Piscifun Alinox 300/400 Rehab

[johndtuttle]

Piscifun, the latest flavor of bang for your buck in a saltwater baitcaster...

Anyone got a crusty one I can rehab for them?

-John 

[Lunker Larry]

FYI many muskie guys are trying these reels out. What I've come across a couple issues so far: worm shaft and main gear. Trouble is Piscifun does not offer parts. If the reel fails after a recent purchase they just send you another or offer a discount.
Here's one that just came in. The cast main gear seems to have lost a tooth and jammed it solid. Not sure what it's made of but looks cast and not cut brass.

[jurelometer]

Those musky guys sure know how to put a beating on a reel. It has to be from casting those giant plugs.  Maybe winding when trolling them too?

I would guess that those gears are cut brass.  It would be more expensive to cast clean brass gears with teeth that small, especially helical gears with curved teeth. But they could be using inexpensive brass instead of bronze, and with those small teeth, tolerances have to be precise, or you are not going to be using the meaty part of the teeth when under load.

That plastic insert to accommodate the eared CF drag washers is not too impressive.  A long run is going to push up the temps pretty high for nylon, which is what I assume they are using.

I would also be suspicious about the magnets.  Magnets on saltwater reels are always going to be a corrosion problem.  From the photos, it looks like the Piscifun is using inexpensive nickel plating, which is not ideal.  At least these might be standard sized generic magnets, so when they fail, they can be easily replaced, unlike the custom magnets used on reels like the Daiwa Lexa, which also rust out, just perhaps not as easily.

The basic design looks adequate.  The problem is cutting corners to keep the cost down.  The higher end saltwater sized low profile reels are already nipping at the load limits inherent in this type of design.  There isn't much room to downgrade the key components to lower the price point.

Hope you get your hands on one John.  I always enjoy reading your reviews!
 

-J

[quang tran]

I don't have a change to use mine yet . Just search AI they come up quite a few , some problem member here already notice
 Here's what actual anglers report about failures on the Piscifun AlinoX 300/400 (the renamed Alijoz line). Note: most long-term reports still reference the "Alijoz" name, since it's the same platform.

Common failure patterns
1. Dry-as-a-bone factory lube (the #1 complaint) One angler who owns five of the 400s says all Piscifun reels come poorly lubricated — "dry as a bone... like someone shot one squirt of a grease gun in the body and hoped for the best." His fix: full teardown, high-end grease on gears and drag washers, light oil on bearings. He says they feel like a reel costing double afterward
1.

2. Screaming/squealing noise from the spool or bearings Multiple users report a loud screaming noise during cast and retrieve within ~2 hours of use
1
2. This is usually a bearing or spool-shaft issue and is often warranty-fixable.

3. Catastrophic gear/drive failure

One user bought the 400 twice and it "broke the exact same way both times, less than 3 hours of use each time"
1.
A G3 AlinoX 400 owner reported total failure after the 5th cast — turning the handle just retrieved line with no engagement ("it's toast")
3.
4. Drag inconsistency A 300 owner notes the drag "seems to come in and out quite often," making him skeptical about surviving a big muskie
1. Another couldn't get the spool released under tension while a fighting fish pinned him at the bow
4.

5. Small parts falling off The little screw-in cover on the handle knob and the plastic spool-release button cover have both been lost in transit; the rubber thumb-bar insert also fell off during use. Recommendation from owners: Loctite/glue these
4.

The other side
It's not universally bad. Owners with 2+ seasons report zero mechanical issues, solid drag on big fish, and call it incredible value
4. The AlinoX 300 averages ~4.6 stars across ~580 reviews, with praise for its Hamai-style cut hardened brass gearing at a price point well below Shimano/Daiwa
5. Consensus: the 300 is more consistently reliable, while the 400 is "hit or miss"
1.

Practical advice if you own/buy one
Do a full lube service out of the box — this alone prevents many early failures
1
Loctite the handle knob screw and spool-release cover
4
Don't use it as an everyday reel; it's built for occasional heavy-duty trips, not daily pounding
1
Rinse and re-lube after saltwater; long-term salt durability needs proactive maintenance
5
Keep your receipt — several users got free replacements with no hassle
1
2

[jurelometer]

I don't want to be too negative here, but I wouldn't put too much weight on that AI generated content.

Fore example: "Hamai-style cut hardened brass gearing" is an odd phrase.  They are helical cut gears, just like just about every star drag. And gears like that are always cut.  Hamai is a Japanese company that makes gear hobbing (cutting) machinery, so maybe they mean that they used Hamai hobbers to cut the gears. Brass cannot be hardened.  It will work harden a little, but that is it. And the completion mentioned actually uses stainless steel gearing. 

I expect there is more junk in there (e.g., muskie don't pull hard and long enough to test a reel's drag).  The AI just collects stuff that will fit it's pro and con template without any subject matter expertise or even common sense to properly weight the data.

I look forward to your firsthand report! 

Here is my report on a competing product:https://alantani.com/index.php/topic,30706.msg357468.html#msg357468

-J

[johndtuttle]

yes, we have to see for ourselves but I have low expectations that somehow Piscifun has created a "free lunch" for anglers with something that is too good to be true.

Having a direct to anglers/Amazon model for sales (cutting out the middleman, mostly) is a boon to value for any buyers, and the OEM makers can potentially produce as high a quality as the brand is willing to pay for....but will reduce QC on the lowest end and use cheapest alternative parts and other methods to squeeze pennies out of each unit (skimp on bearing lube and overall reel prep).

