okuma tg 15 two speed rebuild

[alantani]

i'm going to take you through this reel first, and then we'll talk about it later. here are the schematics from the okuma website....

http://www.okumafishing.com/products/reels/2-speed/tg30-2-2005.htm

and here's the reel.

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first off comes the decoration plate (key #205) and screws (key #9305, 9306 and 206).

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then the lever drag assembly (key #600, 601, 602, 603, 605 and 9208).

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next comes the right side plate assembly (key #200).

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note the slight corrosion and the dry right side plate screws (key #9301).

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just a quick peek inside the right side plate assembly before you set it aside.

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pull the spool assembly and set it aside as well.

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the left side plate (key #300) is removable, so i'm going to remove it to grease all of the frame screw holes.

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remove and grease the hanger screws (key #9309) for the hanger (key#108).

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remove the body foot screws (key #9310). note the corrosion already forming.

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remove the body foot (key #102). more dorrosion.

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grease up the screw holes and cinch the screws down good and tight. i don't want the reel foot coming off in the middle of a fight.

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paint a little grease on the inside of the left side plate, grease the screw holes and bolt it back together.

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now, let's take a look inside the spool assembly.

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the spool cover (key #405) assembly has reverse threads. this one came off a little too easily.

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0552.JPG

note the rubber gasket between the spool cover (key #405) and the pinion guard (key #607). when the drag lever is pushed forward to "strike" the gap is sealed and this will prevent water intrusion into the drag chamber. just like shimano lever drag reels, the okuma's should be rinsed down while in gear.

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remove the two right spool bearings (key #9105) and the compression spring (key #613). note the rust formation after only one trip.

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0554.JPG

remove the click pawl (key #304) and click pawl screws (key #9314).

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here's a view of the main shaft (key #718) assembly as it would sit inside the spool....

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0557.JPG

and disassembled.

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0558.JPG

note the corrosion already forming in the right spool bearing. i believe that water was able to intrude past the bearing shields, these shields then held the water inside the bearing and contributed to the damage that you see.

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0559.JPG

fortunately, the corrosion was only superficial. i was able to clean out all the bearings and bring them back to 100%. they were lubed with corrosion x and will be install open, without shields.

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0560.JPG

now to the business side of the spool. here's the front side of the drag washer (key #611).

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0562.JPG

and here's the back of the drag washer.

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i have no idea what kind of grease it is and it looks like it was applied unevenly. first, i'll clean off all the old grease.

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0564.JPG

both sides of the drag washer and the spool will get a coat of drag grease.

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0565.JPG

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0566.JPG

now vigorously wipe off all the excess grease from the working side of the drag washer....

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0567.JPG

... until it looks nice and clean, ...

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... and drop it back into the spool.

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you have to admit, this looks much better than this ....

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0562.JPG

... but will it make a difference? probably not!

re-assemble the spool shaft.

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0570.JPG

slide the spool shaft in from the left side and install the click pawl.

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0571.JPG

install the bearings and compression spring.

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screw on (reverse threaded) the spool cover assembly as tight as you can, by hand.

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and back into the frame it goes.

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at this point, i pulled the guts out of the right side plate to get to the right side plate bearing. in other reels, this is the bearing that is at highest risk for corrosion. everything was fine until i tried to get the dog springs back on. it took about 20 minutes to figure it out.

so how about this. i'll show you the photos, but let's skip this step and if someone has a right main bearing that is toast, let me know and we'll go through it again. otherwise, let's just slap the right side plate back on and call it a day.

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yeeeeccchhhhhh!!!!! like i said, let's leave the right side plate alone.

ok, the side plate is back together. now grease all the screw holes and bolt the side plate back on.

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0591.JPG

grease more holes and bolt on the quadrant or decoration plate.

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0592.JPG

install the drag lever and you're done. whew!

http://www.yourfishpictures.com/data/500/medium/102_0532.JPG

i had this reel loaded with 65 pound spectra and the owner was going to topshot it with mono, so i do not have the final numbers for max drag at strike and freespool, but it should easily reach 15 pound at strike and 15-20 seconds of freespool. not bad for a 3/0 sized reel.

[OuterLimits]

How do the drag washers compare to a Shimano, Avet or Penn....better, same, or worse??

