Okuma Cavalla 15-II questions

TonyFriend · December 23, 2011, 07:23:44 AM

I have just bought some Okuma Cavalla 15-II reels (very cheap on eBay). Overall, so far I'm impressed with what you get for the money, but two things worry me significantly, both associated with the lever drag.

1) When the drag is set to a reasonable level, (say an estimated 15lb) the adjustment knob (pre-set knob) is very, very loose. It would move with any sort of a bump, changing the pre-set level, which is, after all, the main reason to have a lever drag.

2) Again, with the drag set at a reasonable level (say an estimated 15lb) the drag lever is very hard to move, requiring significant force.

No other lever drag reels I own (Shimano TLDs, Avel JX, Fin-Nor Marquesa) have these problems. I am amazed that Okuma would sell a reel like this. Do I have a bad batch, or are there real design flaws in this reel? There shouldn't be if it was designed by Tiburon Engineering.

Jimmer · December 26, 2011, 10:05:36 PM

I checked my cavallas ( 30 and 50) and the drag knob does seem loose, I think they need a stiffer coil spring under the adj. knob or on o ring to hold more pressure on them , but a little heavy grease on the threads might be a quick fix. Te drag lever force is a function of the cam ramp angle, spring pressure against it from the spool shaft and the length of the drag lever. I don't think the reels you are comparing it to generate this amount of drag so they are easier to move. Any one else have some ideas here?

TonyFriend · December 27, 2011, 06:32:53 AM

Quote from: Jimmer on December 26, 2011, 10:05:36 PM
I checked my cavallas ( 30 and 50) and the drag knob does seem loose, I think they need a stiffer coil spring under the adj. knob or on o ring to hold more pressure on them , but a little heavy grease on the threads might be a quick fix. Te drag lever force is a function of the cam ramp angle, spring pressure against it from the spool shaft and the length of the drag lever. I don't think the reels you are comparing it to generate this amount of drag so they are easier to move. Any one else have some ideas here?

Hi, Jimmer,
I'm just back from dropping my reels off to Alan. He and you both diagnose the "loose pre-set knob" problem as being a spring that is too light. A lot too light.
The drag lever force is another matter. I left Alan thinking about it, so he can probably enlarge, but as I was leaving it was looking like the surface of the cam, which is made of cast stainless, is quite rough, and almost certainly contributes to the effort to move the lever. I left Alan filing away at the cam face - not a fun job with stainless. Pity the cam wasn't bronze, like the Shimano cams.
When I see how much drag I can develop with other similar sized reels, such as my Fin-Nor Marquesa 20, I'm sure that there is a problem with the Cavalla. Hopefully Alan will figure it out - I have the utmost confidence that he will.

Jimmer · December 27, 2011, 03:10:14 PM

I hadn't thought about friction but that would figure in moving the drag lever too. I'm real interested to see what Alan finds here

yota924x4 · December 28, 2011, 04:53:23 AM

on my ca15II at full spool, strike setting 15lb on a rod the lever is a bit tight. moveable but tight. still has great freespool, when you slide it all the way to full drag there is a very slight increase pressure needed to turn the hande. ( at strike the handle weight is enough to make the handle travel down with gravity but at full i have to add about 1/2oz of weight to the handle to get it to rotate downward) my first thought was the notch on the drag lever #605 itself was touching the decoration plate #205 but i just verified that it wasn't.

personally this wouldn't keep me from fishing it but it there is a simple prep and polish solution to this i'll probably do it.

chris

TonyFriend · December 28, 2011, 06:05:07 AM

Quote from: yota924x4 on December 28, 2011, 04:53:23 AM
on my ca15II at full spool, strike setting 15lb on a rod the lever is a bit tight. moveable but tight. still has great freespool

That sounds a lot like the way my reels are. Both I and Alan think that it's not right. I'll post here once we identify the culprit.
Tony

JGB · December 28, 2011, 11:45:24 PM

Tonyfriend,

The Cavalla's use the same cam and the texture on the cam is intentional to keep the lever from creeping. I believe it os more than needed.

I have updated all my Cavalla's in the following way.

If you wan to correct all the drag stuff here is what needs to be done:

1 Stretch out the drag plate return spring a bit ( so it pushes out harder and pulls on the drag preset knob more when in free spool)
2 replace the cam with one from a Soltera reel ( it has a smooth finish and is a different ss and a slower ramp).
3 replace the tan washer underneath the lever with a teflon on - you will need to notch the new washer.
4 Make sure you have the original belevills . If you try to beef them up the drag range will be horrible and low drag settings will be near impossible to set with the lever.

