# Penn squall annual maintenance?



## BPReeds (Jan 11, 2013)

Hi you all, for you squall owners, penn says to preform an annual maintenance on our casting reels, but they don't say what we are suppose to do.....I have a squall 12, in fine shape, should I pull off the end plates and what, regrease?...would rather do the maintenance myself then take it to somebody....but its my first conventional.....so not confident yet....


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## hunter1 (Jul 31, 2009)

Spinning reels i have no problem with self maintenance.Espeacilly with penns. But yrs ago i tried it on a penn long beach 60.Man there are a lot of parts.I missed putting in a dog i think.For the money and piece of mind i take my conventional reels to somebody that repairs reels.complete clean ups, grease, and new drags if needed. The only thing i do with them is keep them oiled and clean during the season.


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## Alexy (Nov 1, 2010)

You can download the schematic from penns web page if you need it. The Squal 12 and 15 are very easy to maintian and I would just suggest taking the side plates off and if you do not see and sand/crud in there to just wipe down wash and re oil the bearings with a good light reel oil. Only thing to remember is the thrust bearing will come out in 3 pieces just remember the order it came out and you will be fine. They are really hardy reels and take little maintinance to keep running. If you want to upgrade the bearings or tear one up go here: http://www.smoothdrag.com/ they carry both drags, bearings and washers for Penn reels, although Penn has gotten MUCH better as far as customer service in the last few years.


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## Orest (Jul 28, 2003)

I do my own maintenance on my Penn 525 mag and Penn Squall 15.

Piece of cake.

Go slow and if you have a digital camera take picture as you go for reference during re-assembly.

Layout parts and washers in the order you took them off and/or apart from the reel.

Take some notes to aid in re-assembly.


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## Seahawk (Oct 3, 2013)

Here a link to a step-by-step pictorial of maintenance on the Squall 12, unfortunately without descriptions: http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=5939.0

This is a link to a video tutorial of service maintenance on a Penn Squall 30 Lever Drag reel that should give you a pretty good idea of what to do with your Squall 12. Aside from lever drag as opposed to star drag, most of the steps in the video should also apply to your particular Squall 12: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZJgy1tgKUs#t=51.

Before you start, be sure to download the appropriate schematics for your reel and have them in front of you when you begin servicing: http://store.scottsbt.com/PennParts/Conventional.aspx

Also, clean and degrease parts before re-greasing and lubricating. Use a good quality grease and oil as recommended by Penn instead of the bargain basement brands. Most times, cheapest does not equate to quality.


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## BPReeds (Jan 11, 2013)

OK guys, thanks....unless it gets dunked in salt water I'll leave the bearings alone for a few more years....I have too work up the nerve to take the side plates off, the digital camera is a good idea.....That guy that does the tutorials really seems to be a pro...more geared to the experienced reel repair people....


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## Seahawk (Oct 3, 2013)

BPReeds said:


> OK guys, thanks....unless it gets dunked in salt water I'll leave the bearings alone for a few more years....I have too work up the nerve to take the side plates off, the digital camera is a good idea.....That guy that does the tutorials really seems to be a pro...more geared to the experienced reel repair people....


Here's the Penn Squall 12 Owner's Manual recommendation for care and lubrication: http://www.scottsbt.com/catalog/store/images/pennparts/manuals/omsquallstar.pdf. Sorry I misinterpreted the level of maintenance you were referring to.

To me, and I'm sure many others, annual maintenance requires a complete breakdown of the reel. It would include inspecting gears for damaged teeth, drag washers for wear, bearings for smoothness or grinding from introduction of sand, interfacing parts for proper alignment etc. Then replacing any questionable parts with new, upgrading to carbon fiber drag washers if not already installed, degreasing metal parts to get rid of the old stuff that may have broken down or been contaminated by salt water, re-greasing and lubricating with a high quality grease and oil, changing out line for fresh stuff and spinning the spool to ensure balance etc. A person doesn't have to be a pro reel repair guy to do this, just taking your time and paying attention to detail. And, it's certainly far cheaper than the $40-$50 +shipping it would cost to send it to Penn to do the same work or having the reel fail when you've got the fish of lifetime on the line because you didn't take the time to inspect all the innards for damaged or worn parts. 

I understand the Squall is a great reel so good fishing and may the Force be with you, BPReeds.


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## BPReeds (Jan 11, 2013)

thanks, we could use a seminar from penn on maintenance of this magnitude....I think watching somebody do it once would be a big help...


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