[alantani]

this is the tricky part. once the bearings are cleaned out, these okuma bearings are as good as anyone else's cleaned out bearings. and the okuma greased carbon drag washers are also as good as anyone elses, but i would definitely clean and regrease them.

an interesting dilema, is it not, gentlemen? it's half the price of a shimano tiagra or penn v series international. corrosion has been a concern with okuma, but i have shown you many dry screw holes in penn and shimano as well. if i knew every okuma reel was put together in the manner that i have shown above, then i would recommend them without reservation. they do not, and i will not. but they could....

[Hanapa'a Time]

Thanks again Alan :cheers:

I have one that I bought used and am goin' to tear it down before Hali. season next month :bowdown:

Kurt

[TROPHY1]

I reciently got two of these reels for this season. Are you recomending a tear down and regrease when new out of the box or just make sure to get it done after the season? I had looked the schematics over before I bought them and felt that they had good potential to hold up and work well. Two new in the box for $180.00 ea. from E-bay retailer seemed to be a great deal.
Thanks for the tutorial I am going to add to my favorites list. :applause:

[Sweepy]

Thanks for the demo. :applause: :bowdown:

What is your thought with the Okuma Titus T 20 II, 2 speed. Are you familiar with them? Sportsmens warehouse can't keep them in the store at $150. I saw two bought while being stocked on the shelf. While line was being installed on the sold reels, another buyer would have bought them. Only two at at time are sent to the store, they could have sold four in the first fifteen minutes. :cheers:

[Billfisher]

Alantani... YOu rock, man. Yours are about hte easiest to follow reel repair tutorials that I've seen! I own one of the above, and plan on duplicating your efforts. Thank you.

:cheers:-D

[Woody]

If the bearings and drags washers are indeed as good as other manufacturers, Why should I spend twice as much for a "Gucci" reel.

[alantani]

thanks, guys! these are interesting reels. i'll be honest. they're half the quality of anything else. but maybe that's not so bad, because they're also half the price.

in terms of you guys tearing it down, i highly recommend greasing all the screw holes, but make extra sure that you seriously cinch down on each screw before you move on to the next. don't let the reel seat or frame screws of this reel (or any reel, for that matter), back out on you during a fight. the anodizing doesn't look like the highest quality work, so corrosion around these stainless steel screws is going to be a quick process.

the drags are already greased. they're not pretty, but they should work. just check them to make sure they're smooth. you need to be able to hang a 12 pound downrigger weight from the reel and be able to adjust it until the weight drops 1 foot every 5 seconds. if they stick, clean and regrease the drag washer.

i'm worried about the bearings. more so here that in any other reel. someday i'm going to have to do a general post on just bearings alone. you can wait and take your chances, or clean them out and relube them. i recommend leaving the bearings open. and it certainly makes it easier to reclean them at a later time.

i don't care for the design of the right side plate. for it's size, this reel has the largest and strongest anti-reverse system of any reel i've seen. but it makes enough noise to wake the dead!!!!!! there are very few reels that i've actually found unpleasant to work on. this was one of them. i know that sounds odd, and i'm sure i'll warm up to the okuma line if i'd work on some more, but i have more fun working on old beat up penns that i did this okuma.

as far as fishability, yes, they will kill fish just fine. you're looking at cracking this reel open one time to go through the drags, bearings and screw holes. load it up with 65 pound spectra, a 50 pound topshot and set the drags to 15 pound at strike. after each trip, hose it off with fresh water, lever in the strike position, shake out the excess water, towel dry it or blow out the excess water with compressed air, and you should get years of absolute reliability.

and at half the price!

[alantani]

If the bearings and drags washers are indeed as good as other manufacturers, Why should I spend twice as much for a "Gucci" reel.



quality, where ever you find it, will always give you an edge in the game.

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[reelmeister]

As one of two authorized repair centers in Oregon, we see a fair amount of Okuma reels. They get better each year, and the company responds quickly with design changes on the fly as they get feedback from shops like ours and customer responses.

The A/R mechanism Alan describes does have a weak point, and that is the hairspring that controls the antireverse dog. Whether it is metallurgy or just the diameter of the wire, we have seen numerous broken ones. The part is cheap, but getting to it is not.

Corrosion is also an issue. But we see corroded reels from all manufacturers. Get it serviced correctly and your repair shop will minimize the chances of corrosion. Put it off and any money you saved buying this brand will be lost in repair costs.

Al