I saw some ceramic bearings on eBay (whittierte eBay store) and ask Ken for the low down. He was kind enough to send me a set to try. I put them in one of my Newell's un-lubricated and gave them a spin. A tiny bit of noise and good free spool time but no much difference from the SS bearings I normally use. What was suprising was the improvement in cranking smoothness. I filled the reel with fresh line, like butter going on. Supposed to be fishing on Tuesday and going to give them a workout. I'll follow up hopefully after getting a few fish with it
Sheridan, I saw those and was curious. Did you leave them dry or put any kind of lubricant on them?
I left them dry
I saw Ken had those too. I'm mainly wondering about the strength. I'm sure the spool spins exceptionally well.
The full ceramic bearings from Boca cost three times as much. I don't know if that's good or bad.
If the bearings are strong enough, then these may be a great deal becuase it'll be virtually maintenance free. You could just wash them out with water and a degreaser, such as Dawn dish soap.
Interesting. Looking forward to more follow-up.
Frank
as far as strength goes, I wonder if cracks from jarring impact are more of a concern than failure under load
Quote from: philaroman on May 04, 2021, 03:53:35 AM
as far as strength goes, I wonder if cracks from jarring impact are more of a concern than failure under load
not to mention the suggestion that they would crack and crumble if run through an ultrasonic cleaner!
Gave the new bearings a work out yesterday, got a few chunky fish, one I though might spool me and the bearings worked great. I was using a heavy jig so distance casting was on the agenda but they held up just fine. They're a little louder not in a bad way just a different sound than the SS bearings I'm used to. I have 3 trips coming up at the end of the month, be flinging the surface iron, this is where they ought to shine.