Jump to content
Welcome to the Reel Boating Forum.
From Trailer Boaters to Captains to Marine Industry Professionals, the Reel Boating Forum welcomes you to join in with other boaters and fishermen discussing topics including sportfishing, marine electronics, boating safety, boat engines and more.
Use our FREE boat classifieds to sell your boat or fishing gear.
Marine Industry Vendors are also welcome to register a username and freely post their products or services

alantani

Registered
  • Posts

    25
  • Joined

  • Last visited

alantani's Achievements

Newbie

Newbie (1/14)

1

Reputation

  1. greases and oils - an update (9/14/2010) grease is easy. shimano drag grease still works very well at $50 per pound. cal's drag grease is every bit as good, probably even better, and is half the price at $25 per pound. for general purpose grease, i still prefer the $5 a pound yamaha marine all purpose grease. the omc stuff is too tacky for my liking. penn makes a great product, daiwa's blue grease works great, they all work great. for coating the inside of a reel, i use a ratty old tooth brush that is mostly yamaha marine grease, but it has residue of maybe 20 other greases mixed in. it's no big deal. you just need a light coat of something, anything, to prevent corrosion on the inside of a reel. for a general purpose oil, i use corrosion x. i have no idea what's in it. the company won't tell, but it's cheap enough and has worked well enough over the last 10 years that i feel very comfortable recommending it even though i don't know what it's made out of. you're looking at $17 for a big pump bottle or spray can that will last me a couple of months, but will last the average fisherman a lifetime. compared to some other lubes, corrosion x has the viscosity of pancake syrup, but i think that it is the single best all purpose product out there. and it's cheap! then there are the performance lubes that cost $5-10 for a single one ounce bottle. ok, if it's going to cost as much as a single malt scotch, i want to know what's in it before i recommend it. products like quantum's hot sauce, metaloil, reel-x, and all the house brands from penn, daiwa, and shimano, all fall into this category. these products are all much faster than corrosion x, they are much more expensive than corrosion x, and the formulations are all secret. it's fine to have secrets, but until these products are all objectively (there's that word again) evaluated, it would be tough for anyone to make an objective recommendation. now for xtreme reel +. i used it for over a year and stopped. it is, without a doubt, the fastest stuff out there. it is a teflon polymer lubricant suspended in a freon carrier. the freon evaporates in microseconds and leaves a thin dry film of teflon. the freespool from a reel properly cleaned and then lubed with xtreme reel + is mind blowing! but it only lasts a few weeks. after that point, the freespool is the same as corrosion x, meaning mediocre. still, if you are a tournament guy or a long ranger and you service your reels before every trip, try xtreme reel + and prepare to be amazed. it will absolutely, positively, deliver the fastest longest freespool of any product on the market today. and finally, there is tsi 301. jim nomura has been working with me for the last half a year. he is an engineer and brought a level of engineering expertise that was sorely missing in this little hobby endeavor of mine. one thing he brought in was tsi 301. i'm guessing that the freespool from reel treated with tsi 301 is perhaps 80% that of a reel treated with xtreme reel +. the big advantage of tsi 301 is that it lasts much longer. i believe that we are looking at 6 to 12 months of great freespool for tsi 301 versus 1-2 weeks for xtreme reel +. this puts the performance on a par with the other superlubes mentioned above, but at a half to a quarter of the price of the superlubes. i've been using it for the last 6 months now (as of 9/2010) and have been very, very, impressed. the downside? it's $20 plus shipping, it is only available on line, and shipping is slow as molassas. so right now it's yamaha marine all purpose blue grease for all the non-exposed metal surfaces, cal's drag grease for carbon fiber drag washer, corrosion x for a general purpose low speed oil (bearings, levelwinds, handles), and tsi 301 for high speed bearings and levelwinds. for your application, you could grab any of the superlubes online or at any shop and do just fine!
