Revo Winch, Problem??

[Jimmy Easterling]

I bought the Winch yesterday and took it out for a spin today. The mechanical brake is either all the way down or all the way open, one click back from all the way tightened is wide open. I spent most of the time getting backlash out. Is there something I can do, has anyone had this problem, or should I just take it back and get a replacement?

 

[TritonGlenn]

Jimmy,

Please excuse me if I'm misunderstanding you, but are you talking about the tension control knob on the right side of the reel? If that is what you are talking about, that's not the mechanical brake.



To access the mechanical brake system, hold the reel and unscrew the long screw on the top of the reel - it's on the right hand side at the top of the side plate, just slightly forward of centerline of the reel, forward of the Abu logo. Here is a picture with my right index finger pointing to the screw:

After unscrewing that, hold the reel with your right hand and turn the left sideplate clockwise:

Then pull straight up on the plate to expose the reel spool and mechanical brake system:

To adjust the brakes, push them towards the inside of the spool to turn them off, or pull them out to turn them on. Remember - in = off, out = on.



Note that the above picture has two on and four off. I believe that is how they come from the factory. I'd recommend pushing out four and leave two in. Best practice is to set them in pairs - across from one another.



After you adjust them, replace the side plate and rotate counter clockwise to set, and then tighten that screw again.



Put the lure on that you are going to use, and let out about a foot of line. Then tighten that tension knob that I think you might be referring to until it's slightly "snug". Hold the rod out in front of you, tip slightly up. Press the clutch lever / casting bar. The line shouldn't move. Slowly back off the tension knob until the line starts moving and the lure heads to the ground. The reel tension should now be adjusted perfectly to that lure. If you switch to a lighter lure, it might need to be backed off a bit. Heavier lure - might need to be tightened a bit.



I sincerely hope this helps. If the tension knob was not what you were referencing, and you actually were adjusting the brakes and not getting any satisfaction in the backlash fight, then I'd say you might have a problem reel.



Please let me know if you get it adjusted via this method or if I'm off base.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[TritonGlenn]

Oh.. by the way - the "brakes" are the red plastic things in that picture. It doesn't take a whole lot of moving them with your thumbnail to get them to snap in or out of the locked off position.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[Jimmy Easterling]

It is the tension know, I looked in the little book and it appeared to be calling it mechanical brake. I hit the trolling motor with the lure, had to completely replace the line and that is when it started, I guess something could have gotten moved around in there with all that backward spinning. I will look at it this evening. By the way, I own 8 Revo STX's and now this one, that screw you are pointing to is never tight NIB and I always put a "gentle" snugging with a screw driver, should I leave it hand tight?

 

[TritonGlenn]

Jimmy,

Trolling motor meets lure... Yech! I've had it happen before to me on a few occasions, and the resulting backlash was never a pretty sight. Most of the time, I just put it in the rod locker and grabbed another rod because it was too bad to mess with at the time. Sorry to hear that happened to you.



The side plate screw that I was pointing to is only supposed to be finger tight. The screwdriver head is there in case it gets over tightened accidentally. But I always leave mine "firmly snugged" with my fingers, just in case I need to make on-the-water adjustments. Otherwise, I'd have to start looking for a screwdriver. I don't make adjustments often after I set them, but there have been extremely windy days that just necessitated a minor adjustment to the brakes.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[Jimmy Easterling]

uh-oh, mine doesn't look like that. The pins on the "pitch" can be pushed out or in and stay out or in, if that makes sense, the other 3 are spring loaded, no lock in or out.

And as far as adjusting the tension knob, it is the same with all I have owned. This one: tighten it all the way down and come back 1 click and the crank falls to the floor.

 

[TritonGlenn]

Jimmy,

Ooooooo.... new stuff. That must be the upgraded Winch for this year. I have the previous model, right before they came out with the new upgrades. Odd that the pairs don't match up. I've always liked to put them in or out in pairs. The way that one is rigged up, you can't put pairs in.



On the tension knob - that's not right, and I agree, it shouldn't be happening. I'd like to offer to look it over for you, but I have a feeling you would be better off (no shipping charges) by just taking it back and exchanging it for another one. I checked all of my new ones when they first came in - none of them do that. I have to go rip apart some new reels now, as I want to see if my Revo STX Upgrade's all have that new system under the cap.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[TritonGlenn]

Nope. My STX Upgrades have a similar setup with the captured pins like yours, but the plate is perfectly round with no notches in it like your Winch, and I can turn off all the pins if I want to.



Are you absolutely sure that if you press in on one of the pins not marked "pitch" that they won't stay locked in? Even with the spring load that I can see, it still looks like there is a gap between the center of the spool and the yellow lever. If you push hard on the pin towards the spool center, it doesn't snap into place and stay locked?



All the best,

Glenn

 

[Jimmy Easterling]

Yes they will lock into place in the in position, but if I understand your instructions in is off. Either way, I tried all out and all in with the same results, one click and to the floor it goes. I'll call the place I got it from today and get a replacement. Thanks for the help, I am always amazed by the endless knowledge you have for most of this stuff, I hope you are passing it on to someone close to you.