Ambidex bale arm mechanism

[Deaf Cat]

Gentlemen,

I have examined the various photographs of Ambidex servicing but have not found
anything describing how the bale arm mechanism is supposed to work.

Last night with an hour to spare (and having fortuitously grown a third hand) I
was able to reposition the coil spring that sits under the automatic pick up
mechanism on the outside of the rotating head.

However, while it now goes over with a satisfying clunk sometimes, on other
occasions it refuses. This appears to be do with the little spring loaded lever
system that sits underneath the spool and protrudes through the rotating head
to interact with the external bale arm cam.

For the life of me I can't see how this little lever system is supposed to
work. How does it catch and hold the the bale arm in the open position and how
does the bale arm come to be released? Is the protruding section supposed to
move in and out to catch/release the external cam, and how is it triggered by
the turning of the rotating head?


Three hands needed to re-seat spring and re-attach bail arm!


View of internal bail arm lever system
I have wiped it clean of the old grease, but there are no shims/washers under either screw


The ghost in the machine

Grateful for any info/advice :hat:
dgc

[SeanM]

You've got the version of the bail arm that works by a pawl moving in and out radially to the rotor. What happens is that the pawl (the L shaped bit) is spring loaded so that when the bail arm is pulled back into the casting position it springs out and locks the bail in the open position. When you turn the reel handle the smaller of the two screws (the one in the elbow) catches on a boss on the reel body and pushes the pawl back in, allowing the bail arm to spring back.

You can only get at this boss by removing the rotor assembly - see the thread "Ambidex Mk 6 strip Down" for how to do this. Your reel is slightly differnt internally, but the rotor comes off in the same way as the Mk 6.

Incidentally this mechanism is really useful as you can re-engage the bail arm by pushing the pawl with your thumb or finger - makes trotting a lot easier.

[SeanM]

Removing the pawl mechanism makes replacing the bail arm a lot easier - you only need two hands then :hairout:

[Deaf Cat]

Many thanks Sean.

I had spotted that I could push the pawl back in - but thought this was a problem rather than a solution. I shall take it apart again and grease it nicely now that I understand what is supposed to be happening. Suspect that, worst case, I may need a bouncier spring.

Thanks again :hat:
dgc

[MGs]

This tempted me to have a go at sorting mine out. I have the same model as pictured above. It would appear to have the same problem. The spring is not strong enough to push the arm out when the bail arm is lifted. I have tried several times to fix it with no joy. I have resorted to giving it a tug with my finger when lifting the bail arm. It trips back in ok when the handle is turned :think: