rebuild a shimano charter special

i've had several requests to post a thread on this reel.  last month i had two come through, so i shot some photos. first, the schematic from shimano....

http://fish.shimano.com/media/fishing/SAC/techdocs/en/Conventional/TR_2000LD-ARB_v1_m56577569830570239.pdf

here's a stock charter special.  these reels had seen several years of service and were in pretty bad shape.  the handle turned easily on one but was rough on the other.  freespool time on one was only a few seconds, but that is par for most levelwind reels. the freespool was zero on the other.  both reels had pretty jumpy drags, even at a light setting.  not a good thing for salmon. 



the first thing to come off is the lever assembly, including the pre-program dial (key #115), the dial spring (key #82), the lever shaft body and "O" seal (keys #116 and 10), the drag control lever (key #117) and the lever thrust ring (key #84).



remove the lever quadrant (key #121) and screws (keys #19, 20 and 21).



back out the five side plate screws (key #122) and remove the right side plate as a unit.



remove the spool assembly as a unit.



note the wear marks on the right side of the spool. 



it is a common problem for these graphite frames to "swell."  i use a dremel and the cutting bit #117 to cut away at the inside of the graphite frame, just enough so that the spool doesn't rub.



add a little grease to the metal clicker assembly (keys #140 and 209).



remove the spool cap and drag pressure plate as a unit.  note the reverse threads.



here's a photo of the original canvas drag washer next to a penn ht-100 drag washer (part #6-5600).  use a dremel to hand cut the inside hole to match the stock canvas shimano washer. 



back out the four click gear screws (key #135), remove the click gear (key # 134) and the main shaft assembly.





the shields of the three spool bearings can be removed and you can see the dried grease inside.



after cleaning out the grease with carb cleaner and compressed air, the bearings can be lubed with corrosion x or reel x.



switching out thin pre-load washers (bellevilles) for thicker ones will ramp up the drag pressure more quickly and give you a higher drag at strike before you lose freespool.  the thin preload washer B's (key #44) on the right will be switched out for the thicker preload washers from the shimano tld 20/30 two speed reels (part # tt-0040A).  the orientation of these belleville pressure washers remains "()".



interestingly, the thickness of the stack of thin bellevilles....



is about the same as the thick bellevilles....



here is the reassembled washer stack with bearing. reinstall the spool shaft assembly, the click gear, the two right side spool bearings (keys #213) and spring (key #37).



those of you that prefer a dry drag can either re-install a new canvas washer (part #tld-0129) or use a the penn ht-100 without grease.  my preference remains to grease this washer using shimano or cal's drag grease, applying a thick coat to both sides of the drag washer.



install the gooped up washer.



wipe off all the excess drag grease until drag washer basically looks dry.



now, just a side bar comment.  note the rubber gasket of the spool cap....



and the metal lip on the drag pressure plate assembly.



when the drag lever is at strike and the reel is engaged, this metal lip mates up with the rubber gasket and seals up the drag chamber to keep water out.  the take home message is this.  rinsed off your shimano lever drag reels in the "strike" position.  all other lever drag reels should be rinsed in "free."

here's an example in the second reel that was probably rinsed with the lever in the "free" position.  note the rust in the right spool bearings. 



install the pressure plate assembly.



install the spool cap and pinion gear.



install cross pin B (key #50) and place the spool assembly back into the frame.  the spool should slide easily back into the frame. 

IF THE SPOOL DOES NOT SLIDE EASILY BACK INTO THE FRAME, ROTATE THE SPOOL SHAFT 180 DEGREES AND TRY AGAIN. 

this works.  i have no frickin' idea why!

now, this reel felt like a coffee grinder when you turned the handle.  this rusted right main side plate bearing (key #212) is the reason.  to get the to bearing, you have to remove the handle. 




remove the handle lock screw (key #1), the handle lock (key #2), the handle nut (key #3), the gear shaft shield (key #5), the gear shaft thrust washer (key #6) and the main gear (key #8).  the dog (key #26) and the brake collar (key #190) will fall out as well.



pry out the right side plate bearing.





the old bearing was too badly rusted, so i pulled out a new one....



and packed it with heavy grease.



reinstall the new bearing and dog.



install the main gear, the rotate the dog clockwise until the gear "drops" into place.



install the handle assembly.



install the brake collar.



reinstall the right side plate.



install the quadrant.



install the lever and pre-set dial.  make sure the lever is in the free position and drop the lever shaft body into the lever so that they mate up. 



there are several handle options available.  be creative!





the spools of both reels will now spin easily.  both of these reels have only 5 seconds of freespool, but that is because of levelwind mechanism.  without the levelwind assembly, the spools probably would spin for 30 seconds.  both now have a max drag at strike of 15 pounds before losing freespool.  and both have a smooth drag from 1 pound up to 15 pounds.   the total time required for service, including time to clean out the bearings, was an hour. 

great stuff!

when do you grease bearings and when do you oil them?

my limited experience says grease for protection but less speed, oil for more speed but less protection.