# 525mag: A love/hate thing



## Newsjeff (Jul 22, 2004)

I bought my first Penn 525mag in early September last year. I immediately fell in love with it. I've been able to get more distance casting with that reel than any other reel I've owned. 
That little reel has pulled in some big fish and some HUGE rays without a problem.
On the flip side, I've spent more time on the phone with Penn USA and the local authorized Penn repair shop than I care to think about. 
So far I've replaced three damaged eccentric levers (including two eccentric screws), a new frame, a gear stud and a handle nut. 
The problems with the eccentric levers (the little gizmo that you flip from free spool to retrieve) has been the most frustrating. Each time those parts have broken while I was on the beach. 
I took the reel to PA Distributors in January because it was running very roughly. The guy their (who I trust very much) said I needed to replace the bearings inside the frame. He said the only way to repair this was to replace the frame itself. I'm still not sure how the bearings in the frame were damaged. I had to replace the spool bearings because I had the tension knob turned too tight. My fault on that, and I'll take the blame. Maybe that destoryed the bearings in the frame, too???
Now this year. I went fishing a couple of weeks ago and the handle popped loose. When I took it apart, I realized the threads in the gear stud were stripped. So, I had to order another gear stud. I ordered a handle nut, too, just to be safe. 
I know I'm rough on my equipment, but that's a lot of problems in five months of fishing. 
Maybe I bought a lemon?  
Well, I do hear a lot of people saying Penn ain't what it used to be.


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## NTKG (Aug 16, 2003)

jeff i'll take a look at it for you like i told ya before brother. thats alot of stuff to be goin wrong though, tell penn about it. i know who your talkin about over there, he knows his stuff usually..... next time im down... i'll take a look, ask crawfish.... i can work on dem penns and diawas

neil


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## ribs54 (Mar 27, 2004)

*ntkg*

can you do anything to my diawa sealine x 30 to make it cast further?


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

ribs54 said:


> can you do anything to my diawa sealine x 30 to make it cast further?


Chris, have you tried the Red Rocket fuel?


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Jeff, I loved my 525 for pure castability but noticed that it needed alot more TLC than I am used to giving my reels.(Most others are Daiwa's) Now I got a Pro Gear but I will wait till it gets a good workout before I give it all the accolades(SP) that I gave the 525.


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

The biggest problem I had with mine (now sold) was that it had no line capacity. A decent cast would leave you with squat to fight a fish with.


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

What were you puting on it 20# test line? It holds 270 of 17 and I know you cant cast that good....


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## Shooter (Nov 14, 2004)

Gessss now Cdawg is telln Flea he cast like an ol lady?  Man this ought to be good


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

Shooter, Cdog's not busting my chops. He's just telling the truth. 

I used 17#, and I still didn't feel like there was reasonable line on that tiny spool.


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Guess it seems silly since I just got rid o one but they hold plenty o line as long as ya aint going for cobes. And Digger says he aint scared about that. I dont know, I caught my biggest drum on one so I think it can handle it.

BTW Shooter, shouldn't ya be welding or sumthing...


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## Newsjeff (Jul 22, 2004)

*P&S to the rescue*



> NTKG
> jeff i'll take a look at it for you like i told ya before brother.


Thanks, Neil. I hope to fish with you again real soon. 



> ribs54
> can you do anything to my diawa sealine x 30 to make it cast further?


Well, I was running one red brake block and one white last year. That helped with getting a little more distance. Over the Winter, I put Red Rocket Fuel on the bearings. Wow. Now I'm running two red brake blocks again.


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## Shooter (Nov 14, 2004)

Flea, Dawg knows if I aint busten his chops he would think somethang is wrong and Dawg if'n you keep messen with me I will weld the next custom sand spike to the hood of your truck


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## jjaachapa (Aug 7, 2004)

Newsjeff said:


> Thanks, Neil. I hope to fish with you again real soon.
> 
> 
> Well, I was running one red brake block and one white last year. That helped with getting a little more distance. Over the Winter, I put Red Rocket Fuel on the bearings. Wow. Now I'm running two red brake blocks again.


Hey Jeff sorry to hear all that about that Penn 525. I was there, those threads are shot. I thought your casting was just fine. But if you want to improve on your distance, do like I do......close your eyes and hope you get lucky. I just cast the dam thing. I seem to be doing ok.
Hope to get together with you Pros out there so that I can learn a thing or two.


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## NTKG (Aug 16, 2003)

hey ribs ask teo what happened when he told me his reel was too slow.


the 525 will hold 300yrds of 17 and still have room, just dont use suffix


neil


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

NTKG said:


> hey ribs ask teo what happened when he told me his reel was too slow.
> 
> neil


Hopefully its not th same thing ya did to th pro gear....


