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Author Topic: PENN 500 JIGMASTER UPGRADE  (Read 31204 times)

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Offline BJR

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PENN 500 JIGMASTER UPGRADE
« on: April 15, 2022, 09:50:55 PM »
Has anyone out there dared to upgrade his Penn Jigmaster 500 & what upgrades did you do, & how did it improve the operating of the reel ito Before & After & was it worth doing ?


It will be gr8 to hear from previous & current Penn owners.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2022, 09:51:37 PM by BJR »
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Offline hrogers

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Re: PENN 500 JIGMASTER UPGRADE
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2022, 05:23:43 PM »
You can upgrade the Penn 500 jig master but you will need some parts to do that.
For more information you can visit Alan Tani's website : https://www.alantani.com/
There is a lot of information.
Hope this will help
regards
Henry
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Offline fishatic

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Re: PENN 500 JIGMASTER UPGRADE
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2022, 05:57:14 PM »
Drag, do not try to push it to 20lb+ , you will torque the frame and damage the gears.
Smoothdrag make carbon washers and lapped steel washers - lovely as a set.

Polish the inside of the spool bushings and inside of the pinion bearing; spool shaft too for silly fast free spool.

Avoid grease on the inside of the pinion.
Magnet(s) for control IF you have a aluminium spool.

Nice old school reel
« Last Edit: April 18, 2022, 05:58:11 PM by fishatic »
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Offline BJR

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Re: PENN 500 JIGMASTER UPGRADE
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2022, 09:41:37 PM »

Hi Mr B.....

I have stripped, serviced & polished quite a few friends 500's, & my own naturally, & can recall 3 that ended up with superfast running spools.

I did read that old timers used the Penn 60 long Beach washers on either side of the drag stag to limit the slack in drag adjustment  & increases the drag performance ?!
 
Do you think it's an overkill ?

I keep the pinion slightly oiled with Reel X, & only use grease where needed not to interfere with the spool's spinning ability.

Where do you think it would be the most convenient to get carbontex washers from, SmoothDrag or locally at Iron River ?

The 500 Jigmaster has been & will always be a firm favorite amongst my selection, its been my 1st multiplier to teach me casting,taught me solving crows nest & to have patience & every now & then I will commandeer it from the cupboard & have fun with it.
It never fails.

I am now scouting for original USA made 500's in order to remove the stainless steel & other parts, as one can clearly see the poor quality in material of the Chinese manufactured parts.
I suppose this is more to put my mind at ease than being a fact, but I prefer doing it.

So I hope there are some good old hardly used original USA model 500's out in SA.....cause soon I'll be scouting around to strip for spares.



















« Last Edit: April 18, 2022, 09:43:17 PM by BJR »
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Offline BJR

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Re: PENN 500 JIGMASTER UPGRADE
« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2022, 11:23:45 AM »
Quote from: hrogers on April 18, 2022, 05:23:43 PM
You can upgrade the Penn 500 jig master but you will need some parts to do that.
For more information you can visit Alan Tani's website : https://www.alantani.com/
There is a lot of information.
Hope this will help
regards
Henry


Hi Henry,


I will most definitely have a look at the upgrades.....thks very much, & I must say Alan's reviews & comment is always worth looking at.


I did swop around the standard Aluminium spool with a lighter red anodized Aluminium spool which weighs 17.8 g lighter.
So, I can't wait to test it.
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Offline RiyadhEd

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Re: PENN 500 JIGMASTER UPGRADE
« Reply #5 on: April 19, 2022, 05:00:19 PM »
I need to look into this. I still have mine. I love it, my son loves it. He wants to sell his reel and use the 500. I think mine is the Made in U.S.A one, will have to check.
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Offline fishatic

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Re: PENN 500 JIGMASTER UPGRADE
« Reply #6 on: April 19, 2022, 06:27:29 PM »
No experience with the Long Beach suggestion.
From memory the washers in the (still in production) Jig Masters are HT100 ie carbon; get them that or get the Smoothddrag option.

I put a set of Senator 113H HT100 washers in a a Mag Power 980 as I was not willing to wait for the 113H's Smoothdrag washers. They feel very good.

Smoothdrag make a set of flat-ground  SS washers too, makes for super smooth drag; I think I might do this too or spend and hour or two with a sheet of glass and eater paper grinding my existing washers flat

I am wating on an old (functional) USA made 500 that might be of interest to you as a donor for parts?
« Last Edit: April 19, 2022, 06:33:04 PM by fishatic »
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Offline BJR

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Re: PENN 500 JIGMASTER UPGRADE
« Reply #7 on: April 19, 2022, 09:53:19 PM »
Wow now you got me sitting upright with big eyes wide open....😳
I am eagerly awaiting the next chapter Thks Mr B.
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Offline colin

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Re: PENN 500 JIGMASTER UPGRADE
« Reply #8 on: April 20, 2022, 01:07:25 PM »
Look in he pawn shops, they come up occasionally .  :toppie:
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Offline Shaine

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Re: PENN 500 JIGMASTER UPGRADE
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2025, 08:26:22 PM »
I have been refurbishing a few old Penn 500s and have begun using them. Having used reels with centrifugal brakes this is a different beast to tame. I get fairly good distances but two of the better reels are really noisy in the cast.


Could it be the spool is no longer straight or is it the bushes that need replacement?


Where can I get the bushes. At over R500 per set in East London, I may have tot retire these reels.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2025, 08:27:02 PM by Shaine »
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