ABU mag brakes working or not?

[Strömsborg]

I have here in front of me three different Abu reels with magnetic brake. One Ultra Mag XL Plus , one 521 Plus and one XLT 2 Syncro, all left hand retrieve.
The Ultra Mag is mid 80s, the other two are mid-late 80s and very similar. I think the XLT was introduced in 1986 and then replaced with the 500 series in 1987, which again was replaced with the XLT with Syncro fighting brake in 1989, and when the XLT was retired in 1991-1992 the 500 series made a come back.

Anyway, the Ultra Mag doesn't seem to have ever had line on it, it came with it's orginal box and was in the catalogue for only one year so I guess it's a collectors item now. The XLT on the other hand was owned for a long time by a happy fisher man and has seen hard use, to the point of most of the printed markings being worn away. When I got it it was crusty and dirty with the crank bent, level wind coupling not working and parts missing. The 521 is in between, it has seen some use but is in nice shape.

Now to my question, I don't know how and if the mag brakes on the XLT and 521 actually works. My testing in the field goes as far as having the XLT on a rod and making a few casts, it didn't work very well and since I was fishing I put it aside and grabbed another reel/rod.

If I remove the side plate on the Ultra Mag and watch the magnets when I turn the dial I can see how they move away from the spool, which would by simple logics decrease the breaking power, but nothing happens when doing the same thing on the as far as I can see identical 521 and XLT. According to the catalogue the magnetic brake is "self adjusting", with no further explanation. What then is the dial for?

 Turning the dial from 0 to 9 turns a cog wheel which puts tension to a small spring which in turn pulls the magnet assembly up an inclining plane, bringing the magnets closer to the spool. See image 2. But the mystery is that even in the "0" setting the spring is strong enough to pull the magnets all the way up the plane.

And what's more, the magnet assembly can have its range restricted with a set screw, and only the bottom quarter of its range is usable; any closer to the spool and it comes in contact with it.
Images 3 and 4 shows the magnets at its maximum and minimum set range, and image 5 shows where I have to set the screw for the magnets to not touch the spool. Almost no difference from image 4. There's very little range of motion left.

This is all a mystery to me. If the two almost identical reels weren't similar in this regard, i.e. having the same "problems", I'd had thought something was broken.

[Gfish]

It was a mystery to me too. I had an '89 XLT-1, 2-speed, briefly. I was mainly interested in the 2-speed aspect, couldn't seem to get that working right. The mag. control system was a bear to to get back together and I may have damaged something in doing so. I recall almost ruining that long spring; part# 13525? A couple of pictures and some incoherent memories are all I have of the experience.
Before I disassembled it, it seemed to cast ok, but the "self adjusting" brake? as well as the 2-speed functions...? I don't know...
I decided there was too much graphite composite engineering and got rid of it without ever wetting the line.

[Gfish]

Unfortunately, I didn't take any mag. control side-plate pictures.

I do also have the older Ultra Mag XL Plus and the mag. control works as it's supposed to. It casts pretty well, but I prefer the older Abu centrifugal cast controls like on my 5000 & 9000. The U.M. XL Plus is a serial# 840700, 1984 original version?

[Strömsborg]

I recently bought a 2-speed 10000CL. I don't know if the XLT 2-speed is of the same construction, but the 10000 seems to work fine. I haven't fished with it yet but I had my son stand in as a 10kg cod and the reel automatically kicked into a lower gear while he held on for dear life.


Too bad you didn't figure the mag brake out, and the schematic you attached shows a slightly different construction compared to my reels so it might not have helped anyway.
I have disassembled it as far as possible and spent far too much time looking at it from every concievable angle but I cant figure out a way to put it back together in a way makes the dial have any effect.
The spring can be placed to work in the opposite direction but that would only put the mag brakes permanently on minimum power instead of maximum, not really solving the problem. And I think that possibility exists only because ABU wanted to be able to use the same part for both left and right handed reels.
Maybe two springs pulling against each other? I might actually work. But the schematic only shows one spring, and what are the odds of me buying two old reels from two unrelated sellers where both have the same missing spring?
I have attached scematics of both the XLT and the 521 if it is of any help to anyone. I have an XLT2 and the schematic shows the smaller XLT1 but the mag brake looks right.


The Ultra Mag has serial 850300, so first version but manufactured in March 1985. Right?
One of the prettiest reels out here I think.

[Robert Janssen]

Tja.
Long text; didn't have time to read it all. What is the question, what the spring does?
The cumulative force of the Lenz effect while the spool rotates at high rpm pushes the magnets away from the spool against the force of the spring.
As the spool slows, the magnets are gradually brought closer to the spool, thusly providing a self-adjusting braking effect over the range of the cast. Clever, no?
The adjusting dial provides a means to adjust the braking force provided throughout.

Capisce?

.

[Strömsborg]

Yes it was a long post and the question was, in short, how it all works. Your explanation is spot on. Clever yes, because if you put brakes on a rotating mass the brakes wants to turn instead. And putting more tension to the spring via the dial means the magnets are held firmer in place.

But there was another question. The magnets touch the spool if I don't use the set screw to lock them almost all the way down to the bottom, leaving only maybe 2 mm left of travel. That means only the weakest braking force is available right?
I can also loosen the centering knob (?) until it almost falls off and the spool is rattling around in there.

[Gfish]

Yeah, I understand now R. J. Thanks. I think the folks at Abu went a little too far in some of the high-tech stuff, for me anyway. Doing some those new-fangled modifications is cool, but maybe stronger engineering would be better for a trial & error goof like me. Then again there's the weight and cost factors...
Something beyond me is off in there Stromsborg, it may take a series of tear-down & rebuilds to correct it...

[Strömsborg]

Something beyond me is off in there Stromsborg, it may take a series of tear-down & rebuilds to correct it...

There's nothing ta tear down really. And both reels, 521 and XLT, are the same. The magnet assembly is grinding the side of the spool if I dont use the set screw to lock the magnets almost all the way down, removing most of the adjustment range. What gives?

[Cor]

Something beyond me is off in there Stromsborg, it may take a series of tear-down & rebuilds to correct it...

There's nothing ta tear down really. And both reels, 521 and XLT, are the same. The magnet assembly is grinding the side of the spool if I dont use the set screw to lock the magnets almost all the way down, removing most of the adjustment range. What gives?

I would suggest that the mags should never touch the spool.   I make my mags with only one magnet (some two), my reels are generally bigger and heavier than an Abbu.   I make the mag so it does not get closer then +- 0.3 mm to the spool and adjustment travels about 1.5 mm from spool max.  Not a precise science.

Most reels are not precision instruments and I think Abbu over engineered these reels.  These reels were never loved here and when I grew up they were in fact avoided by sea anglers.

My first point is that something is probably wrong with the manner in which the mag mechanism is working, something is worn, or washer(s) missing?   

I would not like a reel that auto adjusts it's mags as clever as it seems.    As I understand it the electric current generated by the magnets decrease as the revolutions of the spool slows down so you have a natural braking decreasing effect, which is actually what makes it such a great braking system.

Just my pennies worth.

I have learned something from this post, so thanks for the explanation how the mags are "supposed" to work.

[Strömsborg]

I would suggest that the mags should never touch the spool. 

No they shouldn't touch the spool but they are and both reels are completely unusuable if I don't lock the magnets almost all the way down. There's no washers or bearings to add or remove and the mag assembly runs on immovable steel pins.

Look at the below images, on the spool you can see the circle made by the plastic outer rim of the mag assembly. It protrudes way past the center bushing. Very, very strange.