Any opinions on the Tern 2?

[natch!]

 Does anyone have any feedback on this reel? A few years back I was looking for a star drag to fish 30 lb. line. I looked at an original Tern and wasn't impressed. I bought an Okuma Tesoro 5 instead.
 Now I'm looking for a reel for use casting surface irons on my UC Monster 9 footer. I have Komodo's on my lighter jig sticks, and like them, but I want to use a traditional round star drag on this rod. I've handled the Tern 2 and it seems much improved over the previous model and I might find the cast control feature useful.

 Jack
 

[Gfish]

Interesting, but never had one in hand. I like the Abu centrifugal cast control systems better than the reels with mag control only.
Real interested in how the twin drag system is actuated on a star-drag reel?

[alantani]

take a look at the okuma alijos 12S two speeds.  the standard width is 400 yards of 80 pound braid and the narrow is 300 yards.  both have a blistering 48 inches of retrieve per crank.  a couple of guys on the 10 day had these reels.  they were really nice!!!

[jurelometer]

I haven't fondled or fished a Tern 2, but have some observations:

1. Four torx screws to remove the entire handle-side sideplate to adjust the cast control, so not really practical in the field.  And you have to add/remove the tiny centrifugal "magnets", so more tiny parts to keep track of/not lose.  If you are like me, and occasionally adjust the cast control while out fishing, this is a disadvantage.

2. 

Real interested in how the twin drag system is actuated on a star-drag reel?

Nothing special, they just put drag stacks on on both sides of the main gear. Everything else is the same.  The interesting question is beside from having a well known Accurate feature to market... why?

From Accurate:

The Tern2 has the Twin Star Drag technology that is the first of its type in a star drag reel.  The dual surface drag is smoother and more powerful.

The challenge with stacking some of the drag washers under the main gear is that you no longer have a nice flat hard gear face to thrust washer interface to help the main gear resist the twisting load.  Mebbe that is why they changed the reel for version 2 to put a ball bearing inside the main gear ( or maybe the inside of the main gear was too thin for a plain bearing, since they hollowed it out on both sides).

Putting the disks on both sides of the main gear just makes for one less sliding drag surface for the same number of friction washers, so you are losing drag strength for the same clamping force.  But we have seen that clamping load does not always propagate down the stack completely on star drags, so maybe two shorter stacks distributes the clamping load more effectively than one, and you get a better net effect... meh.

We have to give Accurate some chutzpah points for making a patent claim on having a gear turn on a ball bearing. 

3. I am also not a fan the old old style gear sleeve design instead of a solid main shaft supported by proper bearings on both ends.This might also contribute a little to the need for a ball bearing in the main gear for higher loads.

4.  The schematic that is posted is for the 300 size shows only a roller clutch (AKA one way bearing) for the anti-reverse mechanism, unlike most other modern saltwater casting reels that utilize a "backup" dog/ratchet if they have a roller clutch.  Roller clutches are not horribly reliable in saltwater environments, and are often operating near their torque limits in high drag settings.

And Accurate seems to have borrowed that annoying make-up-lots-of-silly-acronyms-for-everything marketing style from Shimano....

OTOH, There are folk that use these reels and are happy with them.  I would look at other options myself.


Accurate has a schematic for the Tern 2 posted now:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0502/5398/8024/files/TXD_BOM_New_Rev1.pdf?v=1678390010

-J

[alantani]

when i first cracked one open, it reminded me of a newell. 

[jurelometer]

when i first cracked one open, it reminded me of a newell. 

I thought the same thing looking at the photos with all those circlips on the bridge assembly. I wouldn't be surprised if they were shooting for a "modernized Newell" niche.
 
But that would be a pretty weak excuse for putting a gear sleeve in a modern reel.

[natch!]

 Thanks for the input fellows. I'll have to look at the diagrams on some of my current star drags (Torques, Newells and the Tesoro) to understand some of the commentary. But the big red flag for me is that the A/R bearing is on its own with no dog system. The cast control might just get set to zero if I had the reel. I was thinking it could make it easier to cast light jigs while still using a 40 lb. class rod and reel.
  Maybe I'll research the A/R system on the Tern further. In the mean time I've got some very capable reels here already.

 Jack

[Swami805]

I have a tern2 400, haven't had a chance to really test it much, one trip and soaked some bait with it. My impressions so far, not impressed. First they don't send any kind of tool to open the reel up which is weak considering how much they cost. Also there's no instructions on how to adjust the cast control in the box, you have to look it up online. Even the cheap reels attempt to provide something. 
Feels ok in the hand but not as smooth as a Trinidad, haven't tried casting it really so time will tell. My plan is to use it for casting with 65lb braid with a short top shot. I had 50lb PP on it but it's so rough on the thumb I'm going with 65PP smooth
If I had it to do over I'd pass, I want to like it but so far it's a MEH.  Not including a tool to open it up is such weak sauce it colored my opinion somewhat   If a company is offering a premium product it should come with instructions in the box, having to find it on their website is cheesy
I'll give a it proper work out this spring

[MarkT]

I use a TranX 500 on my Monster 90. Ya know, Newell's had that twin drag back in the day with the P series! A recess on the bottom of the main gear to take another drag washer! It isn't new with the Tern!

