Reel Chronicles...

[FISH520]

I would never drop $400 or $500 on a reel  but $200 And buy some upgrades yes. Better bearings to make it smoother. Lighter parts and yes some bling
The entire goal is the catch fish and yes none of this helps. But this my hobby and it's a collection also. Lures, rods, reels ...  it's my thing and I don't mind dropping some extra $ on what I want.
I'm getting more and more into working on reels and it gives me satisfaction on doing the work myself and learning from others.
We all can grab a stick from the yard  put a line on the end and a hook on it and catch a fish. But I'd rather have I really nice rig that I put my time and friends time into making it MINE  and in some cases better than it was.

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk

[FloridaFishinFool]

And that is totally cool too! Cadillacs are great rides too!

[FloridaFishinFool]

Being a good reel tech is far more than just being a glorified parts changer.

Shimano and other brands have tolerance and other issues concerning their products that a good reel tech has to learn.

For example some reel manufacturers only allow certain lubricants to be used in their reels.  And who outside of factory service reps know this stuff?

Shimano issues two drag greases now. Anyone know the difference or what reels use which grease?

A customer won't usually find out about it until they show up with a reel wanting it repaired under warranty only to find out that they have used the wrong oil or grease on it and shimano will not cover that under warranty.

Tolerances are another issue.

Just yesterday at the shop an old Shimano stradic 2500FH was being repaired. When the reel tech thought he was finished with the reel it then gets passed around to other techs to check out. Only then was a tolerance issue caught.

The reel tech had installed the main drive gear too tightly between the side plates. Corrosion on the main drive gear had prevented a bearing from seating all the way down so when the tech put it together it was too tight, smooth yes, but too tight and the tech did not catch it, but other factory trained techs did catch it.

The reel had to be opened up again, and the tolerance issue corrected to shimano's exacting standard. Once that was done, the reel made its rounds again among the reel techs and passed so it could be returned to the customer.

They also caught a noisy bearing too and had that replaced as well.

We even manufacture parts at times or modify parts from other reels just to keep some old reel going.

So it is not all about being a fantastic parts swapper, it is also about knowing and following manufacture guidelines for their reels.

We cut down drive shafts to fit other reels when original parts are not available. We cut and grind pinion gears when parts are not available.

The shop I work at part time these days has been in business for 31 years and has a huge supply of old reels and reel parts that we draw from regardless of brand to keep reels operating beyond their normal life cycle.

How many people take into consideration when removing old drag washers and replacing with carbon fiber that the new drag washer stack has the same thickness as the factory drag washers did? A lot of carbon fiber drag washers are thinner than stock drag washers. This has to be taken into account and adjusted for.

I have had a lot of fun over the years playing with drag washers buying all sorts of materials and cutting my own washers and experimenting with drag abilities of reels. A good learning process. And my years in metal work has helped a lot as well because it gives the hands on skills and experience to sit down with a 50 year old reel's brass gear and file each tooth if necessary.

It never ceases to amaze me all the variety of reels and problems we encounter, but that is what makes reel repairing, modifying, and upgrading a challenge as well as even fun sometimes.

[LgMouthGambler]

Certain lubricants? This isnt limited slip differentials. Im not gonna give my secrets away,  but I use the same grease and oils on all reels I service and never had issues, but rather improvements. Tight tolerences? Oh you mean how things are shimmed and placed specifically in a reel, and if you dont put things back the way they belong you have issues. Its not rocket science, and if you are good at that kind of stuff and can follow schematics you should be ok. Fixing and pinpointing problems are another thing, which is understandable. Its kind of like mechanics. Some have been around forever and dont know chit, while others that know how to take the info gained to good use.

<")))<{

[FloridaFishinFool]

Certain lubricants? This isnt limited slip differentials. Im not gonna give my secrets away,  but I use the same grease and oils on all reels I service and never had issues, but rather improvements.

Those improvements could be warranty killers too! Some manufacturers make reel parts out of certain plastics, rubber, etc. and using the wrong type of lubricant can adversely affect those parts, sometimes by melting them or dissolving them. It is chemical reactions to be avoided sometimes.

Shimano patented several drag washer materials. And the grease the company issues will not adversely affect those drag washers. Using the wrong kind of grease can.

Tight tolerences? Oh you mean how things are shimmed and placed specifically in a reel, and if you dont put things back the way they belong you have issues. Its not rocket science, and if you are good at that kind of stuff and can follow schematics you should be ok.