  2. bearing list - updated 9/14/2019 this is a list of all the bearings i have ever come across while working on reels. it you service reels in a shop or as a hobby, print out this list and consider maintaining a minimum inventory of each of these sizes. if you are working on a reel and you need a bearing, you an always go to penn, shimano, daiwa, okuma, etc., for a bearing specific to that reel. you can also go to anyone of several places like boca or smooth drag and order them up. just as a point of reference, i've listed metric and inch bearings by ID x OD x TH, then the boca bearings part #, then the ABEC rating, and then the boca bearings price. if there is no abec number listed, then assume that it is ABEC-1. all of the bearings are stainless steel. the "ZZ" indicates that the bearing has stainless steel shields. ceramic bearings - you all probably know that i am not a big fan of ceramic bearings. before you toss your stainless steel abec-5's, i would recommend cleaning your stainless bearings with carb cleaner and compressed air, then lube them with your performance grade lube of choice, and them see how they perform. if the performance is not up to snuff, consider another bearing. once you get your stainless steel abec-5's clean out and properly lubed, i think you will find them to be just as fast, and much quieter. abec 7 bearings - sometimes you can have too much of a good thing, and tighter tolerances are not always good. i consider that to be the case with abec-7 bearings. i prefer the looser tolerances and lower prices of stainless steel abec-5 bearings. avet bearings - special mention should be made here. avet buys a very inexpensive bearing for their reels and passes on that savings to their customers. bearings are generally $5 each. that is good and, um, bad. if you burn through bearings quickly, stick with avet bearings and save some money. if you keep your reels well maintained, consider upgrading your bearings with something a little higher in quality. the last time i ordered a dozen bearings from avet. every one of them had some damage to then. i still have that bag for display purposes. here's the list. metric 3 x 8 x 4 SMR693-ZZ #5 $9 3 x 10 x 4 SMR103-ZZ #5 $8 4 x 7 x 2.5 SMR74-ZZ #5 $9 4 x 8 x 3 SMR84-ZZ #5 $12 4 x 10 x 4 SMR104-ZZ #5 $8 4 x 11 x 4 SMR694-ZZ #5 $12 5 x 8 x 2.5 SMR85-ZZ #7 $8 5 x 9 x 3 SMR95-ZZ #5 $9 5 x 10 x 4 SMR105-ZZ #5 $9 5 x 11 x 3 SMR685 #1 OPEN $7 5 x 11 x 4 SMR115-ZZ #5 $9 5 x 11 x 5 SMR685-ZZ #5 $8 6 x 10 x 3 SMR106-ZZ $7 6 x 12 x 4 SMR126-ZZ #5 $9 6 x 13 x 3.5 SMR686 #5 $9 6 x 13 x 5 SMR686-ZZ #5 $12 6 x 15 x 5 SMR696-ZZ #1 $9 6 x 17 x 6 SMR606-ZZ #1 $11 6 x 19 x 6 SMR626-ZZ $12 avet 7 x 13 x 4 SMR137-ZZ #5 $9 7 x 14 x 3.5 SMR147 #1 $12 7 x 14 x 5 SMR697-ZZ #5 $12 7 x 17 x 5 SMR697-ZZ #5 $12 7 x 19 x 6 SMR607-ZZ #3 $14 7 x 22 x 7 SMR627-ZZ #1 $12 8 x 12 x 2.5 SMR128(X) $9 8 x 12 x 3.5 SMR128-ZZ #5 $9 8 x 13 x 4 SMR138-ZZ #5 $12 8 x 14 x 3.5 SMR148 $9 8 x 14 x 4 SMR148-ZZ #5 $9 8 x 16 x 5 SMR688-ZZ #5 $9 avet 8 x 19 x 6 SMR698-ZZ #1 $11 8 x 22 x 7 SMR608-ZZ #5 $22 9 x 17 x 4 SMR689 #1 $12 9 x 17 x 5 SMR689-ZZ #5 $12 9 x 20 x 6 SMR699-ZZ #3 $13 10 x 15 x 3 No Boca Number $14 10 x 15 x 4 SMR6700-ZZ #3 $14 10 x 19 x 5 SMR6800-ZZ $16 10 x 20 x 5 SMR2010-ZZ $18 10 x 22 x 6 SMR6900-ZZ #1 $17 10 x 26 x 8 SMR6000-ZZ #1 $20 12 x 18 x 4 SMR6701C-YZZ AF2 $10 12 x 21 x 5 SMR6801-ZZ #3 $22 avet 12 x 22 x 5 Daiwa #B18-1601 $15 inch 0.125 x 0.250 x 0.1094 SR144ZZ #7 $8 0.125 x 0.375 x 0.156 SR2-ZZ #3 $7 0.125 x 0.500 x 0.172 SR2A-ZZ #1 $7 0.1875 x 0.3125 x 0.125 SR156-ZZ #7 $8 avet 0.1875 x 0.375 x 0.125 SR166-ZZ #7 $8 0.1875 x 0.500 x 0.196 SR3-ZZ #3 $7.25 0.1875 x 0.6875 x 0.250 SR1601-2RS LGF $10 0.250 x 0.625 x 0.196 SR4-ZZ #3 $8 0.312 x 0.500 x 0.1562 SR1810-ZZ #3 $9 avet 0.375 x 0.625 x 0.1562 SR1038-ZZ #3 $11 avet 0.375 x 0.875 x 0.2188 SR6 #3 $12 0.375 x 0.875 x 0.2188 SR6-ZZ $7 Avet 0.500 x 0.875 x 0.2812 No Boca Number $17 0.500 x 0.875 x 0.3125 SR6-5ZZ#3 $17 0.500 x 1.125 x 0.3125 SR8-ZZ #1 $20
  3. accusleeves - 9/1/2010 a question was asked on bloody decks about sleeving the bearings of accurate reels. http://www.bloodydecks.com/forums/accurate-fishing-adventures/265718-freespool-sleeve.html it's really pretty simple. here's the post that describes the general process. http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=138.0 i've actually sleeved all of my own personal accurates. the freespool really is very nice. perhaps one of the best things about accurate reels is that the tolerances are so tight. you could measure out a sleeve for any single reel, knock out another hundred sleeves, and pretty much be right on the money for all of the rest. that's how well made the accurate reel is. so my friend jim cut a few sleeves for me. he set them up so that they are 3-4 thousanths too long. remember that a piece of paper is 3 thousanths of an inch thick. a black and gray single speed boss 270 was send in with really bad freespool. i pulled the spool and gave it a spin with no load on the bearings. i got 15 seconds of freespool. then i pushed in on the spring and put a load on the bearings and got 6 seconds of freespool. i pulled the bearings out, and remove the shields. then i cleaned the bearings with carb cleaner and compressed air. the new lube i'm using is TSI 301. very impressive stuff. the spin times are not as good as xtreme reel +, but it lasts much longer. i put the spool back together with the newly cleaned and lubed bearings and gave the spool a spin. with no load on the bearings, i got 70 seconds of spin time. then i pressed in on the pressure plate to compress the springs a little and the spin time dropped to 10 seconds. yup, that's 10 seconds under a load with bearings that had just been cleaned and lubed. well, let's try a bearing sleeve. here's the one that jim cut for me, based on measurements from another reel. when i put it all together, you could feel just a slight amount of play that indicated that the sleeve was in fact a few thousanths too long. here is what the whole assembly will look like when you're done. i gave the spool a spin without putting a load on the bearings. things must be loosening up, because i got 80 seconds worth of spin. then i put a load on the springs and the freespool time was 75 seconds, virtually unchanged. but the proof is in the pudding. i reassembled the reel and gave the spool a spin. yup, 80 seconds of freespool! now for the disclaimer. this is only one reel. to come up with any kind of solid conclusions, we would need a hundred reels and a plan to systematically eliminate variables. yeah, like i've got time to do something like that. so it looks good, but no one is going to do the study to determine if these differences are statistically significant. if you try this at home, your results may vary. or not........
