Abu Reels: Stated Drag vs Measured Drag

[mahfudzmn]

Hi folks,

I was working on a few of my reels after a saltwater trip. I have a Revo Alt, Kalex 50, 6500 CS Rocket, 6600 C4 which I cleaned and took apart since they wont be used for a few months. Problem is, once I've took them apart cleaned, lubed, and greased em to Alantani's spec, I noticed that the drag has lost some stopping power. Suspecting excess grease on the drag washers, I took them apart again and really cleaned of the excess grease then put them all back together and did something I've never done before, measure the drag stopping power of each reel.

Here's what I found when each reel was locked tight:

Revo Alt - 3kg (stated 5.5kg)
Kalex 50 - 3kg (stated 5.5kg)
6500 CS Rocket - 4kg (stated 6.8kg)
6600 C4 - 3.5kg (stated 6.8kg)

Worth noting that the line didn't slipped on the spool since I have mono backing on each of these reels.

All reels except the Kalex 50 have carbon washers standard from Abu. When I mentioned 'locked tight' I meant that it was locked to the hardest I think is fair before I break any of the reels. It's also worth mentioning I've never tried measuring the drag rating before, I decided to measure this because I thought something was off. I've checked everything including the belleville washers, all in () configuration.

Am I supposed to lock the drag in real tight? Also it seems like the drag force was increasing gently at first then only begins to spike once the star drag feels a bit tight to turn in further.

Thoughts, help, advices please!!

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

did you check the metal washers configuration. should be keyed eared keyed...let us know. as to locking the drag i never do that with my smaller abus, only set at 5 lbs = 2.27 kgs. hope this helps.

[mahfudzmn]

Mel, did you mean the drag washers or the belleville washers? If the bellevilles, the current configuration is as is () this configuration.

What I meant about locking the drag is that, to achieve the stated drag of the reel, am I supposed lock the star drag tight or it should be easy to achieve. Because for now, even with locking the drag super tight I'm barely achieving half of the stated drag...

[mahfudzmn]

I may have missed out an important piece of info. My reels has never seen huge fishes and rarely the drags were pulled out except for the Revo Alt which has seen some great drag pulling action. The other three hasn't seen that many good action. I've just got an electronic scale and it seems more accurate than my spring loaded fish gripper so I'll repost the numbers when I measure them with the new scale.

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

They measure full lock down. You won't break the reel as long as you pump and wind

[mahfudzmn]

So I got to measure the drags again with a digital scale, the results are as follows:

Revo Alt - 3.3kg (stated 5.5kg)
Kalex 50 - 3.0kg (stated 5.5kg)
6500 CS Rocket - 5.1kg (stated 6.8kg)
6600 C4 - 3.6kg (Stated 6.8kg)

These values were measured at the point where I thought if I tried harder I might break something, maybe the star drag knob etc. I'm happy with the 6500 CS Rocket as it came to what I'd like to get from that reel, that means I'll also take another look at the C4 because they're basically the same reel, I might have just missed a spot.

Honestly I'm surprised with the amount of force I've to lock in the drag before getting what the reel is worth...well at least I've learned something...my Avet JX, pumps out 10kg no problem at Full, pushing the lever to Full is a breeze...True it's another class of reel but I guess that's the advantage of lever drags??

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

Not really I can lock all my senators down no problem. If you pay attention with a lever drag while pushing it up the resistance will increase

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

Mel, did you mean the drag washers or the belleville washers? If the bellevilles, the current configuration is as is () this configuration.

i meant the metal washers between the CF washers. also what i  learned with C4 and Record, started to round off the sleeve, is not to set the drag more than 6 lbs or 2.73 kgs. i'm searching for the thread where  Alan Tani recommends 5 lbs max for the smaller abu conventional reels. will update later...

regarding your JX stick to the drag specs or less because my MXJ's right side spool bearing dug into the spool without even using >3.25 kgs drag @ free spool. this is the reason, small RS spool bearing, on what's keeping me from buying another Avet again. later...

[mahfudzmn]

Thanks for the input Mel, I'm gonna stick to around 3kg of drag with the Abu reels I have. For the Avet, I've heard so much about the pinion bearing suffering from the lateral load. My current setting is 4 clicks looser  on the cam than the free spool position. With this it gives me 11lb drag at strike which is lower than 15lb max at strike with freespool. It's the most expensive reel I have to date and I sure don't wanna wreck it...

[mahfudzmn]

Yes Mel, the Abu reels with multi disc drags are set keyed, eared, keyed for the metal washers, just like I found them. The c4 was taken apart again and there were excess grease at the washers, after I cleaned it up it pumps 4.7kg at max lock down. I probably will only use 3kg max too on my next trip. Thanks again Mel 

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

don't mention it. btw do you have access to Shimano parts? if you do replace the belleville washers with this part # BNT0015. i find these belleville washers better than the ones supplied by abu garcia. have fun with your gear and tight  lines!

[mahfudzmn]

That's something I could try, let me see if those parts are easily obtainable.