Drag not working properly

[Royce]

Long story short...A member donated this nearly new reel to our fundraising efforts but the click type drag does not appear to be working properly. I'll try to explain the issue the best I can. The attached pictures might help you understand what I'm trying to say.

As I understand it, the way this type of drag works, the 2 small, roughly triangular shaped pieces near the top of the springs are used to set the reel for either right or left hand retrieve. That seems to be working correctly. (Presently set for left retrieve.)

When the drag button on the face of the reel is turned for more or less drag, the silver "rounded triangle" at the bottom, between the 2 springs applies a bit more pressure to the spring to increase or decrease the amount of drag. The problem seems to be that when the drag button is turned the springs simply push the silver piece right back to the center so, in affect, the drag can't be adjusted. Did any of that make any sense?

I realize, this type of drag doesn't REALLY allow for that much actual drag adjustment but there should be some adjustment. Anyone have any thoughts on what is causing this and what I can do to "fix" it? Thanks.

[gerri]

Hi Royce,
I notice that the reel is an LLBean. They have very good customer service and can either make the repair for you or send you a replacement. Sometimes DIY attempts at repair can null and void whatever warranty the item has.

[Royce]

On gerri's advice, I called LL Bean. While the person I spoke with tried to be helpful, there wasn't much he could do. This is an LL Bean "Angler" reel with the click & pawl drag. They replaced this with the "Angler II" reel with a disk drag a few years ago and he wasn't aware of any way to actually tweak this drag.

Not a big deal. As I said, this was a donation by one of our members for our upcoming banquet and as a rule there really isn't much adjustment with click and pawl drags anyway. If we don't get it working any better than it is now we aren't out too much.

[saltydancindave]

Could always engage both pawls to try for more drag instead of just one; or take the drag egg off & turn the point, after loosening the phillips screw to engage farther up in the middle of the spring for more force on the pawl.

[tailingloop]

Looks to me like the reel might be assembled incorrectly. You might try reassembling so the pointy end of the silver part is pointed towards the center. At its limit of travel the pointy end would point to one of the black posts that secure the springs though it may still be possible to force it to the current position ( which looks incorrect to me). I don't think it should point toward the outside of the reel like shown in the image. Then the adjustment may work better.

[Captain_Mortis]

Tailingloop is correct, with the teardrop cam (pointy thing in the middle) pointing down, the drag springs are fighting against the direction you are attempting turn the dial. Remove the screw and turn the cam around so it points up. On another board there is post on how to configure the drag in detail with pictures, Right Hand Wind, Left Hand Wind, etc. Here is the link to the configuration. http://www.speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?p=1157217

[Royce]

Thanks everyone. Your suggestions seemed to do the trick.