  4. today i answered two of the oldest questions ....... ..... that have troubled fishermen since the dawn of time. or at least since the dawn of modern appliances. first, can you clean your reels in the dishwasher? and second, if you get caught, what will your wife do? well, i had a few hours at home before work this morning. i was looking at a box of reels that i got in the mail and figured that these really needed a good cleaning. with half a load of morning breakfast dishes and my wife out for a few hours, i seized the opportunity. the dishwasher ran through the wash and rinse cycle, and started to dry. then, i heard the three words that a misbehaving husband fears the most. "honey, i'm home!!!" the first questions she asks is why the dishwasher is going. how do they know? fortunately, she has a sense of humor. and lousy aim! unfortunately, one dishwasher cycle did nothing to remove the corrosion on these old penns. i was lucky this time. kids, don't try this at home.........
  5. matt called me a week ahead of my trip and asked if i had any reels for sale. i said no, but that i had one he could borrow. he was on a 7 day trip on the royal polaris at the same time that i was on my 5 day on the intrepid. here are photos of fish that he caught with the makaira. unfortunately, he forgot the nomad rod in his truck. it would have been nice to fish with the combination. here are some photos of fish caught with the mk-10II.
  6. makaira 10 II - field test results, 8/22/2010 maybe 4-5 months ago, i walked into my local tackle shop and the manager said, "hey, alan, want to meet the okuma rep?" sure, so i walked on over to say hi. i told him that i did a little reel repair and said that i opened up a makaira a while back and was very impressed. he said that's great and that he wanted me to take a look at a review that was written by this guy named alan tani. i chuckled, told him who i was and we both had a good laugh. then he said that if there was anything he could do for me to let him know. a couple of months later, i'm getting ready for my long range trip and my buddy jim says that he is going to order some gear directly from okuma. with all the talk about the makaira, and all the talk from east coast guys asking why we on the west coast never use spinners, i decided to piggyback an order with him and check out both the conventional makaira and the cedros spinner. we got in touch with the okuma rep and i ordered up a pair of makaira 10 two speeds, a cedros 65 spinner, a cedros 80 spinner and a set of four nomad 3-piece travel rods. even with a factory discount, this stuff ain't cheap! when the boxes arrive, it was like christmas! the nomad rods were very nice. i had two coventional rods and two spinning rods. they each came in a travel case with two tips. the cedros spinning reels looked great as well. i pulled all the bearings and packed them with grease, then i pulled out the stock felt drag washers and installed greased carbon fiber. the cedros 65 was loaded with 50# spectra and the cedros 80 was loaded with 65# spectra. next, the makaira 10 II's were cracked open. the non-spool bearings were packed with grease, the spool bearings were cleaned and lubed with TSI 301, the drag washers were re-greased and the oversized 6/0 kolekar handle grips were bolted on. both reels were then spooled up with 400 yards of 65 spectra. the spools spun like crazy. the procedure was exactly the same as the rebuild for the makaira 50 II. http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=750.0 one of the makaira's was loaned out to a friend on a 7 day trip and the rest of the okuma gear came with me on a san diego long range trip last week. http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=1129.0 i grabbed a bunch of progear classic series 501's and all of my smaller accurate boss and atd two speeds, snuck in a couple of 533 newells, a couple of jig sticks, a matched set of calstar west coasters and grafighters, and hit the road. for yellowtail fishing at cedros island, i would normally fish jigs with the newells or flyline with the accurates and calstars. 50# test and 15 pounds of drag is usually the minumum or you will get rocked or bagged. when the bite is slow and i get desperate, i drop down as low as 30# fluoro with my progear classic series 501's and my 8 foot calstar grafighters 800L's. yup, fishing 30# at cedros island is pretty desperate. you're just asking to get your line cut off in the rocks or get your fish stolen by sealions. i did manage to hook up on a nice fish on the spinner on the second cast, only to have it grabbed by a huge sealion. i have a bum right shoulder and tennis elbow on the left. i figured out pretty quick that i needed to hand this one off, so my nephew took over and almost got the fish back to the boat. next time i will switch the spinners over to a right hand crank. if that does not work, i am done with spinners. the makaira 10 two speed was a different story. after losing ANOTHER fish to the sealions, i decided to finally stow the progear and give the makaira a try. it had a 3 foot topshot of 40# seaguar fluorocarbon, it was casting better than my accurate 870 (50# topshot) but not as well as the progear. that second afternoon at cedros island was tough fishing, but i managed to scrape up two fish on the makaira. the low gear was very nice. here are the three reels. on the left, an accurate boss 870-2 with 60# hollowcore and a 10 meter 50# fluorocarbon topshot with 15#'s of drag. this would be my standard live bait set up setup for cedros. in the middle is a progear classic series 501, it has a 6: gear ratio, 50# spectra, a 3 foot topshot of 30# or 35# fluorocarbon and a 