daiwa saltiga 30T rebuild

[alantani]

ahhh, daiwa......

it seems like the argument is always penn versus shimano. daiwa makes a great line of reels. i think the saltiga is perhaps one of the finest small baitcasters made. first, pull the schematics.

http://mikesreelrepair.com/schematic...2040,%2050.pdf

here is my personal favorite. it's the 30T. well balanced, very powerful, it's small size makes casting a small sardine a piece of cake. i borrowed one of these on my one an only 10 day trips a couple of years ago and absolutely fell in love with the reel. everything about this reel says quality!



um, but this one had a small oops! a friend of mine had this loaded with spectra and was fishing for salmon dragging a 2.5 pound lead ball on a sinker release. he heard a pop, saw the spool displaced laterally and retired the reel for the day. then he brought it to me.







first, let's pull all of the left side plate screws (key #21) and remove the left side plate assembly (key #6).



the spool (ouch!) comes out cleanly, leaving you with three pieces.





the right spool bearing (key #3) needs to be cleaned first, so let's remove the rubber water shield (key #4), pull out the bearing, remove the bearing shields, clean the bearing and lube it up. for a full discussion on bearings, do a search under key word "bearings" and author name "alantani".







the left side plate bearing (key #10) is buried pretty deep. i decided just to lube it up without pulling the shields. it should be fine.



ok, back together it goes. don't forget to add a bead of grease to all the screw holes. now, if all you want to do is lube, clean or replace the bearings, then this is as far as you need to go.



want to replace the drag washers? ok, onward! remove the handle nut screw (key #68), the handle nut (key #67) and the handle assembly (key #'s 61-66).







remove the star drag (key #59) and spacing sleeve B (key #60), the click spring assembly (key #'s 57 and 58), the two drag spring washers (key #56) and bearing washer D (key #55).





ok, the handle and star are off. now for the right side plate. remove all of the right side plate screws (key #53).



wiggle the right side plate assembly (key #41, et.al.) and it should come straight up and off.



here's a little trick. the metal drag washers are often a little tough to remove. when you bolt down the handle nut, the spacing sleeve B (key #60) presses down on the shoulder of the drive shaft (key#24). the shoulder is slightly deformed. a couple of gentle strokes of a flat file will remove this "burr" and the gear and drag stack will come off easily. easy, not too much.



the gear cluster now comes off easily, revealing a carbon fiber drag washer installed several years ago by your's truly. we're going to remove these old penn drag washers, clean up all the metal washers and install a new set of carbontex drag washers.





not really much to this reel. it's actually very simple.



now for a new set of carbontex drag washers.



i'm going to slap a nice, thick juicy coat of drag grease on these washers because i know that really annoys those people that still do not belive in drag grease!



and then the drag stack goes back together. remember to alternate the metal washers; keyed, eared, keyed, eared, keyed. also add bearing washer D (key #55) and then spacing sleeve A (key #40). bearing washer D goes under the spacing sleeve. this is contrary to the schematics but it makes the installation easier.



i've got a ratty old toothbrush that i'm going to use to brush a light coat of grease all through the inside of the side plate. take a moment to squirt a little corrosion x into the right side plate bearing (key #43) as well.



the drive shaft bearing (key #54) is particularly at risk for corrosion. pop out the bearing, remove the shields, pack the bearing with grease, replace the bearing and install it back into the side plate.







add a bead of grease to all the screw holes.



if you did not monkey with the clutch lever (key #48) or the yoke plate (key #28), the right side plate should snap right back into place.



install bearing washer D (key #55), a pair of drag spring washers (key # 56) cupped "( )", and the click leaf spring assembly (key #'s 57 and 58).



grease up the drive shaft (key #24). grease all the little crevasses on the star (key #59) and install it.



grease spacing sleeve B (key #60) and install it.



add a little grease to the handle arm (key #61) around the drive shaft, install the handle nut (key #67) and screw (key #68).





done! now we just have to see if daiwa will send us a new spool. this old spool never should have failed and i'm hoping daiwa will extent the warranty and send us a new one for free!

[chuam]

Hey Alan, I had the exact same problem with my 30T. Mine was out of warranty when I took it to them for the annual service and to get them to fix the spool. When I spoke to them they quoted me $15 for the service and nothing for the repair.

Have you heard of anything other problems with the spool breaking?

[alantani]

dammit, marcus, every time you post something, it takes me 2-3 minutes to remember what i was doing. i'm sorry, what were you asking?

[word-doctor]

Great tutorial as always. Makes me want to run out and buy one--I like the clean design.

One question: what's your (AT's) feelings about SS gearing vs. hardened brass? The latter is quieter, but when I think about 65# spectra and 2.5# cannonballs, I tend to think SS everywhere I can put it.

[alantani]

honestly, for me, brass is fine for the lighter stuff. you have to really crank down on the drags to shred the gears. and even if i do shred up a set, i can replace them pretty easily. i like the smoothness.

for heavy stuff, stainless is the only thing that will work. you just have to deal with the noise.

[reeljunky]

alan
does the carbontex add any more #'S of dag?

[alantani]

yes. greased carbon fiber drag washers typically have a higher range of smooth, non-teeth chattering drag. dry drags will stick or surge at higher ranges. do not think of this surge in drag pressure as an extension of drag range, think of it as a failure. think of it as getting "newelled."

this ability to "lock down" a dry drag was actually touted by newell's mr. richard hightower when i spoke to him at the long beach fred hall show. he was trying to explain the advantage of newell's sticky drag washers over greased carbon fiber. i could not believe what i was hearing. it was at that point that i decided that newell was a lost cause, stuck in a time warp 30 years in the past.

so don't let the one blown spool discourage you. the saltiga 30T is as far ahead of it's time as the newell tragically is behind. now, if someone could just convince all of those hard headed japanese engineers to put a better drag washer in their reels ........

[chuam]

BTW, I spoke to Daiwa and for the service of 3 reels and the new spool for my 30T they are charging me $40. You should be able to get a new spool for the price of shipping.....

[alantani]

hey, marcus! where'd they go? stop messin' with me!!!!

[DEA]

Awesome tutorial Alan!!!!

Anyway, any idea how that may have happened? Figured with a full load of spectra and even with a 2.5lb the spool shouldn't have come apart?

From the looks of the pics, looks like the spool is machined from pot metal maybe? Figured if the spool was machined from billet stock aluminum, if anything, would warp/twist rather than fragmenting?

So much for the "Precision machined, aircraft-grade aluminum spool for maximum casting performance and strength" as advertised by Daiwa

[alantani]

the owner is just an average joe that took his reel out fishing for salmon. i'm hoping that it was a defective spool. i could see alot of guys using this reel the way he did.

[la vida]

Looks like a great little reel.I need one now.I took all my small stuff to Costa Rica and have replaced any of them.I was getting ready for a couple millionaires for my bay stuff.and a 15 tourim to replace my old squiders jr.but maybe these t30s will do