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## Newsjeff (Jul 22, 2004)

*chapa*



> close your eyes and hope you get lucky


The last time I closed my eyes on the beach I got a nice offer for a drink at Alexander's. In hind sight, I should have went to the bar with that nice young woman. I might have gotten lucky.


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## NTKG (Aug 16, 2003)

hey hey hey... first of i'd like to say that the progear was an experiment. but secondly that teo had round two! so i dunno what it looked like when you got it.... but i was crafty enough to fix the 525 the shop couldnt fix for him, although it took a while though  ... but agreed i know me my diawas and penns progears i'll leave alone! hows about dat clay? 


neil


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## striperswiper (Nov 30, 2004)

Cdog said:


> Hopefully its not th same thing ya did to th pro gear....


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Dat works for me, just had to get in one last jab.....  

BTW Jeff do you ever answer your cell or are ya gonna force me to leave a msg????


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## Newsjeff (Jul 22, 2004)

*Is that YOU???*



> BTW Jeff do you ever answer your cell or are ya gonna force me to leave a msg????


Cdog, is that you calling from 810???? I thought it was the drunk girl I met in Hampton???
Sorry about that. I'll answer my phone next time.


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## jjaachapa (Aug 7, 2004)

Newsjeff said:


> The last time I closed my eyes on the beach I got a nice offer for a drink at Alexander's. In hind sight, I should have went to the bar with that nice young woman. I might have gotten lucky.


I see you can read between the lines. I'm gonna have to agree she was a hottie. I'm sure your paths will cross again. And next time she might not be wearing that much clothes. You know it being summer and all.


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## Hat80 (Sep 22, 2002)

*Woof woof,*

Hey Dawg, are you saying Neil & Teo should leave the magging to the pros? Now I know why there were blown up reels all over the place at the Peake one night.  LMAO.....Tightlines


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## NTKG (Aug 16, 2003)

Newsjeff said:


> Cdog, is that you calling from 810???? I thought it was the drunk girl I met in Hampton???
> Sorry about that. I'll answer my phone next time.



thats awesome...

japa and jeff when can i fish with you guys again!!!!


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Hat80 said:


> Hey Dawg, are you saying Neil & Teo should leave the magging to the pros? Now I know why there were blown up reels all over the place at the Peake one night.  LMAO.....Tightlines


Magging???? Chit Teo could blow up a reel with th tightest mag on it.


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## BLOOD NOT (Mar 22, 2003)

*525*

sounds like somebody didnt know what they were doin when they took it apart the first time.

you have to keep oil on spool bearings and if you wash a reel with soap, it takes all the oil out of the bearing and it will scream when you throw it, not a good sound


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## Newsjeff (Jul 22, 2004)

> sounds like somebody didnt know what they were doin when they took it apart the first time.


Hmm. I never took the reel apart until I was done fishin' for the year. That was Dec. 31, 2005. Four months after I bought it. 
I thought there was a problem with the bearings before then. But I didn't take it to the shop until striper season was over. Maybe that is a problem in and of itself??
I never wash my reels with soap. I do, however, rinse them LIGHTLY with fresh water and put some WD-40 on them after every use.
By the way, the bearings never screamed. The reel just felt rough, if that makes sense.


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## CrawFish (Sep 23, 2003)

My PC was down last night, so I can't defend myself. Whatever these guys said about me were not true.  

Daiwa SHV20 reel, you'd need 4 red brakes to slow it down after NTKG works on it. If you don't believe me, you can throw mind, but if you blow her up, you have to respool for me.


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## HighCap56 (Oct 21, 2003)

CrawFish said:


> My PC was down last night, so I can't defend myself. Whatever these guys said about me were not true.



OH REALLY ??


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## CrawFish (Sep 23, 2003)

That wasn't me, I've never seen that person or that reel in my life.


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## NTKG (Aug 16, 2003)

bob your awesome!!!


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## CrawFish (Sep 23, 2003)

Hey Bob, I still cast further than you...


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## Dyhard (Oct 24, 2002)

You guys are pulling my leg. I'm 6', 200#+, work out four times a week, not much fat, old though and I use that reel without any maintenance problems on a 12' heaver and I regularly cast off 150 yards of 50# Spiderwire down into the backing. The most important part of any high speed reel is getting the line on so that it is balanced. It may take a few times of respooling to achieve the good balance so that the reel does not make any noise when it is cast. An unbalanced spool will take out bearings in a hurry!
p.s. I LOVE MINE!


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## HighCap56 (Oct 21, 2003)

CrawFish said:


> Hey Bob, I still cast further than you...


You're right... you can!


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