Daiwa Tournament Airity 2000 - bearing issues

[Jason Groombridge]

G'day All,

I received an Airity that had a bearing problem through the tackle shop I do work for. I think this reel is about 10 years old. The customer said he used it a couple of times then it started to feel crappy (grindy bearings) so he put it away and didn't use it again. He has now dragged it out and wants it sorted out so he can use it.

I pulled the reel apart and sure enough all 4 bearings were a little crunchy. I thought this a little strange given it's minimal use. So I ordered 4 new bearings from Daiwa and installed them tonight.

Now here is where things get really strange. I added a little CorrosionX to each bearing and installed it. I re-assembled the reel, put the rotor back on and the thing felt awful. When I wind the reel I can feel definite crunchiness in the bearings. I pulled them back out, removed the shields, washed them out, lubed with CorrosionX and re-installed. Still no good. I've removed and re-installed them a few times thinking I must have assembled the reel incorrectly, all to no avail.

When the bearings are out of the reel and I push on them and turn it is possible to feel the crunchiness. But they didn't seem to be like that before they were installed.

I am sure I haven't overtightened the rotor nut as i did it up finger tight then only used the spanner to move about another 30 degrees to the next flat so I could install the lock screw.

I am starting to wonder if there is an issue with the bearings. This would also explain the original problem and how quickly the problem appeared.

Have any of you experienced anything similar? Do you have any other suggestions about what might be happening?

The other thing I could try is some aftermarket bearings but the front pinion bearing on this reel is a flanged bearing and I doubt I will get one the right size in an aftermarket bearing.

Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

Cheers

Jason

[Porthos]

I'll be the first guy to ask the "dumb" question...did you accidentally install the old bearings back in?

If not, I'd say it's time for a little experimenting with the old bearings. I suspect you didn't over-tighten anything given your level of experience. Turn slowly and feel if the races got pitted. If there's any pitting, then my suspicion is that the reel's tolerances were too tight leaving the Daiwa factory.

This tolerance issue I have only seen once so far, and it was with a Penn 760L. The tutorial on it posted here showed two thin washers between the left side plate and main gear. Mine only had one, and I didn't think much about it until I fished with it--the main gear slipped when under even a light load. Thought grease got in side the anti-reverse or it was just bad...but a new bearing proved those theories wrong. I reread the tutorial, noticed that second washer, and the proverbial light bulb clicked on. Added that second washer into my 760L and went bottom fishing with it. 99% of the slippage went away but the 760L now felt like a Van Staal--no free spinning whatsoever. Prolong storage with that second washer in place will have eventually pitted the bearing races (seen it happen in the headsets of my road and mountain bikes). Suspect that QC at Penn noticed the tightness, and it got shipped out with only the one washer I originally found.

If neither corrosion or pitting, continue the experiment by removing the shields and clean and soak with CorrosionX at least once to get to a point of minimal or no "crunchiness" if possible. Then, pack with GREASE, reinstall shields, and see if that helps. If it significantly improves, put the newly greased old bearings back in, and see how the reel functions as a whole (now that you've turned it into a "Van Staal"...just kidding).

The grease will kill any free spinning the reel originally had, but at least it will not impart "crunchiness."

[exp2000]

I have only encountered this once before when I ordered a tube of very cheap spool bearings from MRR.

From the markings I could identify them as being of Chinese origin.

They all had a decidedly "gritty" feel about them right OOB. I flushed them clean and re-lubed them but I could never get them quite right.

I suspect that they were contaminated with some factory grinding residue which apparently can happen in cheap Chinese operations where inadequate quality controls exist.

They were definitely the worst lot I have ever ordered and needless to say the last lot of those particular ones.

If you try quality aftermarket bearings from Boca etc, they should be able to supply the flanged bearing also.

You can tell a good bearing by flushing it clean and then mounting it on an artists brush handle. Hold the end against your ear lobe and spin the bearing. This acts like a stethoscope. A good bearing will make a smooth sweet hissing noise like a snake. A bad one will sound like there is gravel inside.

It is possible that Daiwa had a bad batch come through but surprising nonetheless. I doubt that genuine Japanese bearings would ever suffer from such issues. But be advised: there is a huge counterfeit trade in the world bearing market that has become quite a problem for the big legitimate manufacturers. It is said that 50% of the Chinese market are actually counterfeit bearings.

But given that this has now happened to two lots of bearings in a row I wonder if this is what is happening in your case.

On the other hand, aberrant under-tolerances extreme enough to cause physical damage to a bearing would make the reel feel like the coffee grinder from hell.

Best of luck,
Brett
~

[Jason Groombridge]

I definitely put the new bearings in

These ones are giving a ticking type sound when you wind the reel. Like there is damage in the race at only a couple of points and each time a certain ball goes past you get a felt "tick" in the rotation of the rotor.

Daiwa are sending more bearings so hopefully that will sort it out. If not, I will probably have to go with the Boca option.

Cheers

Jason

[handi2]

Jason in the future just contact Jeff at Boca or Dawn at Smooth drag. You will get only good ABEC5 bearings, if requested, and they are probably less than Daiwa. Faster too.

All you need is the bearing size.