10-12 pound drag setting. the progear is the reel that i go to when i'm desperate. on the right is an okuma makaira 10 II with 400 yards of 65 camo spiderwire braid, a 4.7: high gear, a 2.1:1 low gear and a max drag at strike of 27#'s. this last trip, the makaira was topped with 3 feet of 40# fluorocarbon and the drags were set to 14#'s. next time i will top it with 50# spectra and 18#'s of drag at strike. i hate losing fish to sealions. casting distance with the makaira is less than the progear ...... .... but better than the accurate 870. all just because of the rod lenth and the overall spool mass. i've fished accurates and calstars for a long time. this was the first time i fished with the makaira and i was favorably impressed. so let's take a look at the two, side by side. the smaller accurates have a 6.1: high gear and a 3.1:1 low gear, there are several different models to choose from. i have the first run b2's - a pair of 197's, a pair of 270's and a pair of 870's. the only small makaira's are the 10 two speed and the 15 two speed (which is just a wider 10 II). the gear ratios are 4.7:1 for high and 2.1:1 for low. the drag is rated at 27 pounds strike and 34 pounds full for the makaira. i could not find a rating for the accurate, but i'm certain that it's very close. spool capacities for the b2-870N and b2-870 are similar to the makaira 10 and 15. both reels have non-spool bearings that i have opened up and packed with grease. both reels also have had freespool work. for the accurate, i cleaned out the bearings and installed an bearing sleeve. for the makaira, all i had to do was clean out the bearings. both reels got monster handle grips. i'm not a big guy, but the larger handle grips help me tremendously. the shifter on the accurate b2 has always been a problem for me. this has been corrected on the new accurate bx two speeds. the shift knob on the makaira is fine. the preset knob on the accurate does not click. in some reels, the rubber gasket is so tight that it can be very difficult to turn. in other reels, the rubber gasket is so loose that you can accidentally bump the preset knob and change the drag when the lever is in free. i did that a couple of times with my personal accurates a couple of years ago at guadalupe. in the maikaira, the preset knob clicks. it stays in place when you want and turns easily when you want. the makaira lever will ratchet. the accurate lever does not. both move when you push them and stop where they are supposed to stop. the accurate does not have lugs. the makaira gives you an option. options are good. the accurate has a cast control knob, the makaira does not. since i am casting small sardines with these reels, my problem is usually not enough freespool. too much freespool is never a problem. so here's where i'm at right now. my own personal accurates have spool bearings that are clean out and lubed with TSI301, i've cut bearing sleeves for all of them (they're "blueprinted") , the non-spool bearings have been packed with grease, and i've added a 6/0 kolekar grip. they fish just fine. the makaira 10's also had the spool bearings cleaned out, non-spool bearings packed with grease, and a big handle grip added. for me, the only noticeable difference between the two reels is the gear ratio of the lower gears. i'm just an office jockey and i found that the lower gear ratio of the makaira was much easier to crank. i would be happy fishing with either reel, but there are some people for whom the makaira offers some significant advantages. meet ed watson. he fishes all over the world. he likes fishing the salt for bigger fish and needs gear that offers him every possible mechanical advantage. his next trip is to the great barrier reef. on his last trip, he hooked in a yellowfin tuna from a skiff and he landed it with his boss two speed accurate. it was tough for him because the skiff did not have a rail and the reel did not have lugs. right now he is pulling against a trailer hitch with my makaira 10, 65 pound spectra and 18 pounds at strike. i asked him to try to turn the handle in high gear and he could not do it. this is with an 18# drag setting. but when i punched the reel into low gear, cranking the 6/0 kolekar handle was no problem. that's an 18 pound drag setting and a 2.1:1 gear ratio. the makaira offers ed a lower gear ratio than other reels. it's basically a granny gear and that helps him. it also has lugs. this will allow ed to harness in at the beginning of the fight. when the fish is straight up and down, he can pop the reel out of the harness and still have some strength left. and ed likes the big handle grips. it greatly decreases the fatigue factor during a long fight. i did a quick check of retail prices and the bx2-500 is $585 at charkbait. the makaira 10 retails at $440. for a guy like ed, the makaira and nomad combo offers significant advantages. i'm going to send one of these with him on his trip so that he can check it out before he buys. sounds like he's going to buy one anyway. it's a great 50# rig. all we need now is a narrowed makaira 8 II for 50# spectra and a 40# topshot. alan
  7. take a look! http://alantani.com/index.php?board=8.0
