I have an old Quantum Rippi'n Reel that I bought way back when Quantum was only a few years old in 1989. Last weekend it started making some funky dry bearing noises when casting after a little smallmouth gave it everything it had left. Well a few noisy casts later another little smallmouth hit it and I quickly noticed that the first one destroyed the drag. I had to get my son to come pull the fish in with his hands while I reeled up the line.  The drag adjustment is stuck and will not budge. I love this old reel and I have many memories and a lot of fish with this thing. I hate to give up on it, but at the same time I am almost afraid to take it apart and see if it just needs some lube. I have plenty of fishing poles but this one just holds that special place in my life. This was my very first purchase  from my first "real job" as I was leaving home and becoming an adult. Paired with a Berkley Lightening rod it cost me about $110 which was a lot of money back then making $4.50 an hour and living in the "big city".

Hang it over the mantle and let it have the retirement it deserves.

THIS

Pretty easy to replace all the bearings if you have a little mechanical know how. Replace with ceramic bearings and oil them.

You've had it since 1989 and not once cleaned and greased it?

Don't even give it a second thought, open that thing up. Looking at the parts diagram, I don't see anything crazy, it looks similar to an Abu Garcia Ambassadeur as far as the gear side goes. I see a few possible failure points. The first is the spring washers for the drag may have broken and are jammed. This seems unlikely, but who knows. There is also a spacer between the springs and drag washers, which I'm assuming is plastic. I suppose that could break. I think it's also very likely your problem is not with the drag at all, and that your are actually stuck in free spool. Possibly from 35 year old grease, now more like peanut butter, is keeping the mechanism from returning and allowing the gear to engage the spool. Or maybe it's none of those things. It's a reel, its fixable.

If you really want to fish that reel, I would for sure get new spool bearings if yours were making noise. You can oil them, but why take the risk of loosing casting distance. The other thing is you will want carbon fiber drag washers. Theres no real reason not to use them, they are way better than the felt and teflon washers of 1989. A small tin of Cals drag grease is what you want for both the drag and gears of the reel.

It has never given me any reason to take it apart. This thing has been a workhorse and never once failed. Guess I will take it to work with me tomorrow and take it apart. Whats the worst that could happen.

As fgshoot has said, it's fixable if you have a modicum of mechanical ability
You should be able to get bearings and drag washers with little difficulty
IMHO, after 30+ years, you should replace all the bearings and drag washers
Going forward, like a gun, a reel requires periodic maintenance
Take it down, clean and lube it at least every couple of years

There are some great guys that will do a full dissasembly and oil, and have alot of parts in stock to repair if needed.  For me...its not worth taking them apart when someone else will charge $25/reel and strip them down, regrease and properly oil bearings (most are not done correctly).  It may be worth it if there is some sentimental value.  THKustoms and Vern's reel service.

I took it to work the other day and tore it all apart. There was a lot of sand and gunk in there from years of really not taking care of it properly. Guess that says a lot for the quality that it lasted for 3 and a half decades before giving me problems. I lubed everything up and inspected all the parts. I put it back together and went out in the parking lot for a test run. It casted beautifully and reeled in just as god. It was smooth and quiet. I thought I had it fixed until I grabbed the line and gave a it a little pull. The drag had vacated the building. I took the drag apart and looked up the exploded view again and noticed there were 2 washers in there that were supposed to be bent to keep tension on the drag. They were both flattened right out. I put some bend in them and tried it again with no success. I took it apart again and added an 1/8" shim in there to get a little more travel, and it didnt help at all, so I gave up and today I went out and replaced it with a Lews Reactor combo. Going to try it out tomorrow, but in my back yard It casted perfectly. I guess that 35 year old Berkley Lightening rod gets to retire as well.

It seems a shame to park a reel just for a couple of spring washers you can get at a hardware store.

IT LIVES!!!!!!!, and I feel like an idiot all at the same time. When I was shopping for a replacement my nephew told me to make sure to use a mono backer if I am going to run braid so it wouldnt slip on the spool. I kinda blew him off cause I have been running braid since before he was born and never once had an issue. My new reel had hols in the spool so I just tied through them and there is no way it will slip. Been using it for a couple weeks now and all is good. Last weekend my spinning reel decided to make a huge rats nest of the line that was on it when I bought it so I thought I would try some braid on it.  I started looking for info on the best way to install braid on a spinning reel and came across a video of a guy showing why you use a mono backer. Thats when it hit me. I went over and grabbed my "broken" bait caster and used a sharpie to make a mark on the spool and started pulling on the line. SOB the spool didnt move and the line just pulled right out. It was slipping on the spool. It has been on there for 3 years and never had a problem.  I ran to the store the next morning and grabbed a roll of mono and another roll of braid and went home and respooled my reel. The thing is working like it never had a problem. Well I guess I got a new fishing pole out of the deal anyway. Well actually 2 new fishing poles. In my search for more line I came across a Lews Mach Lite ultra light that was on sale and bought that too.

Awesome, glad to hear it.