alantani ive noticed with my sx the day i got it that in the strike position the handle becomes harder to crank.. is this a problem or just the way they are??kinda feels like im reeling agianst the drag

[alantani]

the first thing i'd check is the right main side plate bearing. can you take a look and let us know?

[dman25]

So what's up with the surprises you mentioned Alan? BTW I got my TLD handle today! This thing is awesome!

[Fluka Brasi]

alantani ive noticed with my sx the day i got it that in the strike position the handle becomes harder to crank.. is this a problem or just the way they are??kinda feels like im reeling agianst the drag

Ditto. Pretty sure it just the way it's designed. I've checked a lot of display reels at shops and they are the same way. Bad design IMO.

[Gandy Dancer]

fluka its a shame i love the reel i was hoping it was somthing i could fix. but if thats the way they are designed it will be my last one

[trowpa]

fluka its a shame i love the reel i was hoping it was somthing i could fix. but if thats the way they are designed it will be my last one

I have an SX and it really doesn't bother me. I use 17lb mono, so I don't need to have the drag set to high. The effect increases if you tighten the drag towards the max. So I can see where this could be annoying if using 50lb braid or something on the reel. However, the reel is designed for 12-20lb test, so you'd be operating outside its intended purpose (not that it can't handle it!)

I'm new to lever drags, but its my understanding that this is true of ALL lever drags to some extent - some may be more apparent than others. I think i do recall there is technically a way around it via tapering of some of the hardware, but i'm not sure if its practical.

I'm sure Alan can enlighten us.

[alantani]

i just bought a set of accurate two speeds, starting with a pair of 870n's and 870's, and going all the way up to an atd 50. this was the reason.