TackleTour

Working on 4 reels, all CH ci4+150HG. I've got the first 3 finished, but the last reel, I cannot get the sideplate to come off. I've had this issue before with older reels when the spool bearing rusts to the sideplate and spool shaft, causing everything to fuse together. I'm not sure what the problem is with this reel, because there is very little wiggle in the sideplate. If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,

Riley

Same happened with one s***box Ci4 Chronarch I did a while back.

You need to coerce it open with strong yet fine movements, salt / dirt seems to get in there and cement the body and spool access side shut and very tightly. Grip the reel and access side and do it very close to your chest where you can really get some pressures working and again wiggle the sideplate little by little - you'll find it'll come loose.

This seems to be a very common issue - have had others ask me also thats the best advice i can give. Paint the mating halves and the locking areas with a fine synthetic rubber style grease for future ease of removal.

Slazmo wrote:Same happened with one s***box Ci4 Chronarch I did a while back.

You need to coerce it open with strong yet fine movements, salt / dirt seems to get in there and cement the body and spool access side shut and very tightly. Grip the reel and access side and do it very close to your chest where you can really get some pressures working and again wiggle the sideplate little by little - you'll find it'll come loose.

This seems to be a very common issue - have had others ask me also thats the best advice i can give. Paint the mating halves and the locking areas with a fine synthetic rubber style grease for future ease of removal.

Would dipping that side of the reel into hot water first help?

I am really struggling with this one. I worked on it manually for about 3 days simply trying to twist it open by hand and made no headway. Last night I put affected side into hot water and the ultra sonic for about 10 minutes, and also spayed the cracks with corrosion x. This seemed to make no difference. Today I place a soft cloth around the reel, then locked it into place on a bench vise. Still stuck.

You have popped the release clasp havent you?

After my last post I decided to call shimano. The tech told me it would be a good idea to send it in, but that the side plate and frame were probably coroded together, and I should use a hammer to tap it loose if I wanted to do it myself. I soaked the entire reel in hot water for 20 minutes, dried it off and went to work with a big rubber mallet. It took a good bit of pounding but I finally got it off. I looked at the mating surfaces and there was a little bit of dried algae and old grease. I can't believe it was stuck so hard with such a small amount of foreign material. But I can say I learned something new.

Well there you go - got there in the end.

Upon reassembling add a little good quality synthetic teflon fortified grease like i mentioned before to make future removal easier.

I've seen this issue many times with guys fishing this reel on the coast. About the only thing to do is what was mentioned which is to put some some grease around the outer edge of the brake case.