Re: makaira 30

[Projectd]

Dear all, i am planning to buy a makaira 30... however is there any way to increase the drag by modifying it? Sry to such a noob qns, very new to reel issue.

[conchydong]

How much drag are you looking for?  Rated 37lbs at strike and 55 lbs at full, IMO that is a lot of drag already for a "30" size reel.

[Projectd]

How much drag are you looking for?  Rated 37lbs at strike and 55 lbs at full, IMO that is a lot of drag already for a "30" size reel.

hey conchy.. looking to tweet it above 70lb? Is that possible? Was told by a friend that he had change some brake pad from fin nor.. into his penn 30 reel. He told me that he "felt" the increase in drag. Peraonally... i tend to lock drag... n yank the fish up lol.. so looking at way to tweet the drag higher...

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

one way is to change the spool and pinion bearings to angular contact thrust ball bearings. but why do you want to do that? something might break, maybe your arm. 

[alantani]

70 pounds might easily exceed the limits for this reel.  i could easily see damage to the entire drive train. i think it would be better to get a reel that is already rated for that high a range.   

[Shark Hunter]

The only reel I can think of that will pull that much drag is an Avet.

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

think of it as a formula; there are constants, which we cannot change and there are the variables which we can change. now which are the constants for this particular reel eg frame spool  spool shaft etc and now for the variables belleville washers CF washers gears etc. we can replace the variables easily and expensively with the most exotic materials we can find, please correct me if i'm wrong. but what about the constants? if you can replace these then you might as well do this;

i think it would be better to get a reel that is already rated for that high a range.  

[Projectd]

70 pounds might easily exceed the limits for this reel.  i could easily see damage to the entire drive train. i think it would be better to get a reel that is already rated for that high a range.   

shuck... makaira 50 is heavy how i wish if manufacturer can comes up with forge material.. jus like conrod which r made of forge matrrial to withstand heat n duress... guess i have to shelf the idea ..

Thk all for the advice.

[Shark Hunter]

Not only will it damage the reel, I think it will damage your face as well!

[limitdown]

Check out my thread on changing out the bearings to angular contact bearings.
I've had great success with this modification.
I have zero handle-bind even at 70lbs of drag. The handle will "fall" on its own weight.

Angular contact bearings are meant to take lateral load (ie side load) as well as radial load (spinning/circular load).

All you need to do is get the correctly-sized AC bearings for your Mak30. Luckily, all bearings in the Makairas are metric, making it much easier to find replacements.
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=6771.0

[SacFly]

What is the real world fishing situation where you use 70lbs of drag?  I don't fish for giant fish so I'm curious.  I'm assuming you have the rod in a holder and just winch the fish in???

[limitdown]

There is no real world situation where you would hang onto a rod and reel with 70lbs of drag. Just as there is no real world situation where you would go from zero to 100mph in 5 seconds in New York City during rush hour in a Lamborghini.

The whole point of the Angular Contact bearing modification is "Proof of Concept" for Angular Contact bearings.

Anybody who has used a lever drag knows that the Achilles heal is the pinion and left spool bearing (for pull type lever drags). This problem is most pronounced in smaller reels with small radial bearings. In Avet's SX and MX's, you'll get handle bind, even with just 15lbs of drag. At 20lbs, you'll start damaging the bearings. 15lbs and 20lbs of drag is extremely easy to handle for most blue water anglers.

The SX and MX's all other parts are very capable of handling 20lbs of drag. The only weak point is the bearing. We've seen guys use 20lbs of drag long-term and only have damaged bearings. If those can be changed to the proper bearings, then those reels would be so much more fun.

[limitdown]

With some reels, even though they might be "Rated" at 30lbs of drag at strike, the actual "Usable Drag" is oftentimes much lower due to handle bind.
Although the reel overall can handle 30lbs of drag, the one single weak point (the radial bearings) cripples the entire reel's usability. If we just change that out, then we substantially raise the Usable Drag and the reel can fully realize its potential.

[SacFly]

I just saw the careful reply to my question.  Thank you.  It's really great to be able to follow along as you guys think through your problems.

[Shark Hunter]

You need some more drag? This should fit the bill. Everol 20/0. Capable of 185 lbs of drag and will hold 1000 yards of 300lb mono. BTY, this is the largest reel currently being manufactured in the world!