Here follows a comprehensive Photographic Service and Maintenance tutorial on the Penn Slammer lll - 6500 HS.
During the Tut, we will give a brief review of the different pro's and con's of the reel.
The HS version of this reel is Red and Black, with the standard version being Black and Gold.
First impressions are that the reel is Big and chunky, a bit on the heavy side and very solid.
Boasting all-metal body, side plates and spool. I read somewhere that the reel housing is in fact an aluminium alloy.
It weighs quite a bit more than the comparative size Daiwa BG 5000, but has a significantly better capacity. Both reels have a similar retrieve.
Reeling this reel is fairly smooth, but stiff with noticeable resistance - this is due to the many rubber seals that the reel has, making it one of the better Waterproofed reels on the market.
With rubber seals, one has to sacrifice some ease of rotation, I suppose.
The reel comes with 2 handles... one is a normal rugby ball shaped handle, very nice, fits the hand perfectly. The other is the "Jig handle". This is a state of the art Power handle, very pretty, very bling, very solid and very, very heavy! It weighs 177g on it's own, more than double the other handle. Combining this handle with the reel precludes it from any spinning activity, it's just way too heavy.
What is quite strange is that why they would include such a power handle in a reel this small? That Power handle no doubt costs a bomb, and while it would be great for the big gun jigging reels, (The large size reels in this range), it just seems like complete overkill on a reel this size, (medium range).
Can you imagine putting a handle that weighs almost 1/3 of the entire reel onto an already heavier than normal reel?? Sorry. *facepalm* Epic fail.
This reel costs nearly R4000, which is the average RRP. That's quite an outlay, comparable to the Shimano Saragosa.
So let's go through it...
The spool has a braid friendly rubber ring for easy attachment, and also the useful capacity rings that are now standard in many reels.
Robust look and feel... bold edges and curves.
2 handles standard.
We start this review off with a Big Oooops... shaking my head...
Now this is not a crtical issue that affects the functioning of a reel, but seriously Penn?! This didn't cross your mind during your R & D? Mind boggles. Really.
Underneath the spool.
One thing that really irritates me with Reel manufacturers is when they omit certain parts from their Reel Schematics diagram. I found 3 washers and other parts that weren't even mentioned in the schematics. Think that's nonsense! Just a Poor show.
An impressive thing about this reel was that Penn are really not shy to slap in some grease in the factory! Rubber seals and waterproofing rely on grease to make things smooth and work more efficiently. This is one of the few reels that can be fished right out the box. Unlike the Daiwa BG, which while they don't make claims to being waterproof, doesn't like water straight out the box. These reels (Daiwa BG) need to be opened and greased up properly if they are going to be subjected to Salt water.
Proudly American reel.... pffft.Think I should report you to Mr Trump.
Superb waterproof sealing of the Main shaft leading down to inside the Rotor.
Yet another seal going down to the Pinion!
Remove the Rotor and we have another seal for the AR Bearing!
These rubber seals used in the Slammer are that funny brown rubber, not sure what they're made of, but they are tough and robust, which to my thinking is a great improvement on the flimsy black O-Rings used in the Saragosa.
So if the Waterproofing of the Slammer has to be criticized, it's here. There is quite a large gap between the Pinion gear and the AR Clutch sleeve, which could possibly leak water if the reel was submerged completely. Water can only reach here by coming up underneath the Rotor, but if you examine the bottom of the Rotor, it has a clever recess that fits exactly over the Pinion Gear seal labelled below. This is the seal that makes the Rotor have some resistance to reeling.
A teflon plastic Anti-reverse Pawl. Rudimentary, but it will work.
Clever meshing of the retainers and bushings. Several concentric lips will make it extremely difficult for water to enter from the outside.
Some more rubber seals...
Yet another part that doesn't appear on the Schematics. The AR Bearing was covered with so much grease that I'm surprised it even worked! AR Bearings are notorious for failing under greased conditions.
Very weird. Most AR bearings have a distinct warning - NO GREASE!
The Brass Pinion Gear
The Slammer comes with an excellent Rotor Brake that is screwed down by 2 screws. Bail activation forces the Rotor Trip lever down on to the rubber stopper, which will then prevent the spool from moving in a cast.
This Rotor brake lever is a Auto Bail trip mechanism in the smaller versions of this reel, up to the 5500. The 6500 and above have the Auto Bail disabled.
Penn's not shy with the grease on their sealed bearings either!
One of the things I love about Penn reels is the fact that you can access the Gearbox by removing 3 screws... just awesome for DIY maintenance and quick lubes.
The Gearbox is sealed properly with a tough rubber gasket surrounding the periphery of the reel.
No shortage of grease here either!
No Worm gear Oscillation, this reel uses the Oscillating slider gear for movement.
CNC Machined Drive gear and all other gears too. Beautiful!
In order to remove the Drive shaft, the Slider guide needs to be removed.
Then I came across something weird.
