Thommen 400

[bogman52]

I recently picked up a Thommen 400...couldn't resist...beautiful reel. Seems to be in pretty good condition and complete. It has a full bail and all is working. The A/R was not working too well but I pulled the spring and reduced the diameter to snap into place...seems to be working as intended with 1/4 to 1/2 turn of handle before locking...but seems to lock every time I try it. There's no evident click when reeling in...but that might be normal. The A/R spring got me to wondering about parts and availability. This is my first experience with Thommen and I'm new to ORCA. If anyone has any good input or info on the reel, parts, etc., I'd love some learnin on this one! Thanks, Jason

[Midway Tommy D]

That spring can get a little touchy and take quite a bit of trial & error. You have to get it installed and adjusted for it to work correctly.

Here's a tutorial I did on the ABU Record 600 & 700, which have similar mechanisms. Hopefully it will help you a little bit.
viewtopic.php?t=20042

[bogman52]

That's terrific! Thanks, Tom. I really appreciate the quick reply and material. Do you know if there's anywhere for getting parts that may wear out on these reels? I'm looking forward to giving this reel a good cleaning and lube over the Holiday Weekend. Jason

[leland99]

Jason,
Chasing parts for our older reels are always an adventure! I suggest going to our main website, under Member Services, select Reel Repair, there you will find a link to a few of our members who do reel repair and tend to have many parts on hand. Others may post here with additional suggestions.

[Midway Tommy D]

Parts for the Swiss made Record reels are tough to come by. You can check eBay every now and then but they seldom come up. Sometimes Dick Janak has hard to find parts for older reels. Your best bet would be to find a cheap used reel to cannibalize.