Leon Paul C66 floor reel

The Leon Paul C66 reel is the most recent entry in a line that has been around in one form or another for half a century.  Appearance may have changed over time but the basic design has remained the same.

The basic form of the Leon Paul reel is a rotating drum mounted on a horizontal shaft.  Three springs enclosed in metal or plastic cases and connected in series keep the cable under tension.  Three commutator slip rings located at the hub of the drum serve to transfer current from the rotating drum to brushes connected to the stationary floor cord socket.

These are probably the easiest reels in the world to take apart and repair.  Leon Paul’s extensive listing of repair parts also helps, along with parts-compatibility that extends over decades.

It is fortunate that Leon Paul reels are easy to disassemble because they do tend to require regular maintenance.  With older reels, which used brass commutator rings, the brass would wear away over time, covering the interior of the reel with fine particles of brass which could eventually cause problems (I've seen reels that looked like someone had sprinked gold glitter over the inside) - fortunately it only took a moment to whip this away.  Newer reels use stainless steel slip rings that may resist wear, but eventually a clear, non-conductive glazing develops on them.  This leads to intermittent breaks in current flow which the scoring machine assumes to indicate an off-target hit.  The only way to remove this passive layer is by sanding both the slip rings and contacts on a regular basis.  It’s this need for regular maintenance that makes me dislike newer Leon Paul reels (I've even considered replacing the stainless steel commutator assemblies on new reels with old, brass ones salvaged from older reels, only I haven't been able to bring myself to riping apart an old reel that's still in working condition).