  8. remove the handle nut (key #64). remove the handle assembly (key #'s 56 through 63). remove the handle collar "B" (key #55). lift the right side plate assembly (key #27) off of the drive gear assembly (key #'s 31 through 36). first out is the right main side plate bearing "D" (key #26). it measures 7x19x6mm. second out is the outer drive shaft bearing "F" (key #54). this bearing measures 9x17x6mm. to get to the inner drive shaft bearing "E" (key #32), we have to remove the drive shaft nut (key #36). it's a 12mm nut and, if my memory is correct, it has left handed threads. left to right, you see the drive shaft "B" (key #31), the inner drive shaft bearing "E" (key #32), the drive shaft washer "B" (key #33), the drive shaft pin "B" (key #34, the drive gear (key #35), and the drive shaft nut (key #36). the inner drive shaft bearing "E" (key #32) measures 10x20x5mm and has shields that are pressed in. prying out the shields will damage them, so we are going to pull out only one side. note that the bearing is greased, but the grease does not completely fill the bearing. poorly greased like this, salt water can intrude, the shields will hold the water in and the bearing will corrode. pack this bearing with grease on the one open side and then press the grease through to the other side using the palm of your hand. when grease squeezes out the other side, you know that the bearing is adequately packed. install the inner drive shaft bearing "E" (key #32) onto the drive shaft "B" (key #31). install the drive shaft washer ""D" (key #33). install the drive shaft pin "B" (key #34). install the drive gear (key #35). install the drive shaft nut (key #36). an immediate concern about the right side plate is the fact that it is bone dry. use an old toothbrush with a little grease on it to put a light coat of grease on the inside. here's the same problem with the right main side plate bearing "D" (key #26). squeeze a little grease into the bearing cup. pack this bearing with grease using the same technique described earlier and install it "shield side out." lube the anti-reverse roller bearing (key #37) with corrosion x. install the drive gear assembly (key #'s 31 through 36). here is the outer drive shaft bearing "F" (key #54). this bearing will also have to be packed with grease and then installed. fortunately, the shields of this bearing were held in by a retaining ring that could be replaced. install the collar "B" (key #55). install the handle assembly (key #56 through 63). install the handle nut (key #64) and align it with the hole for the handle nut screw (key #65). install the handle nut screw (key #65). finally, the home stretch! what makes the final assembly of this reel different from most is the ambassaduer-style dog or drag pawl (key #28). the bronze "blades" of the pawl are what "grab" the drag ratchet (key #23). it is a slight backwards rotation of the drag ratchet that moves the pawl down into postion to engage the ratchet. if the blades are bent out, the pawl will not work. the final installation requires that you squeeze the blades together and then slip the ratchet in without bending the blades out again. here goes! install the pinion gear (key #25). install the pinion gear collar "C" (key #70). slip the drag ratchet (key #23) in between the blades of the drag pawl (key #28) and center it over the pinion gear collar "C" (key #70). install the drag plate (key #22) so that it seats properly between the drag ratchet (key #23) and the pinion gear collar "C" (key #70). install the spool assembly (key #'s 11 through 21). install the washer "B" (key #41) and the drag lever assembly (key #44 through 50) as a unit and in the "free" position as shown. install the drag knob spring (key #51). install the preset drag knob (key #53) and preset click spring (key #52) as a unit. now you need to align this hole ....... ...... with this peg. there, a perfect fit. put a dab of grease on each of the right side plate screws "D" (key #38)..... ..... and installl them. congratulations! now for a few comments. actually, first the disclaimer. my own personal vehicles are a half ton SUV and a 2 ton SUV, both getting a whopping 12 mpg. yes, i am the one that is personally responsible for that last quarter of a degree of global warming that people have been warning about. i have always associated heft with quality and durability. hey, we all have our biases. so when someone makes something that is half the weight, it does not automatically appeal to me. i'm more about horsepower than mileage. well, this reel appears to have both. it's light. actually, it's a little too light for my tastes but i see no reason why it can't get the job done. it has a dry carbon fiber drag washer. we can grease it. it has shielded bearings. so does everyone else, but there are 6 bearings in this reel that are at risk for corrosion. i am predicting that the saltist lever drag will have corrosion issues based on my inspection of this one reel and my experience with other saltists star drag reels. i am not happy with the anti-reverse system. anti-reverse roller bearings are known to rust and fail. the ambassaduer-style dogs can slip. if these two systems fail sequentially, they can result in injury at worst or a difficult landing at best. still, i can't get over the weight. even working the lever of the saltist, the reel feels "tinny." a while back, i went over to my local tackle shop and pulled out four similar sized lever drag reels, an accurate, an avet, a talica and a saltist. the accurate and avet reminded me of a beer mug, the talica reminded me of a beer bottle, and the saltist reminded me of a beer can. work the levers of all of these reels and you'll see what i mean. if you service the bearings, grease the drags and keep the drag settings at 10 pounds or less then i will give this reel a thumbs up. push the drags too hard or fish this reel straight out of the box and i believe you will eventually have problems. in these situations, i would call it even, no better or worse than anyone else. and one last parting thought. it's been said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. if that is the case, then avet should be very flattered........