[natch!]

  The dual drag idea was never really that important to me. As long as 12-15 pounds of reliable, smooth drag is available. I know a Tranx will do the job, but I think I'll just take the Torque 25N star from the rod it's on and use that. I'm retired now, so I can just go down to the pier and practice casting JRI 3 and DW1 jigs until they're not a problem.

 Jack

[Gfish]

Thanks for the schematic post J, and everyone's input.
I got a small Shimano Speedmaster (LD not star)and was real pleased to find no ARB, and a 2-dog AR system. 83 parts and the quality I'd expect for a Malaysian made reel at $230—-middle of the road. Oh, and it had a tool. Also, it has one of the best rod clamp systems I've come across yet.

[Petah]

Reviving this post.
The Tern2 is an average/good reel. My opinion is that it was not thought out well.
The eccentric slide and yoke are made out of aluminum. That is why the lever is so stiff. The yoke WILL get eaten through by the stainless steel pinion gear. I know,I was servicing them at Accurate. The small stainless main shaft screws into the aluminum bridgeplate with 2-3 threads. I take the round fiber washers out replace them with two eared fiber washers that I enlarge the opening to fit around the gear bearing. This greatly increases the drag to support their original drag numbers as there are now 4 eared fiber washers.I pulled 40lbs and had more to spare on my 600 first gen. The cast control slide weights are useless!!!They come greased from the factory making them stay out and reduce free-spool. They make noise when dry because they rub on the sideplate. They could fix it with a brass or stainless insert, I cut a thin strip of .010" delrin and it cured the noise problem but it was shrugged off by the higher-ups. "It's just a noisy reel" was the reply. The cast control cap is held in by just a few threads, don't adjust it at the rail, it may fall right into the brink. The first gen was a nightmare, the Tern2 isn't much better. Accurate should never have tried to break into an overloaded market of star drag reels. If you have a first gen Tern,good luck! Accurate is no longer supporting these reels, meaning, they aren't making replacement parts for them anymore. There may be some leftover parts but when they run out, they're out! A big mess as there are a lot of NOS Tern1's out there that haven't been sold yet!!!

[jurelometer]

Ouch. That was pretty brutal.  Thanks for the update.

From a design standpoint:

Looks like the posts that yoke slides on is also aluminum- machined into the bridgeplate.  That should also be a wear surface.

The problem with stainless parts sliding on aluminum is that they push the grease out and then are subject to galvanic (dissimilar metal )  corrosion, made worse by any scratching that will cut through the anodizing.  But as you point out, aluminum on aluminum is a terrible friction surface, and the edges of the hardened stainless pinion  are going to chew on the aluminum yoke like an end mill as the pinion rotates.

There is an argument to be made for stainless eccentric parts (most durable, but you have to keep them greased), or for better plastics (low friction, low corrosion potential, still works if there is no grease, but not as durable), or even brass (splits the difference between stainless and plastic).  I can't think of a good argument for aluminum other than corrosion prevention - which doesn't really matter if the mechanism doesn't work well and wears out quickly.

Putting a  gear sleeve instead of a solid shaft in  a modern reel that needs high drag settings for braid is just so obviously ill-advised...

I do think there is some market for a premium  small form factor/ high drag star drag reel from an established player like Accurate.  But the reel has to  be designed properly, and has to have an effective externally adjustable cast control.  It seems strange that Accurate had to shoehorn a cast control mechanism in in what looks like an afterthought.

This was not a difficult challenge from a design standpoint.  I suspect that the Tern is a case of focusing too much on giving the customer what they asked for (a modernized Newell), instead of they needed (a reasonably durable small form factor, high drag reel that casts braid well  and scratches the itch for owning a prestige product).

There is a (frequently ignored) axiom in the tech world that the customer is not responsible for telling you what they want.  I think that this is also true for many types of products, including reels.

-J

[alantani]

yeah, not a fan. 

[sabaman1]

 I agree with Alan. Sorry I'm not a big fan of the Accurate. Penn fathom star drag or Daiwa Saltist cast great and have smooth drags and are within most peoples budget.If your looking for a higher end fantastic star drag look for a good used Penn Torque star drag. My opinion
if that matters is. These were the finest star drags made to this day. Why Penn stopped making them is a mystery to me!