True enough, but quite often you will find a number of parts inside of reels that are not even listed nor shown on the schematic. Every reel coming off the assembly line has different shims inside. No two reels are the same.

And sometimes the replacement parts are not exactly the same as the original parts, so learning how the particular brand approaches shim tolerances is a good thing to learn from factory reps who teach these things to the techs at their factory rep service centers.

Fixing and pinpointing problems are another thing, which is understandable. Its kind of like mechanics. Some have been around forever and dont know chit, while others that know how to take the info gained to good use.

<")))<{

Also true enough.

I had a curado brought in for warranty repair recently because the customer swore up and down the tumb bar no longer worked and he just knew it was all Shimano's fault.

Once inside the problem was clear- salt water corrosion inside a reel designed for freshwater use.

4 ball bearings later and a good sanding of the pinion gear and he was back in business, but now the discussion over whether it should be covered under warranty or not. I can assure you service centers and corporate headquarters have two differing points of view on this one.

[LgMouthGambler]

Im well educated on the products I use and know that they are OK for reels, in fact you can go out and buy tube of GM wheel bearing grease and use that if you wanted. Shimanos Star drag grease is amazing, and really all you need fir any reels drag discs. Yes, most reels will have an extra shim here and there for "snugging" up certain areas, but that again falls into knowing what you are doing, and being systematic and caring about what you are doing. Thats a big difference I see when dealing with an individual "tuner" vs a repair place that "pumps" out reels. But most people dont know any different. And none of my customers are worried about warranty as I can fix them if needed, and they get the reels back better and smoother than stock. Hell, most send me a brand new in box reel to tune before even using. Lol

<")))<{

[Bassun67]

FloridaFishinFool

Thank you again for your very informative posts. 

I am not against your viewpoint but I have different opinions regarding the choice of reels. The use of reels is not ONLY about "casting" or "casting distance". For me, "retrieving" and "convenience" (preventing backlash) are also very important.

I used Shimano Stella, Shimano curado, Shimano Core, Shimano Metanium, Daiwa Tatula Type R, then Daiwa Steez, Daiwa Steez SV limited (JDM), Daiwa Zillion SV TW, Daiwa Luvias, Shimano Stradics. 

I am not rich but would spend money on 5-8 "better" reels for 10-15 years.

What amazed me firstly was Daiwa Tatula Type R (in 2013). It was the one made me turn more to Daiwa. Reasons? Firstly, magnet braking, very likely. At least I don't need to open the cover for adjustment (Curado, Metanium). I need to admit, the fine adjustment (1-20) of brake in Daiwa is very precise and easy to do. 

Also, Daiwa Tatula Type R is much more smooth than Curado 200HG when retrieving. Much more. This is the another reason I turned to Daiwa, I believe.

Last year I got Daiwa Zillion SV TW and compared it with my 2 Steez. Zillion is at least equal to Steez in every aspect (casting distance, smooth, backlash) I concern. For this finding, I am not going to spend money on Daiwa SV TＷ. Lucky me.

I don't mind internal PLASTIC gear (white color stuff). Compared with other mechanics, obviously bass fishing reels have much less stress. If plastic gear is far sufficient for its job, why bother it has to be metal? I mean, did you frequently service fresh water bass fishing customers whose reels had plastic gear issue? I am interested in learning more about this. Thank you.   

[LgMouthGambler]

Plastic is fine for non exposed internal no stress parts. Its the lack of maintenance that kills them. Excessive buildup of dirt that gets trapped in the grease and on the gears that will slowly grind them away.

<")))<{

[Bassun67]

Plastic is fine for non exposed internal no stress parts. Its the lack of maintenance that kills them. Excessive buildup of dirt that gets trapped in the grease and on the gears that will slowly grind them away.

<")))<{

Thank you for your reply. What kind of "lack of maintenance" you are referring? Do we have to regularly disassemble the whole reel for maintenance? In my view, reels are delicate and unless it's necessary, why bother disassembling it once a year after purchasing it as new?