That said, the muskies guys despite the wear associated with cranking heavy blades for hours on end (gear wear and levelwind abuse) don't remotely put the stress on such reels as your average Baja Yellowtail or Tuna let alone saltwater. So, lots of happy reviews of guys minimally stressing the reel in freshwater are taken by this user as having little meaning.

We'll see. I may have to buy one and fish it then soak it in saltwater to see just how fast it goes south.

There is no free lunch as all of these reels are made in the same OEM factories. It just depends on how much parts availability and best possible/ultimate reliability matter to you. If you rarely stress the reel it may be perfect for you and all you need is something that moves a heavy blade easily. Heck, a $30 freshwater spinner will catch pretty much any mackerel that swims. Some may think a $100 bait caster is perfect for firecracker paddy rats.

[johndtuttle]

O yea, I bought a 300 and it's precisely as described.

The Bad:
1. Cheapest possible bearings that are as dry as a bone.
2. Cheapest possible worm gear and line guide materials (not entirely sure about the coatings and they may just be anodized aluminum).
3. Main Gear as thin as they probably can get away with.
4. Drag washers without a drop of grease (source of saltwater intrusion and subsequest swelling leading to a jerky drag and corrosion).
5. Magnet coatings as cheap as possible (likely corrosion issue).
6. Not particularly easy to get the reel back together after a service due to wonky back up return button alignment (no other company seems to need this feature). **note** be careful with this assembly. The return arm rides on a loose pin that will just drop right out or go shooting across the room if you play with the free-spool mechanism with the reel open.
7. Many parts (like left side bearing retainers) are quite magnetic indicating cheaper grades/ alloys of SS used in their manufacture. Maybe I just haven't noticed before, but screws and clips and bearings stick really well to my Wiha magnetized screwdrivers.

The good:
1. Perfectly adequate for most guys in freshwater (the fish simply fight like pos lol) but cheaper stuff like worm, line guide and pawl will wear retrieving heavy stuff.
2. Bearings if serviced regularly will last just fine, especially in freshwater. But I hope you like to play with re-assembly issues and this makes me think twice about going back in for curiosity issues. If you are servicing the reel once a year no biggee.
3. Intermittent rather than heavy use and cheaper materials will be acceptable in worm, line guide etc. Fact of the matter we don't fish as much as we would like.
4. However, schematic is not very helpful. Thankfully SecondClassTackle (user here?) has done decent tutorials on youtube for basic maintenance. Unfortunately, he skips some essential parts like the undershaft bearing and worm assembly. Essentially youtube and this site are "service support".

My Summary (FWIW):

There is no "free lunch here" particularly for regular use in saltwater. IMO, it is not a true saltwater reel due to the skimpy main gear, lack of factory prep to prevent salwater damage and lack of replacement parts for components that will wear out. All of the bearings can be sourced with better alternatives, so no worry there. But if you wear down your Pawl or Worm Gear etc or corrosion gets to other parts with cheaper coatings (ie magnets) then you are throwing it out.

That said, it set me back all of $100 in the 300 size. It WILL catch an average fish in local saltwater. How long will it last in Salt? Not long unless you are very handy. Nothing I would take beyond day boat or local fishing and always with a backup, so no economy there, imo. These trips are running ~$250 a day so there is zero point in taking cheap gear for heavier fish like yellowtail that might not last until the trip next year, imo.

I still think it's a great value for intermittent freshwater use or light saltwater use and regular maintenance. Just do a little more lifting of the fish and a little less straight winching (take it easy on the gears). If they just beefed up the gears it would be far more worthy.

Daiwa, Okuma, Penn and Shimano remain completely worth it for someone up to serious purpose in saltwater (lol, it's a grown-up kids' game) when you want the best possible reliability (and still, regularly maintain them). But the Alinox is completely fine for causal freshwater use, imo.

Buy a major manufacturer's reel used and tune it up if you want to save some coin. It will last as long as the parts are in stock and nearly forever if they were continuously available. All of these reels require regular service. Some are just a whole lot tougher than others.

I'll post up the bearing sizes for future reference. They are all widely available and upgradeable if you are so inclined with sealed, hybrid/ceramic or even 100% ceramic in trouble spots.

Bearings:

1. Under Shaft bearing (the holy grail) 5x9x3mm
2. Main Shaft 8x14x4mm
3. Pinion Bearing 8x12x3.5mm
4. Left Spool Bearing 3x10x4mm
5. Rt, Spool Bearing 5x10x4mm
6. Rt. Side Pinion 5x10x3mm

The worm seems to ride on bushings rather than bearings, but I couldn't be bothered to remove the assembly to be sure.

[quang tran]

Thank you for the report , I have not use mine the 400 yet but I do open it out to put grease and oil ,simple as many other reel , thank for bearings size and I think I have all of these size . For the magnet I don't worry about it as I have many same size magnet . When salt water get in any reel ,it will made damage .
400 size may be over kill so I like your 300 . Will send massage

[johndtuttle]

Thank you for the report , I have not use mine the 400 yet but I do open it out to put grease and oil ,simple as many other reel , thank for bearings size and I think I have all of these size . For the magnet I don't worry about it as I have many same size magnet . When salt water get in any reel ,it will made damage .
400 size may be over kill so I like your 300 . Will send massage

Cool, any special place you got those magnets?

[quang tran]

I use Dexcom glucose monitor ,have to change sensor every 10 days . In the sensor have a magnet same size with most reel except Daiwa that we can't remove magnet . To change magnet just use a screw driver stick to magnet and pull it out on this reel ,some reel they glue it

[johndtuttle]

Nice (I mean, sorry about the Diabetes). But cool you have a source for the magnets.