  9. daiwa saltist 20 LD rebuild - 12/29/09 ok, guys. settle down into a nice comfy chair and grab a cup of coffee or a drink. this is gonna be a long one. here's the new daiwa saltist lever drag 20. you know the drill by now. we are going to grease the drag washer, clean and lube the spool bearings, pack all of the non-spool bearings with grease, spread a little grease around the non-exposed metal surfaces and grease the screws. i checked this reel and got 35 seconds of freespool. the reel includes a clamp and a spanner wrench for the handle grip. we're not going to mess with the handle grip, so we'll set the spanner wrench aside but we'll need the clamp. a quick scan of the schematic reveals a pretty standard design and one possible problem. i see a single anti-reverse roller bearing and a single ambassaduer-style dog. there are four right side plate screws (key #38). they all come out. well, that was easy enough. hmmmm. dry as a bone. an old toothbrush with a little grease will fix this. back out the pair of frame plate screws (key #10), add a bead of grease and zip them back in. grease the clamp bolts (key #66) and install them. install the rod clamp (key #67) and the clamp bolts (key #68). ok, the frame is done. set it aside and let's move on. now for the right side plate and spool assembly. remove the preset drag knob (key #53). note that the preset click spring (key #52) is still stuck inside the preset drag knob (key #53). remove the drag knob spring (key #51). lift off the entire drag lever assembly (key #'s 44 through 50) as a unit. the washer (key #41) came up with it. ok, now here's a mistake that i made and i want all of you to avoid. when i pulled out the spool assembly (key #'s 11 through 25), the drag ratchet (key #23) came with it. there was fortunately no damage to the drag pawl (key #28). when you pull the spool out, you have to leave the drag ratchet (key #23) in place. anyway, the spool is out and it needs to be serivced. remove the pinion gear (key #25). remove the pinion gear collar (key #70). there was supposed to be a washer (key #24) in between, but this reel did not have one. remove the drag ratchet (key #23). remove the drag plate (key #22). remove the drag plate bearing "C" (key #21). it measures 5x11x4 mm. well, this is interesting. here is a dry carbon fiber drag washer that is glued to the spool. this arrangement should sound familiar. it is the same thing that is done in the smaller avets. remove the return spring (key #20). just thought i'd check. you're lining everything up, right? remove the right side spool bearing "B" (key #19). this bearing measures 5x11x4mm. now for the left side of the spool. remove the three screws (key #17) for the drive shaft retainer (key #16). remove the drive shaft pin "A" (key #18). remove the drive shaft retainer (key #16). remove the drive shaft "A" (key #15). from left to right, you have the left spool bearing "A" (key #12), a washer "A" (key #13), four drag spring washers (key #14) and a drive shaft pin (no key #). the four drag spring washers are oriented in a "(())" configuration. the bearing measures 6x13x5mm. i'm going to pull the left spool bearing "A" (key #12) and pry out the shields, then clean them with carb cleaner and compressed air, and lube them with xtreme reel +. for a complete discussion of bearing service, review http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=13.0 the right spool bearing "B" (key #19) has a retaining ring that holds in the shield. this one will be cleaned and lubed as well. apply a thick coat of cal's drag grease to the carbon fiber drag washer, make sure you get all of the edges, then wipe off the excess. reassemble the left side of the drive shaft (key #s 12 through 15) and slide it into the left side of the spool. install the drive shaft retainer (key #16) and screws (key #17). install the right spool bearing "B" (key #19). note that both spool bearings are now open and lubed. install the drag plate return spring (key #20). the bare spool now spins for 120 seconds. this xtreme reel + is pretty good stuff. the drag plate bearing ""C" (key #21) does not affect freespool, so i'm going to remove the shields, pack it with grease and reshield it. at this point, you are actually done with the spool. we are going to install the pinion gear, ratchet and pressure plate on now just to get them out of the way. we have to install them into the right side plate later. notice also that something is MISSING!!!!!!!!!! this reel does not have a cover for the drag chamber. that's right. it's an open drag system just like an avet. install the drive shaft pin "A" (key #18) and set the spool aside. now for the right side plate. remember that i mentioned a problem? well, here it is, an ambassaduer-style dog. we have three bearings to service in this side plate. let's start by removing the handle nut screw (key #65).