I mean, last year I fish for 50 times, each time I brought 4-5 rods with me on board. In average I used each reel for 10 times/year. Each trip, let's say 10 hours, a reel is 100 hr/yr. No dropping in water, no internal corrosion (salt). What kind of maintenance do I need? Should I "disassembling" it each year after the fishing season is over? It's hard to convince me to do that. I am not a professional as you guys and not sure if I can assemble it back after disassembling.  :-)

I bought an expensive mechanical watch in 2009. The seller told me to send it back for "cleaning" (oiling...by the maker) and it costs around 250 dollars. For the past 8 years I never send it back and the watch is still running well.

What I do now is to remove spool, clean and grease the reels. I did not remove handles and go into the internal parts. Luckily, I don't have any issues so far (all reels are in 3 years old or less).     

[LgMouthGambler]

Its gonna depend on the idividual, and what kind of conditions they fish. Do you keep your reels covered when not in use? Do you use them in dirty conditions? Taking them apart is no big deal on a reels life, only if you use the incorrect tools and over/under tighten things. In your case, maybe not a full tear down every year, but maybe every other. You may just want to add a drop of oil to the bearings once a year or less depending on use.

<")))<{

[Bassun67]

Its gonna depend on the idividual, and what kind of conditions they fish. Do you keep your reels covered when not in use? Do you use them in dirty conditions? Taking them apart is no big deal on a reels life, only if you use the incorrect tools and over/under tighten things. In your case, maybe not a full tear down every year, but maybe every other. You may just want to add a drop of oil to the bearings once a year or less depending on use.

<")))<{

Thanks. One of the reasons I like Daiwa is they have Magseal on some models. As long as I do not take apart the reel, ideally it will keep internal parts sealed. In my case, in normal condition there is no way dirt will get into the internal.

[LgMouthGambler]

Thanks. One of the reasons I like Daiwa is they have Magseal on some models. As long as I do not take apart the reel, ideally it will keep internal parts sealed. In my case, in normal condition there is no way dirt will get into the internal.

There is still ways for dirt to get in there, its just better protected.

<")))<{

[FloridaFishinFool]

I worked on a bunch of spinning reels yesterday taking them from the "fix only what is broken" pile and there were mostly Daiwa spinning reels in the pile all with the same problem- broken bail springs snapped in half.

Is it a design flaw or, just cheap steel or, great design and great steel and everyone just wore them out???

Same problem across a half dozen low-end Daiwa reels.

The Daiwa bail spring shown in the following image is how they are made and sold. But if anyone tries to install this spring as shown below they are in for a huge disappointment. The spring will not stay in place. There is a proprietary adjustment that has to be manually done before attempting to replace this part. Daiwa says one adjustment is enough, but I have done as many as 4 adjustments to improve its operation inside the reel.


Next up was a Penn Fierce spinning reel. Bail was just flopping around. Once inside nothing was broken. The spring arm pivot guide had simply fallen out of the bail arm.

Reason for failure... cheap plastic part wore down...



Looking at the above image, do you see that little titty for lack of a better word facing you? That is what keeps the pivot in place up inside the bail arm as it slides back and forth. When the lubrication wears out it is plastic on plastic for awhile, but eventually this little titty wears down and the pivot on the end of the other side simply falls out of place turns sideways and the reel fails.

Design flaw? Materials flaw? I would say a little of both. In Shimano reels they have an all steel part with no protrusion titty to wear down and fall out of place. Shimano reels do NOT have this built in problem waiting to happen.

So for me, I can safely scratch low end daiwa spinning reels off the list of reels to use and scratch Penn Fierce spinning reels off the list too. I don't need failures waiting to happen.

Here is the basic shimano spinning reel bail system. Notice in the center of the photo is an "L" shaped all steel spring arm pivot guide? Yeah that one is not going to wear down and turn sideways and fail like the Penn reels.


There was one shimano stradic 2000FG (about 20 years old) in the pile that said "fix AR" and all that was needed on that one was a good AR bearing cleaning and a little lubrication and put it back together and it is good now for years to come... A great little reel. Wish that one was mine! The stradic FG series was the last of the stradics made in Japan. Beginning with the FH series they were all made in Malaysia.

I do have the 1000FG and 2500FG just like this one, but the ones to have are the 2500FG and 4000FG. A kick ass little reel! The one I worked on yesterday was a quick fix and had worked flawlessly for decades and still smooth! Quality.

And it is precisely this quality that commands top dollar prices for these used old stradics too! When new about 20 years ago, these reels sold new for $120. Today in 2017 about 20 years later, even in used condition these reels are still selling on ebay for very close to their brand new selling price!