Inside the aluminium body frame, there is a nook where the Pinion Gear fits into, around the Drive shaft. Most reels have this. What I was disturbed by is the fact that there was not even a plastic busing inside this circular recess, to prevent the Pinion from rubbing directly onto the reel frame! Tempered and hardened Pinion Brass rubbing on alu alloy?? Surely not.
I was quite taken aback by this and did some research. It was picked up on Stripersonline, where one chap's reel showed quite severe stress wear in and around that hole. A Penn Representative came online and explained that the Pinion doesn't actually touch the reel frame... I found this explanation to be odd, so I had a good look myself.
Here is the pic with the Pinion and shaft in place. There's a gap between the Pinion and Reel frame??? I call BS. I think this is a serious design flaw that some arb Penn Rep in the States tried to explain away. In my opinion, there is absolutely no doubt that the Pinion rubs against the metal of the Reef frame. This problem is so easily overcome by placing a bearing in the recess (in the top end reels) or a cheap plastic bushing as is the case in the cheaper reels. To see this in a reel costing so much...?? I am perplexed!
When the reel is under stress and big drag pressures, the Main shaft undergoes massive torsion forces, which are driven through the Pinion gear in several places, lastly ending up in the force being applied to the attachment of the Drive shaft to the Oscillating gear. These forces are sure to make the shaft move sideways and contact with tight areas is absolutely inevitable. The effects of this won't be evident immediately, but through time and use, there has to be wear, either on the Pinion gear or on the reel frame. The Pinion can be replaced but the Reel frame? Might as well throw the reel away! The damage shown on the one reel in question where it was reported was after 1 season of heavy use.
Here is the Saragosa Pinion Gear, that fits into the Reel frame on top of a ball bearing!
The Oscillation gear system. In cheap reels, this gear fits directly onto the reel frame stub, which eventually renders the reel useless through wear an tear. This is exactly what will happen with a Pinion gear fitting on the reel frame.
So the gear has a Teflon plastic bushing. Thank goodness. Cannot fathom why Penn could not have put a bushing on the Pinion.
Now my other gripe.
With Oscillating gear mechanisms, the nipple that the slider fits onto usually is quite a tight metal on metal fit. In the earlier oscillation gear systems, this used to cause a noticeable 'klunk' as the metal nipple reached it's furthest up or down excursion. With the development of these systems, O-rings were designed to be placed in a recess on the nipple so that when the slider reaches the end of it's excursion, the rubber O-ring cushions the metal on metal contact. I was surprised to see a bare metal nipple in the Slammer. During my research, it became obvious that this is another illogical skimp on Penn's part. There are many reports of anglers experiencing this metal klunk on use under moderate drag pressure. You won't feel it unless the reel is under a strong load.
This is the Oscillation gear from the Saragosa...
The sealing of this reel is exceptional. The worst place for water ingress is the handle area, and here there are solid rubber seals and the bearings are packed solid with grease.
The Slammer Drag.
Wow! One of the best Drag systems I've felt. This reel can lock down tight, until the spool doesn't move. Literally. It is also one of the best sealed Drags I've seen.
The one downside to the perfect waterproof sealing is that the latent Drag pressure on the spool is significant, even when the Drag knob is removed! The minimum Drag on this reel is still a few pounds, and something that would probably irritate me enough to quit using it.
Top of the spool.
Bottom of the spool.
Excellent plastic sealed washer screws.
Perfectly sealed Drag!
The keyed washer
The reel has 2 Drag components... a top Drag as well.
And perfectly sealed once again.
The Line roller system is also pretty excellent, with a plastic bushing on one end and a ball bearing on the other.
ConclusionFor a reel that costs as much as this, I expected a bit more innovation and way more attention to detail.
The Waterproofing of the reel is superb, with long lasting rubber seals throughout.
The Drag too, is outstanding, but that has long been the case with Penn Drag systems.
The Gear construction through CNC machining is pretty awesome, those gears are works of art.
The stiffness and resistance to reeling, as well as the latent minimum Drag are just irritating consequences of good waterproofing.
For someone like me who enjoys servicing my own reels, I'd much rather forego a few seals to have a reel that is pleasurable to use... as smooth as possible, Class and finesse.
The Oscillation gear klunk is also not what you'd expect from a reel in this class. An O-ring on the Osc Gear nipple would have cost what?
The Pinion gear/reel frame issue, however is a deal breaker for me - you expect this in a R300 reel, not a R4000 one.
I sincerely believe that Penn missed the boat with this one. Somehow they have confused their priorities - allocating massive budget to CNC gears and 2 handles (both of which, anglers really don't care about), instead of making sure the basic fundamentals of smoothness and longevity are first sorted.
It's just not good value for money.
And if it were up to me, I'd choose both the Saragosa and the Daiwa BG before this one.
Amazingly, this reel won best Saltwater Reel at the ICAST 2016 Show. (!!??) Wow. ICAST just took on a whole new meaning for me...
Schematics below....
