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Posts: 3920
| Many of you already know how to properly maintain your gear, and this message is not for you. This message is intended for bozos like me.
I learned why the drag washers on all of my 5000 and 6000 series reels suck. In this context, "suck" means thay don't hold worth a poop until I REALLY crank it up as tight as possible, and then they are pretty much locked up. They suck because I screwed them up, and maybe you did yours, too. Here's the deal....I made the mistake of following the reel's instruction booklet that said to apply oil under the hex cap that holds the reel handle in place. The drag washers are located on that spindle below the cap, and once the oil gets down into those washers all they do is the slippery slide. The replacement washers I bought for my reels say to NEVER oil under the cap like the instruction booklet suggests. Instead, correctly grease the proper gears and metal (not drag) washers, and LIGHTLY apply oil to a couple other reel parts. It really made a lot of sense, and I'm looking forward to seeing if the drags will work properly this year.
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Posts: 131
Location: Kalamazoo, MI | Hey Ranger! I know a lot of guys that prefer to use very moderate amounts of shimano drag grease on the smoothies and extreme smoothies also. They say they work better with the grease. Personally, i recently dropped in some extreme smoothies and kept them dry. My first impressions were, harder to get on drag than the abus, but smoother once its dragging. And, much more range of drag. With the stock abu washers, even when i really cranked it down it didnt seem to take as much effort to pull out line as I would have liked. The extreme smoothies added a few pounds to the max drag setting at least.
One thing to watch for if you count on your drag, water gets to them fast, and takes oil/grease with it. The second time out this year we fished the rain for about 6 hours. It was also really windy, and by the end of the day the c4 had taken a couple dunks, and tons of rain, so i decided to tear it apart and check it out. The drag washers were all soaked, and it looked like some of the grease had made its way from the gears back down into the drag washers. So if you ever give your abus a bath, it might be worth giving them a quick tear down to check for water/grease/oil on the drag! |
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Posts: 32959
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I used to over lube my reels regularly, and in the Abu models, that would do exactly as you describe. I clean once a year, and greas twice now, with VERY light oil if the reel seems to need it. |
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Posts: 938
Location: NeverNever Lake | Ranger,
This could be the start of something really good for those of us who spend so much time with this little piece of machinery in our hands and many know too little about its intricacies. I say that we examine a different part of our reels on a weekly basis until everyone has a good understanding of how they work and how to keep them working like new.
Just a thought...
..................................................RAZE |
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Posts: 1936
Location: Eau Claire, WI | Ranger,
You are partially right in your assesment on "oil on washers" however in the past few years it seems (at least to me) that Abu's stock drag washers don't hold up and "Glaze over" very quickly whether they get oil on them or not.
Once they get a glaze (shiny spot)[and one good fish can do this by the way] they are pretty much shot, as the coefficient of friction is lost.
Keep using the smoothies..they don't glaze as easily and seem to get you a much better drag.
Interesting comment on some guys using light amount of grease on smoothies....I just might have to try that. If it don't work...so what, your only out $3 and 10 minutes to change them. |
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Location: Minneapolis, MN | Our chapter is looking for a good speaker to do a workshop about how to _properly_ maintain, upgrade and repair reels. If anyone has a good candidate we can contact, please send me an email. Thanks.
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Posts: 3920
| Wow, lots of good responses, thanks folks.
Hey Kazoo - Hard to keep the reels dry in heavy rain, I'll be sure to take one apart after the next downpour and check out the drag washers. You sure are learning fast for a self-described newbie.
Raze, I've cleaned and changed the drag washers on 3 5000 series reels over the past few days. Also did some other stuff to 2 of the reels. It's true that those 5000 series reels are a breeze to work on. After you give it a shot you'll see that there's not all that much to it. I'm still not totally sure on the best way to minimally lubricate, though. Which parts get grease and which oil?
Hey M1 organizers, can we get a chat scheduled with someone who really knows his stuff? |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Luke- I'd try Chuck Brod @ Sportsman's Repair Shop in Mosinee WI. (715-693-6634)- I think a.k.a. "Reel Doctor" here on MF. I can't imagine anyone with more indepth knowledge about reels. Al Warner http://www.zaltnad.com |
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