Arnold Kingpin problems

[Glosfisher]

I spent Thursday throwing maggots into an apparently lifeless River Avon somewhere betwixt Fordingbridge and Salisbury in the futile hope of hooking some suicidal fish. It was a very pleasant way to spend a day but I had a recurring problem with my Arnold Centrepin.

The ratchet would not engage when I flicked the lever whilst rebating or whatever and on removing the spool I discovered that the ratchet cog was loose on its mounting around the central bearing housing. I was somewhat non-plussed by this as it hadn't happened before and, although it was not essential to the day's activities, it was a bit odd. The ratchet would work its way along the central housing and so fail to engage the lever.

At the time I couldn't see any cause for this at all but all was revealed when I got the reel out to have a look at it on Saturday night. The ratchet cog refused to move on Saturday and it clicked perfectly and then it came to me. It was so cold on Thursday I reckon the metal of the main body (aluminium?) contracted more than the ratchet (steel?) and hence the ratchet was able to shift.

Does anyone else have similar experiences of misbehaving Kingpins?

 

[Richard Drayson]

Hi Glosfisher, well that's an unusual problem to say the least. I've never owned a Kingpin but it's very similar to a Swallow reel I used to own. I cannot remember exactly how the ratchet cog is fixed to the hub of the drum but it could be just an interference fit.

If this is the case, you may well be right in thinking that the ali hub has contracted in the cold weather and although it's been a long time since my days at technical college, I think ali has a greater coefficient of expansion that steel??? Maybe someone could confirm this?

If it was my reel I'd carefully loctite the cog in position with a drop of bearing adhesive.

 

[Wolfman Woody]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Glosfisher wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

Does anyone else have similar experiences of misbehaving Kingpins?</blockquote>

No.

Used mine in all sorts of conditions even with a coating of frost on it.

 

[Glosfisher]

<blockquote class=quoteheader>Richard Drayson wrote (see)</blockquote><blockquote class=quote>

Hi Glosfisher, well that's an unusual problem to say the least. I've never owned a Kingpin but it's very similar to a Swallow reel I used to own. I cannot remember exactly how the ratchet cog is fixed to the hub of the drum but it could be just an interference fit.

If this is the case, you may well be right in thinking that the ali hub has contracted in the cold weather and although it's been a long time since my days at technical college, I think ali has a greater coefficient of expansion that steel??? Maybe someone could confirm this?

If it was my reel I'd carefully loctite the cog in position with a drop of bearing adhesive.</blockquote>

Richard,

it is simply an interference fit and I suspect that it's a matter of a tiny difference in tolerance that caused the problem

Bearing adhesive, eh? Well you live and learn...

 

[Baz (Angel of the North)]

Haven't had a problem with mine either, summer or winter.

The only problem that I have heard of is when one chap brought his pin back to the shop because it wasn't working properly, I think it was sticking. Apparantly he had been lubricating it. I bought mine from new. Inside the box there is a label saying DO NOT ATTEMPT TO LUBRICATE THIS REEL. Not saying you have Glosfisher, but that's as much as I know about them.

 

[Glosfisher]

Continuing this year'stheme of fishing in "interesting" conditions, I spent yesterday at Barton Court where the trout did all they could to wreck any chance of catching anything non salmonid......

The reel behaved itself for much of the morning but the same problem developed in the afternoon as the temperature dropped once the rain cleared. It does appear to be caused by differential contraction and I'm off to find some bearing glue....

 

[Geoff Brown]

Might be worth cooling the reel (freezer?) and removing the cog so you can remove all traces of oil on both the cog and its mounting (using washing-up liquid and hot water if you don't have any contact cleaner/degreaser to hand).

For adhesive try Loctite271 Stud 'n' Bearing Fit.

 

[Glosfisher]

Geoff,

I've already done so and cleaned up the joining surfaces.

Thanks for the recommendation of Loctite 271 but as neither surface is threaded should I rather be using something like Loctite 638 Retainer?

 

[Geoff Brown]

271 is fine for non-threaded parts like bearings according to the blurb, but it does seem 638 is the better choice. Might even buy some myself, thank you!

You could of course try a 'superglue', and in that case I'd probably assemble the parts and let the glue get drawn in by capillary action. The problem with superglues is they don’t generally like cold temps and they have poor shear strength, but if you have a bottle handy might be worth a try?

 

[Glosfisher]

Threadlock applied, problem sorted.

Thanks for all the help

 

[Richard Drayson]

Glad to hear your reel is fixed.