  10. penn 209 rebuild - 12/27/09 this is another post that is long overdue. here is our reel, a basic, stock penn 209. we're going to start with the left side plate. all we have to do be back out each of the left side plate screws (key #'s 32 and 38), one at a time. add a bead of grease to each screw or screw hole, but do this one screw at a time. now back out each of the right side plate screws (key #32 and 38) and set them aside. at this point, the reels separates multiple pieces. lightly grease the clamp screws (key #34), then reassemble the rod clamp assembly. this reel is not going to win any distance casting competitions, so we'll lube the left side bushing (key #40) with corrosion x. install the spool (key #29L) back into the left side plate assembly (key #27) and set it aside. now for the right side plate. remove the handle lock screw (key #23A). remove the handle screw (key #23). removed the handle assembly (key #24). remove the star drag (key #10). note the condition of the brass gear sleeve (key #98). this one is fine. back out the four bridge screws (key #'s 16 and 17). the bridge assembly (key #3) will drop right out. carefully set the side plate down and leave all the other parts right where they are. do not flip the right side plate (key #1) over at this time. take a moment now to find the dog (key #15) and dog spring (key #14) and place them in a safe place. now for the bridge assembly (key #3). here's what it looks like when it's in pieces. we are going to change out the fiber washer (key #4) for a penn #6-113 drag washer that has been ground down to size. we are also going to change out the brass gear sleeve (key #98) for an aftermarket stainless steel gear sleeve (pennparts.com #98-155AT) that has been double drilled for the most precise fit. use a pin punch to remove the retaining pin from the stock gear sleeve (key #98). to install the new stainless steel gear sleeve (pennparts.com #98-155AT), lube the inside with corrosion x, slide the gear sleeve over the post of the bridge plate, then select the retaining pin hole that gives you the least amount of play without binding. add a coat of cal's grease to the four carbon fiber drag washers (key #6). here is the final bridge assembly. we have to leave out the tension washer (key #8) because the #6-113 drag washer replacing the fiber washer (key #4) under the main gear (key #5) is thicker. a full discussion of the rebuild procedure for these side plates is in the 500 jigmaster rebuild post http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=20.0 . please review this post if the side plate bridge screws have been removed. for now, let's just say that your side plate is sitting quietly and in one piece, just like this. place your left index and middle fingers over the four bridge screws (key #16 and 17). hold the right side plate assembly (key #1) carefully between your left thumb and ring finger. now you can flip over the right side plate assembly without fear of the bridge screws falling out. lube with pinion gear (key #13) and right side bushing (key #26) with corrosion x. slide the bridge assembly (key #3) into place, the rotated it 90 degrees counterclockwise from it's final position as seen here. install the dog (key #15). rotate the bridge clockwise (key #3) until it covers half of the bridge screw (key #16). press down on the bridge plate (key #3) and install the dog spring (key #14) as shown. with your right index finger, press the dog spring (key #14) into position. rotate the bridge plate (key #3) clockwise to its final position. your left ring and index fingers have been covering the bridge screws (key #16 and 17) this entire time. with a right hand assist, flip the right side plate assembly (key #1) over while holding the bridge assembly (key #3) in place. cinch down the four bridge screws (key #'s 16 and 17). let's check your work so far. turn the gear sleeve (key #98). make sure it clicks in the forward direction and does not go backwards. work the eccentric lever (key #27) and make sure that the pinion gear (key #13) moves in and out. install the star drag (key #10) and turn it down until the star clears the "shoulders" of the gear sleeve (key #98). this is already way more work than the reel is worth, but we're going to install a kolekar handle grip. to start, we are going to drill out the back of the spindle of the handle grip. remove the handle arm and toss the old grip. drill out the hole just a little larger using a 3/16ths inch drill bit. bolt on a 2/0 kolekar grip. install the new handle assembly (key #24). install the handle screw (key #23), lining up the ridges to install the handle lock screw (key #23A). install the handle lock screw (key #23A). now to assemble the reel. the spool (key #29L) is already in the left side plate (key #27) and frame assembly. install the right side plate (key #1) and screw in ONLY one of the right side plate screws. we're going in just a few threads, and that's all. it's staying loose. watch, you'll see why in a minute. now wrap a rubber band around the reel at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. install the worm (key #42) and line guide assembly (key #'s 46, 47 and 48) as a unit. note first the flat faces on the left side of the worm (key #42). the worm (key #42) will fit properly when the left side is keyed into the worm gear (key #45). now for the worm shield (key #50). note that it is asymmetric and that there are tabs on the ends. install the shield with the "shallow side out." match up the tabs of the worm shield (key #50) with the holes in the side rings (key #'s 2 and 28). everything is all lined up, right? give the spool a spin just to make sure. if everything is lined up properly, the spool will spin easily. install the remaining right side plate screws (key #'s 32 and 38) and you're ready to adjust the reel. ok, your reel is all together and it looks great! the handle turns easily, the star drag puts plenty of pressure on the drag stack and the drag is smooth. now we need only adjust the spool tension and the leveler tension. let's start by backing off the tension on the right side worm bearing (key #43) until it's nice and loose. now back the tension off of the left side spool bearing (key #40). now spin the spool (key #29L) and it should spin freely. tighten down the left side spool bearing (key #40) until you have zero load and zero freeplay. the spool should still spin freely. finally, tighten down the right side worm bearing (key #43) until it also has zero load and zero freeplay. and you're done!
