Tiagra 16

[slinkymalinky]

reproduced with the kind permission of Alan Tani

to look at the schematic for this reel....

http://mikesreelrepair.com/schematics/schematic.php?url=Shimano/Shimano%20ti%2016.pdf

..... you'd think that some engineer somewhere had waaayyyy too much time on his hands. lots of little pieces! but it's not impossible either.

now, before we jump into this reel, let's talk about it first. the drags are greased carbon fiber. i consider them to be the industry standard. drag failures for greased carbon fiber are virtually unheard of. what about the bearings? shimano arb bearings are already open. with no shields to hold water in, the risk of bearing failure should be lower. shimano also has their own special grease bearings which is pretty good stuff. give the spool a spin. if the freespool is ok for the type of fishing you do, let's leave the bearings alone. how about drag range? i like a 30% drag setting. let's say you have 65 pound spectra and a 50 pound topshot. if this reel can give you 15 pounds of drag, you should be all set. straight out of the box, there is very little danger of reel failure because of salt water intrusion and subsequent corrosion. if the reel delivers, let's leave it be. or you could be like me and just be curious....

want to open it up and take a peek inside? ok, let's start by greasing all the right side plate screws (key #601). you'll need a metric torx bit.

back out the stand screws (key #528), one at a time, shoot in a bead of grease and re-install the screws.

grease the rod clamp bolts (key #646 or 649)

back out the left side plate screws (key #601 and 645).

remove the left side plate assembly (key #644) and set it aside.

the spool comes out cleanly and in one piece.

note the orientation of the anti-reverse ratchet (key #529). it's easy to put on backwards.

remove the cooling shield screws and washers (key #641 and 640).

set the cooling shield (key #639) and pressure plate ( (key #637) aside. remove the drag pressure plate screws (key #636).

remove the drag plate (key #635). see the little springs?

pull the out the drag plate springs (key #630) ....

and set them aside, some place nice and safe.

the pinion shaft (key #625) has two cross pins (key #626) and a pressure plate spring (key #634).

pull the pins and spring, then the drag washer assembly, and set them aside.

here's the pinion shaft (key #625) with bearing, bellevilles and thrust washers in order. the white grease is shimano's bearing grease. this product is much lighter than the drag grease and works very well. cleaning out the bearings will improve freespool. if 30 seconds of freespool is not needed for your application, leave the grease in the bearings.

i opted to clean out the bearings.

i removed a thrust washer (key #42A), added two belleville pre-load springs (key #40A) and changed the stack of bellevilles from the stock configuration of "(())" to "((()))".

to get the spacing right, i ended up moving that thrust washer to the left side of the spool....

reinstall the cross pin.

now let's look at the drag washer.

add a thick coat of shimano drag grease.

wipe off all the excess.

until it looks dry.

re-install the drag washer assembly.

re-install the pressure plate spring and cross pin.

re-install the drag plate springs (key #630). a bead of grease is very helpful here.

reinstall the drag plate (key #635) and screws (key #636).

regrease and clean the second drag washer assembly.

drop the drag washer assembly back onto the spool shaft.

check out the rubber gasket. this is similar to the system found in shimano tld series. when the lever is forward and the drag washer is engaged, the gasket locks up against the spool cap and the drag chamber is sealed to prevent water intrusion. like the tld series, you rinse off your tiagras while they are in gear.

grease the screw holes.

install the cooling shield (key #639).

re-install the anti-reverse ratchet (key #529). the bearing spacer (key #642) and bearing thrust washer (key #567) are hidden under the grease.

more screw holes to grease.

re-install the side plate screws. the long one goes in at the 12 o'clock position.

done! here are the specs. not so bad for a non-blue printed reel!

see, that wasn't to bad!

Alan Tani