The result will be a smooth lever that takes less force to move.
The down side is at very low drag settings (couple of pounds) the lever may want to creep.

I have a call in to Alan to update him on all this as well as replacement cams.

Jim N.

TonyFriend · December 29, 2011, 01:46:11 AM

Quote from: JGB on December 28, 2011, 11:45:24 PM
The Cavalla's use the same cam and the texture on the cam is intentional to keep the lever from creeping. I believe it is more than needed.

Jim, thanks for the input - I'm sure you are onto something with your corrections. Alan is still working away at trying to get the reels right, so I'm sure he will appreciate this input.
Tony

Jimmer · December 29, 2011, 01:57:23 AM

be sure to check out Boghy's post on the perfect 4/0 reel - he's got somestuff going on with these reels too - Jimmer

alantani · December 30, 2011, 05:10:39 AM

we should be able to put these back together!

TonyFriend · January 09, 2012, 12:58:26 AM

Thanks for doing the work on the Cavallas. I'm sorry that it was not a straightforward job. Frankly, although they will do the job I want, I'm a bit disappointed with the Cavallas. First of all, the problems with the lever drag mechanism, and then to find the drag with freespool maxes out at 15lb.

We talked about the inconsistent ratings on rods, and while you and I are completely in agreement, at least the rod guys can say that rods are hard to rate, and to a degree that is true.

That is NOT true for reels. Drag is readily measurable. That's why I'm a bit disappointed. From the Okuma website:
------------------------------------
Okuma Cavalla 15II

Max Drag @ Strike: 24-lbs
Max Drag @ Full: 32-lbs
------------------------------------

You've told me, and I'm sure you are right, that the Cavalla 15 has a design that limits the drag to 15lb at strike. How can Okuma claim 24?

JGB · January 17, 2012, 05:58:04 AM

Some how I missed the part about the 15# strike on your Cavalla 15's. You should be able to get very near 24# at strike with free spool. I think my 15's get around 23# @ strike. I did the bearing sleeve and as I recall this helped to keep good free spool at strike. There is a noticeable amount of bearing drag at 24# of drag and the lever gets hard to push forward. For me it does not matter as I run 18# max strike drag on this reel (50# max reel). You will not notice the bearing drag if you use low gear.

The one thing that can cause the lower strike drag is if the lobes in the lever (where the cam rides) are worn down.

Warning !!! never set the strike drag higher than 24# ( measured with a scale ) and then push the lever to full. You will damage the left spool bearing and it will get noisy in free spool. I had to replace my bearings 3 times before I figured out why they were failing.

Jim N.

yota924x4 · January 18, 2012, 03:46:53 AM

atleast in my case its not that i lose freespool above 15lb at strike, its just that the lever gets too darn hard to move. so far i polished the cam face, and stretched the spring. almost had a new stiffer spring worked out but the ID of one i had was just a touch too small.

TonyFriend · January 22, 2012, 06:22:04 AM

Quote from: yota924x4 on January 18, 2012, 03:46:53 AM
atleast in my case its not that i lose freespool above 15lb at strike, its just that the lever gets too darn hard to move.

Yes, that seems to be the common thread - the lever is just very hard to move when the drag settings get up to where they should be. Even after Alan and Jim have done their best, and the cam is smoother than the original, the problem remains. In effect, it means to me:
1) I probably won't push the drag lever past "strike", which is a pity if I get into a really big fish
2) The aluminum drag lever will probably wear faster than it should, meaning I will need to replace it sometime relatively soon. Replacing it isn't hard, and the lever is probably not very expensive, but I'm worried about being able to get replacement levers when the problem occurs, particularly as I plan to leave some of my Cavallas in Australia.

Just a shame, really, as the Cavalla has a lot going for it.

JGB · January 24, 2012, 09:20:10 AM

Part of the lever being hard to push all the way forward is due to the brown washer under the lever. there is a point where it begins to stick.
There are 2 things to try that are fairly easy. Replace the brown washer with a HT100 greased carbon fiber drag washer. Grease it and it should not get sticky. The second is the best I found - that is to replace the brown washer with a teflon washer from a Titus Gold reel. It will cut the force needed in half. Be warned that at very low drag settings the lever may want to creep back to the free spool position.

I also use this upgrade on the Andros reel - The catch is it has to be re sized.

The Okuma part # is 0920005 (obsoleted part but still available).

Give me a call and let's see if we can get one to you - 408-274-2660 408-259-5820 cell

Jim N.