makaira disappointments

[alantani]

Alan,

I know that you are completely independant of Okuma, and that's what I'm looking for right now.

My local shop had none of the Makaira line, but was willing to match Charkbaits price so I ordered two Mak 15s from them.  Well, they showed up about an hour ago and I hauled out there to go put my hands on my first $500 new reel.  

Well, they shipped 20s instead of the 15s.  No worries, just another couple days.  Plus I wanted to see the 20s anyway because I was worried that my 15s might be a bit small and I had wondered if I could swing the 20s for my application.

20s are too big.

NOW... the reason I'm writing you.  I took the 20s out and they freespooled great.  Cranked the drag up and like every LD, it impeded the freespool.  That's okay, because I figured the "true freesool at full drag" was marketing BS anyway.  THEN... I slid the lever forward and went to wind.  S-T-I-F-F.  Maybe the drag is tow tight.  I lowered it down to next to nothing, and S-T-I-F-F.  Cranked it back up to normal tension and then slid forward to strik.  S-T-I-F-F.  I could put the reel on end, give the handle 1/2 a rotation as fast as I could and when I let go it would continue to spin MAYBE 1/4 rotation, or 45 degrees.  This was all in High Gear.  In low gear it was worse (obviously due to the gearing).  

Next I pulled the other 20 out of the box.  Exact same deal.

They did get a little better the more I played with them.  Perhaps grease being spread?

Do these reels break in ?

The stiffness of the wind on these two 20s at all drag tensions and lever positions was completely unacceptable.  I pulled a shimano 30 out of the case and in strike mode the handle would make it 2 oe 3 times around the reel.  Same with a Penn 50, and a $200 graphite penn deal.

If the 15's are anywhere near as stiff as the 20s, I won't be able to fish wth them.

BOTH reels were like this.  You ever heard anything like this?  I still have the 15s on order, but to say hat I was less than pleased with the 20s would be a very large undrstatement.  The 5 year warranty is meaning less and less to me if I don't even like the reel out of the freakin' box.  At least with a Shimano I'd get a few trips of pefection before they blew up.  I'm not saying the Makairas would blow up, but holy cow that crank was stiff on both of them.  I couldn't believe it, nor could the guy a the tackle shop.

Am i missing something here?  My lever drag experience is somewhat limited, but  I have fished with some very old Penn 30s, Penn 80s, TLD type stuff, Shimano 30s, etc.  None of them (and those are some pretty different reels) had as stiff of a crank as these Mak 20s.

Also, one of them sounded entirely different than the other... a ch, ch, ch, ch, ch as you cranked where as the other one was more a smooth uniform hum, if you  will.  This was at all settings.

I welcome your thoughts.

[alantani]

this one is going to be tough.  the first obvious thought is that the reels were jacked up.  as is, it's pretty obvious that these reels will need to be returned to okuma.  you know, i would love to be able to intercept them and crack them open just to see what's going on. 

the second is less obvious.  if you crank down on the preset knob far enough and then throw the lever forward, it is possible to crush the right main side plate bearing.  the makaira has a thrust bearing in line, but it has one bearing, not two.  ideally, it would need two thrust bearings (read, anti-CRUSH bearings) to protect the standard ball bearings from damage under an excessive load.  now, i could actually crush ANY right main side plate bearing in ANY lever drag reel by simply turning the preset know down all the way and then forcing the lever forward.  the amount of force needed to push that lever forward would be excessive.  you would know that you are pushing it way too hard. 

but you could do it, and with a fair amount of ease.  now, i read your account, and re-read it to make sure.  it might have been possible that you cranked down on the preset knob too far.  that would be the case if you cranked it down far enough to bring the pressure plates and the drag washer in contact, close enough to loose freespool.  and i think that's what you did.  without the ability to measure the drag, you could have pushed the drag pressure up to 50 or 60 pounds, maybe even more.  maybe 70 pounds.  that would account for the stiffness when trying to crank in gear.  once the bearing were crushed, the handle might still be difficult to crank when out of gear and it would probably make some noise. 

and why would now the other brands of reels do this?  perhaps it was just the drag setting.  it was not high enough.  it's hard to say with out line on the reel to actually measure the drag.  this is a tough one.  i would need the reel in hand to do the post mortem and be able to tell you for sure.  alan

[DFT]

I purchased two MK 15 II SEa a couple of months ago and put them in the closet since.  Few days ago I took them out and played with the drag.  I set the drag at 16# but the reel just would not spin.  I lower the drag pressure to 12# and still it did not spin freely.  This happened on BOTH reels.  This expensive machine supposed to have 27# of drag at Strike and 37# at Full.  I called Okuma's field office at Ontario yesterday morning, apparently the MK expert, according was very busy and he will call me back but he/they never did so I called again and the person assured me they will call me back by the end of the day, and again, they never did.  I am somewhat disappointed to their customer service, may be I caught them at the wrong time.  I will try again Friday as they are closed today.  To have two same reels not performing to the specifications as advertised is very strange, I mean it is not even close.  I never have problems with my Avets and Shimanos.  Well, thanks for letting me vent.  Have a happy and safe new year.

[johndtuttle]

I purchased two MK 15 II SEa a couple of months ago and put them in the closet since.  Few days ago I took them out and played with the drag.  I set the drag at 16# but the reel just would not spin.  I lower the drag pressure to 12# and still it did not spin freely.  This happened on BOTH reels.  This expensive machine supposed to have 27# of drag at Strike and 37# at Full.  I called Okuma's field office at Ontario yesterday morning, apparently the MK expert, according was very busy and he will call me back but he/they never did so I called again and the person assured me they will call me back by the end of the day, and again, they never did.  I am somewhat disappointed to their customer service, may be I caught them at the wrong time.  I will try again Friday as they are closed today.  To have two same reels not performing to the specifications as advertised is very strange, I mean it is not even close.  I never have problems with my Avets and Shimanos.  Well, thanks for letting me vent.  Have a happy and safe new year.

"...the reel would not spin."

What do you mean by this? That the reel had poor free spool or that the handle had felt binding pressure?

Bear in mind you resurrected from the dead a thread that was 3 years old with narry a peep heard since about any problems with the reels in question.

If your concern is free spool that is easily remedied. Nothing to be upset or rant about. Couple of drops of oil on the spool bearings and you are gtg. Perhaps the drag was greased too heavily and needs a quick wipe down. It will likely be a simple fix.

If you are handy at all we can talk you through it. Okuma also will be happy to help you (bear in mind it is New Years eve in a year with the holidays making it very difficult for customer service departments everywhere).

[DFT]

I meant the free spool was very poor.  Thank you for your advice.  Have a happy an safe holiday.

[johndtuttle]

I meant the free spool was very poor.  Thank you for your advice.  Have a happy an safe holiday.

Standing by to assist .

Happy New Year.

[alantani]

try again on monday or tuesday.  things might just be messed up because of the holidays!

[DFT]

Thanks you all for helping.  I took the reels to Okuma's field office today and met with Eddie.  Apparently there are issues with the cam.  Okuma will fix my reels free of charge.  Eddie represented the company well, exceptional customer services.  I am impressed.  Considering adding MK 10 to my collection.  Thanks again guys.

[DFT]

I have exchanged e-mails with Doug Lasko, Okuma's President, a person who cares about their customers.  Bottom line is they have an A Team working there.  Way to go.

[johndtuttle]

All's well that ends well!

Thanks for posting. It helps us trouble shoot others that may run into the same trouble. 

[DFT]

Got my MK 15s back from Okuma today.  The reels are fixed.  They replaced the cams and the reels free spool really well even with high drag setting.