[FloridaFishinFool]

Today I worked on an old 1970's era Olympic spinning reel that came into the shop with a request to only repair the broken bail which no longer locked into an open casting position.

Usually a reel of this age would require an entire tear down clean and lube before putting it back together, but believe it or not this 40 year old reel was still working smoothly without maintenance.

Talk about quality! How many reels do you know of that would work for 40 years without maintenance!

I was amazed at the simplicity of the bail lock and release mechanism. It consisted of just 2 parts! Simple is better they say. All that was wrong with this one was a slight misalignment of the parts. That "L" shaped part was slightly bent and no longer a perfect 90 degrees so it was not catching in the bail arm any longer. A simple realignment, some new lubricant and it was as good as new!



Something else I was working on today was in making some custom brake collars for a 30 plus year old round baitcast reel. Parts have not been available for this reel for decades so finding the right size brake collar is next to near impossible so making them by hand is about all that can be done.

So I found in a local military surplus store some different materials from which I can experiment on making all new brake collars. Some are plastic, some are teflon, some are similar to what the reel originally had which is a hard plastic or fiber board like material.

I can cut them in different sizes to replicate different weights so I should be able to narrow down to a good usable level of centrifugal braking friction to work in the old reel.

The few remaining original brake collars are shown in the upper right hand corner of this image. No longer available any where... so replicating them by hand from available materials is the only choice.



Here is the old reel getting the new brake collars. It is an old Browning Citori made in Korea. This reel is almost a direct copy of the Shimano Calcutta and it is kind of funny in that for people who have owned this reel that they like the smoothness and quality of this Browning knockoff better than the original!

[Oldfart9999]

What ever happened to Quatums magnetic bail, no springs to break. I like mine.
Rodney

[FloridaFishinFool]

What ever happened to Quatums magnetic bail, no springs to break. I like mine.
Rodney

Hello Rodney, I just cover some of the reels that come through the shop and common problems. If those quantums never break then you won't see them here!

[FloridaFishinFool]

You know I gotta envy reel repair techs in places like Minnesota who get reels in that have been fished with in freshwater.

Being located here in Florida our shop gets in a ton of reels that have been used in salt water and are just corroded up bad.

Today I tried to concentrate on getting done all 5 spinning reels brought in by one customer. He has all shimano spinning reels. Nice stradics and sustain reels.

But here is the problem... and please keep in mind this is just a suggestion directed at salt water fishermen mostly because of the salt corrosion problem.

The reels I worked on today were bought new off the shelf and taken right straight out into salt water.

The problem with this is once the reels start corroding a lot of the screws get frozen in place by the corrosion and they are very difficult to take apart.

So as a suggestion, based on what I see over and over, it seems to me to be a good idea to at least take a new reel and do some corrosion prevention before using them in salt water and importantly remove critical screws like the one on the liner roller and coat the threads with grease or some sort of corrosion preventative lubricant anti-seize compound.

New reels are metal on metal and today I had a heck of a time repairing bails that were very difficult to take apart. Once I got the screw out it had white corrosion in every thread from one end of the screw to the other.

A little bit of preventative corrosion prevention will go a long way when it comes time to service the reel down the road.

Another big issue are ball bearings completely rusted and frozen and will not spin. They could use some corrosion prevention as well.

Just a suggestion...

[FloridaFishinFool]

Another Shimano spinning reel issue came up today...

Some shimano spinning reels have a small little "oil port" screw cap usually on the left side of the body.

Does anyone here pour oil into those??? Don't!

I don't really know why Shimano did this. I mean some of the oil people pour into those cause more harm than good. I had a reel today that was stiff and very hard to use. I opened it up and found it full of oil. It had some sort of reaction with the grease in the reel that did not make it better, but turned it into a gummy gooey mess.

The pinion gear and main drive gear are suppose to have a thin coat of grease on them. Pouring oil into the reel at least in this case so diluted some of the grease it ran off the places it was suppose to be.

Point being, if anyone thinks pouring more oil into the reel is needed, it is probably times for a service job.

I own a few reels with these oil ports, but I have never put one drop into any of them.

It is kind of strange because oil is not what manufacturers use to lubricate the inside of a spinning reel. They use grease so why the oil port?

I asked someone in the business... I was told that Shimano knew the consequences of putting an oil port was that if someone actually did it, the reel would then definitely need servicing.

