Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Team Daiwa Luna  203 ~ also same as 253


Lets try and do this so it can be understood, this is my first tutorial here at Alan's site..
The Pics were all loaded to Photobucket wrong (reverse order) and were all over the place.  I hope I have them in order enough to do this without pulling out the 3 or 4 hairs I have left on my head!!!
You can look up the Schematic at Daiwa Reels.  I don't have one in front of me, so cant write this and tell you Parts #  etc..   Bear/bare/beer with me... lol

The LUNA 203....


This is a very nice reel in the 200 size, there are several models & sizes, Left & right handed up to (I think) 300. It has the short shaft or true freespool and casts exceptionally well and has some decent drags to go along with it.
Although I do not like the cast control set up on the Left side plate.  It is a center-rotating dial that is hard to feel & turn and the mags inside that it adjusts are a PITA if they get off a cog or three on the dial gear. Which this reel had done, by way of the owner & friend working on it.. Not likely to happen otherwise...

Lets start with unscrewing the left side plate, they can be difficult at times or very loose.
This reel is used a lot in the surf and gets sand in it on a regular basis, But the owner takes pretty good care of it, so the plate was just about right in tension, but grindy with sand as I unscrewed it.


Inside the left plate we have the Spool bearing, Magnetic cast control system and the "c" clip that holds in the level wind.  Plus the left side of Spool & shaft.

We are going to take the Wire retainer off the bearing and 'replace' the spool bearings with New Ceramic #7 Orange Seal.   I will leave one side open on these new bearings to make regular service easier..




Here is a good example of the Different sized bearings in one reel. The Left side is the small 3x8x4 mm, the Right spool side is 5x11x4 mm..
The Bearing in Right side plate (top of Pinion gear fits into it)... (forgot to Mic it!!) sorry...
90% of small reels have standard 3x10x4 bearings on both sides.  Introduce the short shaft/true freespool newer reels and we now have 3 diff size bearings in the smaller reels & low Profile bass type... So make sure and measure.  
I may start a Word Doc with each reel and whether it has 2 or 3 bearings in the spool and the sizes of each?? Some day,    maybe.
OK ~  I will leave the cover off on one side of these.


Good soak in TSI 301, spin, soak and repeat...


I am taking off the threaded ring to clean the sand out and lube.


Clean all the sand out, wipe clean and re-lube with Marine grease. (anti-corrosion)


I have more to do with level wind, so I am going to the Right Side and opening it up, Normal Handle lock screw and handle nut, Star, and washers.  Nothing out of the ordinary to do this. Except there are only 2 screws after you get the handle & Start off.


Remove the Side plate..... Lay everything out in order that it came off.....


The Luna has a Right side Pinion Gear bearing (under the cap inside the cover). The shaft that goes through here is a dead shaft, all it does is put spool tension on the spool when you tighten the cap.
I will clean and lube it also, then put it back in...
Not in bad shape, like I said the owner does take good care with Maintenance on a regular basis...


Pull it out, clean, lube and replace...


This is how I lube the Anti Reverse Roller bearing.... I apply ReelX all the way around inside the bearing, then put the Main Shaft Sleeve back in and spin it for several rotations. I can feel the bearing loosen up and spin free-er as I do this.  Just my way of doing it.


Now I pulled the Main Drive gear up & out and this all needs to come apart and sand removed. Then Re-greased.  
I can feel the sand grinding as I move everything.
Surf fishing at its best!!


Everything laid out, cleaned and on to the Level wind now...


Just need to interject here.  
The Main Gear fits in this level wind drive gear.  Make sure it fits into the Studs on the nylon gear.  It has to fit flush, you can see the Nylon studs coming up into the gear as you reassemble when it done right...




Back to Left side for the Level wind... Now that I have both ends open to the Frame.
The "c" clip is on the left side, take it out, carefully, Keep a finger or?? Over it so it doesn't go BOING!!!  I hate small stuff that jumps!!


Unscrew the Level Wind Pawl cover, remove that. Careful not to drop the pawl out.  It will slide freely sometimes.


Remove the Pawl or pick it up off the floor, which ever applies..  J
This one was good and stayed in place.... If it is hard to get out, you can push on the Level wind side with a small pick.  That will help push it out enough to grab wit tweezers or pliers.


Now all the rest will come out of either the left or right side. Lay them out,


Clean well.  I lube all level winds with Oust Met-ol also,  Good light oil...


Don't forget inside the Pawl cover also....


Now the Main Shaft 'under' bearing, Many reels have a bearing under the Drive or main shaft, Some have a bushing.... But all need to be cleaned and greased. Stops wear, and improves ease of cranking the handle on or off a fish..


Few random shots as I do this, and lay all the parts out to clean & re-grease etc.
Under Bearing, Clutch assembly, Yoke, Pinion etc etc etc...








Now lets start putting things back together...  Start with the Clean and lubed level wind, Worm gear, cover, Drive gear, Pawl  etc.  










Here is a good pic of the Main Drive gear and how it fits on the studs of the Level wind Drive gear... Note the studs and hole they fit in on the Main Drive gear.. Make sure that is seated into the holes..  If you miss the drag stack will be to high and it may not even close up right......


