Penn Conflict 8000 Drag Upgrade..Possible?

[kenton]

I did a test today on the Penn Conflict drag ratings. It did indeed lift a 30lb dumbbell. But it did slip a little once 2 inches off the ground.

Has anyone tried to upgrade the drags in these reels, or the Battle's for that matter, to gain a little more power?

I like to fish inexpensive reels and squeeze what I can out of them for the money.

Thanks guys.
Matt

[Alto Mare]

Matt, the designed of the reel has a lot to do with how we push it to its limits. I have never held a battle or a conflict, but do have many older reels.
From looking at the schematics, I would recommend to leave that reel alone and be happy with it. I'm a firm believer that on spinning reels the spool shaft needs to be supported at two areas, not one. The spool shaft on my reels go through a bushing at two different locations on the housing. Yours and most of penn's latest models have a spool shaft that goes through only one bushing, giving the crosswind block most of the pressure when under load... not a very good design.
I sent Steve Carson a message about that design and told him that I wasn't crazy about it, he replied that it would be too costly to make them as I pointed out, yet I see other companies offering them for less than what they sell their for . I'm ok with it because most of my reels are the "Z" series and "SS" series, I'm not into getting the most smoothness, I'm into dependability. Those tanks that I've mentioned have never let me down, the reason is that they're over-built.
If you want to experiment, go for it and prove me wrong
Sal

[johndtuttle]

While I agree that more support is always better the spool shaft is supported inside the pinion which is supported by 2 bearings giving three points of support in an all metal housing. The resulting load on the crosswind block is there, but not exceptional, imo, for the reel's designed intent.

Regardless, the main point here is that there are other issues for truly fishing 30lbs of drag with a Battle that are really, really pushing this reel. A reel truly designed for fishing 30lbs of drag has to be a super spinner with superior internals including with back up dogs to hold up for long, some recent introductions (Fin Nor Lethal 100) that the jury is out on notwithstanding....

PENN feels strongly that the drag upgrades to the Conflict are for increasing mid-range smoothness (ie 10-12lbs) not for fishing 30lbs day in and day out. Big Game reels barely manage that and hold up for long and are massively overbuilt in comparison.

[Alto Mare]

The further you move the shaft support from the rotor, the better off you are, well to me anyway. I'll stick with my older reels for now, when I get enough savings, I'll probably get me a Torque. I was hoping that their price would drop by now, but they're not budging .

[handi2]

I have 2 of the Conflict reels and one is the 8000. With the keyed drag washers there's not much else to do. They are great reels.

Sal I have a used twice gold Torque 7 Spinner. It was too heavy for me. Like new in the box. I'll PM you..