So according to this industry person, it is put there to provide the end user with a possible way to service their own reels with oil using the tempting oil port, but for those who do, it is really there to get that customer to either buy another reel or get theirs serviced. Now keep in mind this is only hearsay, but would a manufacturer do something like this as a form of trickery or what???

Some baitcast reels have a similar port. I have seen something similar on some abu reels. But putting oil into a baitcast reel with internally exposed drag washers is not a good idea.

Adding oil to any of them could lead directly to the failure of the reel, so why do they put these on some reels? It is interesting to consider.

[FloridaFishinFool]

Apparently my phone camera did not focus very well on the drag washers, but hopefully the difference can be seen...

yesterday I ran across another common problem found quite often in spinning reels. People claim to maintain their spinning reels or have them serviced and maintained, but one thing is quite often overlooked and that is the drag washers in the spool.

Just yesterday I worked on a Shimano Symetre 2500FJ that the customer had used in salt water. He said when he brought it in that he had done regular maintenance on the reel, but apparently he never touched the drag washers. Not once. And he had gotten the spool and drag wet with salt water serveral times too.

So one of the last things I check when finishing up servicing a spinning reel is to take out the drag washers and lubricate them. When I opened up this reel's drag washers they were as dry as I have ever seen before. And this reel is fairly new too! Not like it is 10 years old or anything.

So I snapped a photo with my phone camera but it is not quite in focus, but on the left is one of the drag washers after lubrication and on the right is the drag washer as found in the reel dry and not looking too good from the salt water intrusion.

Point of this comment, always check and lubricate your spinning reels drag washers on a regular basis too!

[FloridaFishinFool]

Another drag washer issue just came up... teflon drag washers. Got some reels in with oil all over the teflon drag washers.

Make sure to clean these and inside spool back to a dry state. No drag grease or lubrication on teflon drag washers.

[FloridaFishinFool]

Just finished up yet repairing yet another Shimano Stradic CI4+... ugh!

Why is it that as technology advances materials in reels is regressing???

I wonder if the demand for lighter and lighter weight in reels is driving manufacturers into making cheaper and cheaper reels?

Parts that use to be made of steel are now made of aluminum. There is increasing amounts of plastic parts.

But the weight of the reels is coming down as is their durability.

Based on what all I am seeing come across my bench I won't be purchasing any stradics newer than the FI or FJ series. It looks like I am done with the stradic line as far as buying the newer stradics. I will however keep using the older stradics with my favorites being the FG and FH series.

My older stradics are reaching 20 years old and still just as smooth and reliable as when new.

[FloridaFishinFool]

Just finished up a Lew's speed spool baitcast reel MH1SH with graphite frame retails $119.00. Complaint, fix drag only.

First problem found... the uninformed owner spooled power pro directly onto spool and line easily spun around spool. Duh! OK, stripped off line, put on some backing and respooled his power pro line back onto the spool. Still had annoying drag issue that caught and released caught and released.

Taking it apart found customer had tried to repair it himself and only messed it up worse with parts put back in wrong places...

Found cheap blue cardboard drag washer literally glued onto the brass gear and had to be pried off. I did the guy a favor and installed a carbon drag washer rather than reused his not so level cheapo cardboard drag washer. Now it is smooth- completely smooth.

This Lew's reel has a big sticker on it- MADE IN CHINA.

Just "repaired" an Abu Revo RV03-SX-L. Problem- spool frozen in place. Problem? Screw under spool backed out and rubbed on inside of spool grinding a silver groove into the inside of the spool easily seen contrasting against the black anodized spool.

This must of driven him crazy trying to use it when it began rubbing and he used it to the point of grinding it to a halt once the screw had backed out so far it jammed up the spool! Gotta feel for the guy. I wonder how many times he used it while grinding it to a halt???

What a simple fix. Remove spool, tighten screw, install spool. Charge customer.

Oh well, time to go fishing!  Lock the door boys I'm outta here...

[PECo]

FFF

I love this thread. Thank you.

I'm a spinning reel user. I started with Pflueger reels, but the bail springs kept failing. Then I tried Cabela's Daiwa-made reels, but the bails broke on ALL of them (the bail arms cracked in the same place). To its credit, Cabela's took back all five of them, some of which were a few years old. Now, I use only Shimano reels. I started with a bunch of Saharas and a couple of Symetres, but now have a Saragosa, a Sustain and several Stradics. I've never had any problems with any of them, other than the Symetre bail that broke when I stepped on it. Oops!

