I got my ebay reel today.....

[bigphil]

and it looked great. It's a penn 160. Well, got 3/4 of the way done with putting line on it and set it down to go cut a shock leader and as I walked away I heard a pop. Didn't think a lot about it until I came back and picked it back up to finish up the line and it wouldn't crank. The spool was tight as a drum so I went to get the screwdriver and came back to yet another pop. This time I saw the split all the way across one of the sides. :mad: When I got it apart I learned that the spool had split. I'll try to post pics later.

Time to email the seller and see what he says. I'll keep you updated. I have a feeling I'm out some money.

[Digger]

Sounds like a plastic spool. They will pop with Mono on them most every time. Just buy the AL spool from Penn. Oh we would put dacron or squiding line on those. At least some for backing.

[bigphil]

What about the side plate? Can I find a replacement for it?

[Digger]

Penn probably has them if not let me know I know a couple of other sources. Oh go to Penn Reels for the schmatic to get the parts list.

[bigphil]

Awesome info in your post Surf Fish. I'd say the reel is pretty old. The seller is going to send a replacement spool and sideplate. He was pretty understanding. I managed to locate a metal spool. You're right. It's basically what I payed for the reel in the first place (about $22). There is a guy selling them pretty cheap on Ebay, but he doesn't have the part # I need.

From now on (if I take a chance on another one), I'll only consider metal spools. This one was sort of an impulse bid anyway.

One thing I will say. This seller has a high rating and nearly 99% positive feedback. I'd say if he didn't I would be SOL.

[FishRung]

You might try
[deleted: No Commercial Links]
to see if they have the parts you need. Terry and Michelle are good to work with.

[Orest]

Clear your mail box.

[MacPE6]

Awesome info in your post Surf Fish. I'd say the reel is pretty old. The seller is going to send a replacement spool and sideplate. He was pretty understanding. I managed to locate a metal spool. You're right. It's basically what I payed for the reel in the first place (about $22). There is a guy selling them pretty cheap on Ebay, but he doesn't have the part # I need.

From now on (if I take a chance on another one), I'll only consider metal spools. This one was sort of an impulse bid anyway.

One thing I will say. This seller has a high rating and nearly 99% positive feedback. I'd say if he didn't I would be SOL.


http://www.mikesreelrepair.com/schematics has LOTS of schematics to get your part #. Then all you need to do is find someone with the part as it is an older reel.

[MacPE6]

http://www.mikesreelrepair.com/schematics/schematic.php?url=Penn/Penn%20155L,%20160L.pdf

[bigphil]

Clear your mail box.

It's clear.

[saltdawg]

It may have died of old age. I just started collecting a few Penn reels, and I'm no expert by any means, but I've learned a few things in the process.

First off, Penn reels seem to be on the ignore list of any serious reel collectors. They don't even mention Penn in manufacturers lists, more less collect them from what I've seen.

Second, it's very hard to date a Penn reel, because they made the same models for many years, and they didn't bother to document much or mark the reels in any way that allows them to be dated by just looking at the reel.

When you buy a used Penn reel on Ebay, or anywhere else, you have no way of telling if it's 10 years old or 60 years old in some cases. You can "guess" at the age based on a few things I've discovered.

Handle knobs changed over the years. The three in the picture are oldest to newest from left to right; the handle with pointed ends, on the left, is on a Seagate (as eary as the 1930's). It's made of wood which indicates it's probably pretty old. The second handle, on the 160 sitting on top of the box, has pointed ends (plastic), which indicates it's older than the third handle, which is on a Squidder, and is the typical rounded end plastic knob.

If yours has the pointed knob, it's probably pretty old.

http://amelia-island-fishing.com/images/junk/penn160.jpg

The second way to guess at age is by the price on the box, if the reel still has the original box.
This is a picture from a page of an old Penn catalog, which I think is from around 1963. The price of a plastic spool Beachmaster 160, which is what's sitting on the box, is $9.50 in the 1963 catalog, but the price on the box is $8.50, so I'm assuming this particular reel is older than 1963.

http://amelia-island-fishing.com/images/junk/penn1602.jpg

All of the old catalogs/ads/info I've seen was about nylon (braided) line, so Digger might be right, the plastic spools might not like mono, especially if they've been sitting in somebody's attic for 50 or so years....

I don't know what you paid for the reel, but a metal spool will cost you around $20 or more (if you can find one), and side plates $15 and up. I also saw a Penn service bulletin somewhere on the net the other day that talked about injection molded vs. some other kind of molding they tried (that didn't work) so it may be cheaper just to go back to eBay and buy another reel than to fix the one you have now. If you search for "Penn Sideplate" on eBay, you'll find a guy auctioning them but no pictures on anything he has and I've never bought from him so no recommendations to do so.

Probably your reel would still be fine if it was sitting on the shelf and you were looking at it vs. getting it ready to go fishing, so I'm not sure if it's a good idea to mention it to the seller or not. Feedback food fights get ugly and nobody gains much from them.... If it was a new reel from a store I'd be yelling for help, but in this case I don't think I would.
i was wondering if you know how to find the old sheet with the prices for the jigmaster 500 (white handle) thanks for any help

[damifinowfish]

I did the same thing with my frist penn 160. The old timer at the local tackle shop told me this. Mono stretches when you put it on tight, on the reel. Then when it returns to its original size it expands and cracks the side of the spool.

Just one theory

Damifinow fish

[al bundy]

thanks for the info surf fish.
i love looking at that old stuff...

[saltdawg]

This is from the same catalog, around 1963 I think....

http://amelia-island-fishing.com/images/junk/jigmaster.jpg
thanks a million surf fish