The Luna has Woven Carbon Fiber washers.  So we are going to clean up the gear, the plates and also clean off the washers with dry towel.  Then Apply some Cals Drag Grease.






Now we have the Right side all back together,
Level wind back in – check!
Main Drive gear in studs.  – Check
Clutch assembly & pinion – Check.

Put the Shaft Sleeve in place.....


Last but not least, The part That always makes me nervous..
The Right side Spool bearing!!!  
Old one still on shaft. New Open sided Orange Seal Ceramic #7 sitting next to it ~ ready???


I made this set of pliers just for this task some time ago,  Tried to make a second pair with a pin shaft Welded to it to push the Shaft pin all the way out,,  Well that didn't work, the welding made he metal soft.  So the pliers went in the trash!!!!!   But this one still work great in getting the pin most of the way out... OK, Ok... Half way out... lol


After its pushed this far by my handy dandy pliers.  I use some needle nose vice grips to GENTLY twist and pull till it pops out....  
One touch of the newer aluminum Spool rim AND ITS TOAST  
The spool is impossible to get straight/round again, and they average $85 and more per Spool Assembly......
Here it comes !!!!


New open side Orange Seal bearing in place.  Good job....  Wheeww !!  lol


Don't forget to Grease Every Screw as it goes back in... Paint the interior and spool ends with very light coat of grease also...


Here is a pic of that Dead Shaft that goes through the  Right side plate and pinion gear


Put the spool back in. Screw on the Left side plate/cover..  Almost done now.  I can see the light!!!!   J   lol


Back to Right side and put on the Tension washers etc in the order they came off. The star, the handle and your DONE!!!  


All done and works super smooth and Spins for a long time....



Dont forget to GREASE THOSE SCREWS......   






.

Hi Nessie,

I just upgraded my 253 with Smooth Drag Carbontex washers, including the metal washers...you maybe already aware but I thought I would show you the difference between the stock washers and the Smoothies..

Stock washers below



Smoothies..



Other pics on my post..

this is all good stuff

nicely done!  i missed it though.  were you able to pack the pinion gear bearing with grease? 

Quote from: alantani on June 16, 2011, 05:01:40 AM
nicely done!  i missed it though.  were you able to pack the pinion gear bearing with grease?  

Yes I did Alan...
This was a pretty hit miss photo Tutorial.  Several steps & detail missing...
I normally take pics of each step with explanation..
Try to show it step by (Alan Tani) step..  
Been following yours for over 6 years..    

I was in a hurry and this started as a show & tell for a friend...
Figured I had enough to do a rough Pic Tutorial.. So posted it, knowing it was lacking.

I now have the Bearing Packer and next time Ill start it as a real tutorial and show the Packer at work also..

CLEM....   
Thats very good to know. 
I deal with Dawn quite a bit and had no idea her Plates were larger..
I will recommend that upgrade to customers from now on..



.

Great Post

Just had two luna 300 in for service, noticed small cracks in the frame at both reels. The customer had obviously been tightening  the screws to much, or overstressed reel otherwise. So be careful with the Daiwa CNC cut frames.  Think Alan had the same problem on a Saltiga.

sure did!  and it was painful......

Oh wow!! 

Wasnt the Saltiga problem caused by Grease and no escape when screw was tightened down in hole???

That little reel doesn't generate that much drag pressure, @ 15lb at its highest. I'm wondering if it's just a bad design . But then again, what do I know.

actually, i was thinking that 15#'s would be pretty good for a reel this size.  it would be like hanging a 15# downrigger weight on the reel and then making someone hold it up for an hour. 

Quote from: Nessie Hunter on November 10, 2011, 06:34:18 PM
Oh wow!! 

Wasnt the Saltiga problem caused by Grease and no escape when screw was tightened down in hole???

yes and no.  i never received any formal mechanical or engineering training.  i put grease in a blind screw hole and got what i deserved.  on the flip side, other's have just greased the screws and fell victim to the same BAD design.

Quote from: Clem on June 15, 2011, 12:26:57 PM
Hi Nessie,

I just upgraded my 253 with Smooth Drag Carbontex washers, including the metal washers...you maybe already aware but I thought I would show you the difference between the stock washers and the Smoothies..

Stock washers below



Smoothies..
Hi Nessie and Clem
I got a set of metals for the drag for my ABU 6500 from Jack Erskine. They are ground flat on both sides and are also thicker than the standard ones. Also got a Cal`s top plate for my Torium years ago.

Other pics on my post..

i put grease in a blind screw hole and got what i deserved.  
[/quote]

Hi, it should be ok entering smaller amounts of oils in blind screw holes, as grease have compressibility. In the theory the compressibility might even works as loctite.

But I would not experiment with this, as the compressibility is limited to 1% pr 500 psi applied. 

I know this an old thread, but I'm wondering if anyone has any info on the durability of the main gear on this reel? I have the Millionaire-S that is almost the same only with a lot of bushings. I have put 3 HT-100 jigmaster disks in it and am just wondering if I need to worry about stripping the brass gear (brass gears are the devil.)
Ron