Have you serviced any of the new Stradic FKs, yet? I'm asking because you mentioned that you're leery of the newer ones and I'm wondering whether you have any reasons specific to the FK. So far, so good with mine.

I agree with you that there's a point at which price goes up without any real improvement in quality or function. For me, this point has been the Stradic FK. I think that Shimano might have shot itself in the foot with this one, because I don't see any reason to spend more than the $130 I'd spend on a new 2500.

Anyway, thanks, again,

Phil

[LgMouthGambler]

Here is one to add to the "chronicles". Just finished servicing 8 baitcasters for a customer of mine. Prior to me servicing them, they were serviced by a reputable place. Well lets just say that they were crap jobs where parts were missing because they probably lost them. There were some reels that the drag spring/clicker areas were either in the wrong order, missing, or just crancked down on with something that bent the clicker assembly due to missing washers/spacers. This is why these service places are just a horrible idea. They dont care, just pump them out. This is why they always come and find me. I take my time, I give them back better than new, and fix all the hack jobs other service places do. Thank God I look for beat up reels for cheap to use for parts. Another happy customer who has about 20 other reels he needs me to service/fix. Im gonna have to get on ebay and find some donor reels. Its a good thing he uses generally the same reel platform. Looks like im gonna be busy for a while.

<")))>{

[FloridaFishinFool]

FFF

I love this thread. Thank you.

I'm a spinning reel user. I started with Pflueger reels, but the bail springs kept failing. Then I tried Cabela's Daiwa-made reels, but the bails broke on ALL of them (the bail arms cracked in the same place). To its credit, Cabela's took back all five of them, some of which were a few years old. Now, I use only Shimano reels. I started with a bunch of Saharas and a couple of Symetres, but now have a Saragosa, a Sustain and several Stradics. I've never had any problems with any of them, other than the Symetre bail that broke when I stepped on it. Oops!

Have you serviced any of the new Stradic FKs, yet? I'm asking because you mentioned that you're leery of the newer ones and I'm wondering whether you have any reasons specific to the FK. So far, so good with mine.

I agree with you that there's a point at which price goes up without any real improvement in quality or function. For me, this point has been the Stradic FK. I think that Shimano might have shot itself in the foot with this one, because I don't see any reason to spend more than the $130 I'd spend on a new 2500.

Anyway, thanks, again,

Phil

Thanks Phil. Sorry I did not get back to you sooner as I missed seeing this comment until now.

Yes we are seeing a few of the new K models come in. I have to get some specialized training from Shimano on them too as I am learning that for the first time in the new K models there is one particular part inside those reels that the human hand is not allowed to touch.

This reel is relatively too new to see any long term problems, but the one we have in right now has a worm gear problem and the spool has too much play in it. We are waiting on the Shimano rep to come by and give us the training on it and other things...

But beside that worm gear issue the reel was super smooth. Shimano is really working on making reels smoother and they are succeeding.

But again, we are seeing issues with materials used to make reels. The technology is improving but the manufacturers are using cheaper materials and a lot more plastic.

Part of this problem are all those end users demanding lighter weight reels. Some don't seem to get that reducing weight means reducing materials quality. Simple as that.

The demand for lighter reels is compelling reel manufacturers to look for ways to reduce weight. For example, in the past reel manufacturers almost always made worm gears out of good quality steel and they lasted almost forever. Now we see those same worm gears made out of aluminum and they now wear down and wear out faster because of a cheaper weaker material is being used. No way around this issue that I can see.

Brass gears are now being made out of aluminum... and the list goes on... metal parts now being made out of plastic and even ceramics.

So you know, this is kind of why I am avoiding the newer stradics. They even changed the drag mech and reduced the size of the drag washers in the newer models. I have to check those every time a reel comes into the shop and  we look at the amount of fuzz worn off the drag washers and it is my opinion the newer type is wearing faster than the older type. I have stradic reels that are 20 years old with less fuzz collecting in the side channels of the spool than I see in newer reels only a year or two old now have as much fuzz worn off the drag washers collecting up.

This means to me with less surface area to use for friction, the reduced area is being used to a higher degree causing more wear on the drag washers.

So I think I will keep my FG and FH stradics working for as long as I can... and I am not alone. Just yesterday and today I have been working on FG and FH stradics for customers who want to keep their old reels going as well.