  11. captain hoitt, that has always been a difficult issue. the rollers in most of these anti-reverse roller bearings is often made of plain carbon steel, not stainless. the result is that they rust after contact with saltwater. grease them and they will not rust, but they will slip eventually. it's just a matter of how much pressure you apply to the roller bearing. alan
  12. finnor ofc 16h rebuild - 12/1/2009 a good friend from lousiana send this reel to me at the beginning of the year. it sat for several months before i was able to go through it, then the photos have sat until now. according to the website http://www.finnorfishing.com/offshoreconv.html , it has a cast aluminum frame, carbon fiber drag washers and a 6.2 to 1 gear ratio. it'a a very nice looking reel! i found this in the pamphlet that came with the reel. it reminds me of a car salesman saying "no reasonable offer refused." I know this kind of disclaimer is necessary, but it doesn't mean that i have to like it. i wasn't able to find the schematic on-line, so don't lose your hard copies. let's start by removing the left side cover (key #35). back out the three cover screws (key #38). wow! looks alot like a daiwa saltist. i'm going to open up the left side spool bearing (key #31). actually, let's take a minute to get this spool out of the way. the brakes fall off easily. never been a fan of these. a little masking tap will keep the spectra from getting too greasy. back out the spool click spring screw (key #27). remove the spool click spring (key #28) and bearing retainer (key #29). the left side plate bearing (key #31) is 6x12x4mm. the bearing was opened up, cleaned with carb cleaner and compressed air, and relubed with xtreme reel +. back in it goes. install the bearing retainer (key #29), the click spring (key #28) and the spool click spring screw (key #27). the right spool bearing (key #25) is 8x16x5mm. for maximum freespool, this bearing will also be opened up, degreased and lubed with xtreme reel +. install the spool assembly (key #44). install the left side cover assembly (key #35). install the left side cover screws (key #37) and you are done servicing the spool bearings. this is also as far as you will need to go for your routine service. bearings are always the first things to fail. at the very least, pull the side plates on your reels and lube the bearings now. onward! remove the bolts for the rod clamp assembly (key #67), grease the bolts and re-install them. now for the right side plate. remove the handle nut screw (key #3). remove the handle nut plate (key #1). remove the handle nut (key #2) with a 10mm wrench. remove the handle assembly (key #4). remove the spacer (key #5). unscrew the drag star (key #6). remove the bearing washer (key #66) and click spring assembly (key #65). remove the two spring washers (key #64). the are installed in a "()" orientation. remove the bearing washer (key #63). remove all three right side cover screws (key #13). remove the right side cover assembly (key #14). it still looks like a saltist. remove the clutch (key #60) and the clutch sleeve (key #59). here's what the drag stack looks like. here you see the same ambassaduer-style dog (or anti-reverse pawl assembly (key #58). carefully remove the a/r pawl (key #58) and the a/r ratchet (key #50) as a unit. take care not to bend the springs of the pawl. remove the yoke springs (key #21), the pinion gear (key #20), the yoke (key #22) and the yoke plate (key #23). remove the three screws (key #48- for the drive shaft retainer (key #47). remove the drive shaft (key #49). the drive shaft bearing (key #46) measures 8x14x3.5mm. since this bearing does not affect freespool, i'll pack it with grease to give it the best corrosion resistance. the felt drive shaft pad (key #45) goes in the center of the bearing. re-install the drive shaft (key #49). install the drive shaft retainier (key #47) and screws (key #48-. install the yoke plate (key #23). install the yoke (key #22) and pinion gear (key #20) as a unit. install the yoke spring washers (no key #). install the yoke springs (key #21). install the a/r pawl (key #58) and the a/r ratchet (key #50) as a unit. check the function of the pawl. if it does not "grab" properly, squeeze the leaf springs of the pawl together so that it does. as close as this reel appears in design to the daiwa saltist, i'll bet these will work. here are the carbontex drag washers in their proper order, and the stock drag washers ready to be tossed. i'll apply a coat of cal's drag grease to each washer and reassemble the drag stack. install the clutch sleeve (key #59). install the clutch (key #60). salt will stick to any intermal metal surface that is not coated with grease. take an old toothbrush and let's spread some of this grease around. the drive shaft bearing (key #62) is 8x14x4 and has been quietly sitting in the right side cover. remove it and set it aside. install the right side cover assembly (key #14) with the clutch lever (key #11) in the forward or "in gear" position. install the three cover screws (key #13). open up the drive shaft bearing (key #62), pack it with grease, reshield it and place it back in the right side cover assembly (key #14). install the keyed bearing washer (key #63), the two spring washers (key #64) in a "()" configuration, the click spring assembly (key #65) and the plain bearing washer (key #66). install the drag star (key #6) and tighten it down until the drag star clears the "shoulders" of the drive shaft (key #49). install the spacer (key #5). install the handle assembly (key #4). install the handle nut (key #2). install the handle nut plate (key #1). install the handle nut plate screw (key #3). and done! now, for a few comments about this reel. if you like the design, fit and finish of the daiwa saltist, you'll love the finnor. unfortunately, it has the same ambassaduer-style dog and single anti-reverse roller bearing that has cause so much difficulty for me in the past. like the saltist, this reel benefits greatly from a carbontex upgrade and bearing service. overall, it's a very nice reel!
  13. we towed the boat to monterey on thursday, launched and took a 25 mile run down the coast to point sur. fishing was fast and easy. we had four stringers of nice fish for the four of us, limits all around. the big stringer was probably 70 pounds of beautiful vermillion. the second stringer was easily 40 pounds. we also kept the smaller ones because of the 100 foot depth we were fishing. anything that you hoist up from a 100 foot depth is going to suffer some degree of barotrauma. i know that people say that fish can survive if they are quickly repressurized, but i prefer to keep those fish rather than take others. hoping that lightening would strike twice, we took the same run on sunday, three days later. we had a big storm coming our way. it was due to hit the coast in 24 hours and we already had south winds and a big low pressure zone. and wouldn't you guess? fishing was a bust. we got only four of the larger reds and handful of smaller school fish. i could see them on the meter, but they all had lockjaw. still a nice day on the water. just frustrating. since the beginning of october, we've had a series of storms blow through northern california. local inshore rockcod fishing has been spotty and the water that held all of those albacore has been broken up. it's tough getting guys to run for albacore when the run is 70-80 miles one way and the fish are scattered. it's looking pretty tough, but it's not over yet!
  14. i have these "6 shooter" flat head jets that i like. they were hitting dark colors, black and purple, and passing up my tried and true zucchini. picked one on a swim bait. alan
  15. years ago, i was on a charter and this kid was really acting like an idiot. he was really ticking everyone off. i found out later that someone took a knife, cut a small slit on the inside liner of his jacket and shoved a few anchovies in. we never did see him again!
×
×
  • Create New...