I was wondering if anyone had info on this reel and how good it is as i haven't been able to find much info on it online, it belonged to my grandfather and after lubrication works flawlessly other than the bail being a bit quirky and not letting me cast out line unless the spool is at the top of its skirt.
bail only opens and locks just barely past the edge of the spool makes casting kinda stink at times, im wondering if thats normal behavior since i lubed the bail and the spring is intact and working
It is a middle of the road quality medium size reel from the mid '70s. They came out in 1972. If you are trying to use it like photo shows the line on the spool, it appears the line may be too heavy and wiry for the reel's design and does not have enough line on the spool. The spool should be lined to within 1/8" of the outer spool lip for optimum performance. 8-15# test is probably the best fit for that reel. It appears you need to check the alignment of the bail. From the photo it looks like the bail is probably bent a little and laying too far back when closed. The bail should also align perfectly with the bail arm hole when the bail nut and line roller are at ease before sliding it into the hole and tightening the nut. The smallest adjustment can make a huge difference in bail closing performance. In my opinion bail alignment is one of the most important aspects of a well serviced open face spinning reel and one of the most neglected. Bails are always abused and getting bent and a little adjustment makes a lot of difference. My advice, also, is to never grease or oil a bail spring because after a little while they get thick, slow and also collects dirt. I use ArmorAll as a bail spring lube but there are other non-petroleum options out there, too. While not top quality, when thoroughly cleaned, lubed and adjusted, Zebco XB series' are smooth and durable reels. They're a lot better quality than a lot of the Asian made throwaway reels of today.
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels!(Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)
Midway Tommy D wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 3:33 pm
It is a middle of the road quality medium size reel from the mid '70s. They came out in 1972. If you are trying to use it like photo shows the line on the spool, it appears the line may be too heavy and wiry for the reel's design and does not have enough line on the spool. The spool should be lined to within 1/8" of the outer spool lip for optimum performance. 8-15# test is probably the best fit for that reel. It appears you need to check the alignment of the bail. From the photo it looks like the bail is probably bent a little and laying too far back when closed. The bail should also align perfectly with the bail arm hole when the bail nut and line roller are at ease before sliding it into the hole and tightening the nut. The smallest adjustment can make a huge difference in bail closing performance. In my opinion bail alignment is one of the most important aspects of a well serviced open face spinning reel and one of the most neglected. Bails are always abused and getting bent and a little adjustment makes a lot of difference. My advice, also, is to never grease or oil a bail spring because after a little while they get thick, slow and also collects dirt. I use ArmorAll as a bail spring lube but there are other non-petroleum options out there, too. While not top quality, when thoroughly cleaned, lubed and adjusted, Zebco XB series' are smooth and durable reels. They're a lot better quality than a lot of the Asian made throwaway reels of today.
Thanks for that, i didnt lube the spring just the pivot points for the bail, as i figured any crap on the spring would make it stick.
The line on it is just what it had when i found it, havemt bothered to re spool it yet due to it looking like it needs at least 300 yards of mono, im not sure what you mean by bail alignment as the 2 points the bail is attached at are a half inch difference ones lower than the other. Do you mean i need to bend the bail forward? Sorry for all the questions but im intrigued by this reel as it sems to be built like a tank compared to my ither vintage reels (even feels tougher than my garcia Mitchell reels of different vintages)
Could you post a photo of the other side of the rotor showing the bail arm? I can explain it a lot better if I can see how the bail is positioned and whether or not the bail and/or the bail arm are bent.
The bail should also align perfectly with the bail arm hole when the bail nut and line roller are at ease before sliding it into the hole and tightening the nut. The smallest adjustment can make a huge difference in bail closing performance.
im not sure what you mean by bail alignment
The photos below are are of a different style reel and rotor (a Zebco Cardinal 4) but the basic principals are the same on all bail and rotor styles.
If and when the bail arm has been adjusted correctly the bail, when positioned loosely on the bail arm/line guide side, should line up perfectly vertically and horizontally with the hole in the bail arm. It should not require any pressure sideways or up or down to slide into the hole.
Sometimes metal bail arms get bent and need adjustment, sometimes bails get bent and need to be bent back into the correct position and sometimes both need adjustment to get friction free bail movement.
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels!(Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)
You are correct, the bail wire isn't bent. It looks just fine. The reel is missing the pad that the bail arm rests on. They were hard rubber/plastic. You will probably have to make one as parts are no longer available. After you install a pad you may need to adjust, i.e. bend, the portion of the bail arm where the bail/line roller connects to get the correct bail angle. It should be fairly close to parallel with the top of the rotor. Most likely, though, the reason the spool had to be all the way out for you to cast efficiently was because there wasn't enough line on the spool, it was too heavy and it was old so memory looping had set in. The easiest way to remove mono line loop memory is to attach it to something solid walk out 50 yds or so and stretch it until the loops and memory are gone.
I used your photo to to show you what needs to be corrected and also provided a copy of the original Zebco catalog so you can see how the bail should lay at rest after those issues are corrected. Also, if you notice, the ad lists 8, 10 & 12# line, which would be the recommended line usage. The pics thumbnails so they will enlarge if you click on them. You can also enlarge the enlarged thumbnail.
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels!(Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)
Thats 12 lb mono in it now and thanks for the images it was a full spool but it came loose in transport and turned into a rats nest, really old line but it was a pain to cast even with the spool full, makes sense that the rest is missing though, probably why he stored it in the first place, any recommendations on what i could use as a reliable substitute for the bumper? Id love to put this reel back into service my grandfather's the one who got me into fishing with my first 202 and havent looked back since im sold on rhe zebs. Just dont build em like they used to
Found your post after five years wondering some other reels and realized whats happened in that time. Your Zebco XB65 is identical as Ryobi 155, 'cause Ryobi produced that reel for Zebco, with different brand name and mark. It is very good reel, but XB75 (Ryobi 177) is much better, with bronze driving train, two oversized ball bearings and slow oscilating line retriving. I recomand you to get XB75, spools are compatible with XB65 and you will see perfection of that reel. It is out of production for a long time, but I saw them on E-bay, mostly used.
