Daiwa BG Saltwater 2016: Service Tutorial and First Look

[ez2cdave]

Thanks very much Dave.  

Anytime, John . . . I wanted to be sure that the information would be easily-accessible and always available !

Tight Lines !

[cbar45]

Thanks for this review johndtuttle. From photos it appears the 5000's main shaft does not step down in diameter at the point where it runs through the spool?

On a 8000 that portion of main shaft is super thin relative to the size of the spool and reel in general--thinner even than what you see on the tiny BG-10 (3.3 versus 3.7 mm). My other first impressions of the 8000 though, were favorable. As you say time will tell.





chad

[johndtuttle]

Thanks for this review johndtuttle. From photos it appears the 5000's main shaft does not step down in diameter at the point where it runs through the spool?

On a 8000 that portion of main shaft is super thin relative to the size of the spool and reel in general--thinner even than what you see on the tiny BG-10 (3.3 versus 3.7 mm). My other first impressions of the 8000 though, were favorable. As you say time will tell.





chad

As I understand it the pressed on piece to support the spool results in a smoother drag as the washers are better stabilized.

It has been eliminated in the BG Saltwater to save weight apparently, and I doubt this will have much affect on the drag for most at the modest loads it is designed for.

As far as the thickness of the shafts SS has many varying grades with varying properties, so comparing shafts possibly decades apart in production can't tell us much. Needless to say, older designs also had more "margin for error" in the weight of many components too and that has been supplanted with a save weight (and cost) ethos in building budget reels today.

we can decry this trend in reels but reality is that there is a fine line between cost, weight and performance that everyone competes to meet.

[cbar45]

Recently had a chance to look over the smaller 4500-6500 sizes, and it appears they share the same drag knob as the 8000--perhaps this is one reason for the upper main shaft on the 8000 being thinner, in order to accomodate said drag knob.

[edgarz]

Nice teardown as usual. thanks for sharing JDT.

[exp2000]

Thanks for the great review John.

I am very intrigued with this reel after reading Alan Hawke's review. I have yet to strip one down but It seems to have great potential on paper.

This new Daiwa BG "sw" (saltwater) reel is the new foundation that Daiwa is going to build their entry level heavy duty saltwater line upon, replacing the older Saltist with this new version of the BG and also offering another updated Saltist with a "mag-sealed" pinion assembly and line roller, otherwise very similar to this reel.

Looking at pictures of the new Saltist, it still seems to have the same composite Air Bail wire  so I will not be rushing out to buy one any time soon. Like many components in the previous model, it's just too delicate and when you combine this with it's prohibitive replacement price tag, that alone makes it a deal breaker for me - it's gonna break and it's gonna cost you.

I see a completely different handle/ maingear in the BG which has to be a big improvement over the previous Saltist (just about anything would). Overall it seems to be a far more robust design. Daiwa needs to carry this over to the new Saltist if they want to win me.

The line roller bushings are polyphthalamide and probably are an improvement over the Saltist.

The previous Saltist used rather weak Delrin bushes. On some reels the line roller would turn smoothly while on others it would bind up OOB. I think that this was because of flimsy design leading to poor production consistency so it was pot luck as to whether it actually worked or not. I would expect these solid bushes to perform much better despite the fact that  I cannot pronounce their plastic pedigree

In conclusion, I think the BG looks good but as for the Saltist: I would want to see some big improvements before I would waste my money.
~

[johndtuttle]

"In conclusion, I think the BG looks good but as for the Saltist: I would want to see some big improvements before I would waste my money."


The Saltist does have mag-sealing of the pinion assembly and line roller to explain the higher cost as well. I would have to say the jury is out on whether or not this is a "value" for most guys. I think the DiY crowd will do far better (in this reel at least) with the simpler BG version and SOP for maintenance.

Those that never touch the internals of their reels may get  benefit from mag sealing of the pinion assembly and line roller.

[ez2cdave]

"In conclusion, I think the BG looks good but as for the Saltist: I would want to see some big improvements before I would waste my money."


The Saltist does have mag-sealing of the pinion assembly and line roller to explain the higher cost as well. I would have to say the jury is out on whether or not this is a "value" for most guys. I think the DiY crowd will do far better (in this reel at least) with the simpler BG version and SOP for maintenance.

John,

BELOW is a downloadbale PDF of your Review / Tutorial . . . I took the liberty of including the Specification Chart for the Daiwa BG Saltwater reels.

Tight Lines !

[Ruffy]

Has anyone had a peek inside the smaller models? Aside from not having back-up dog for the anti-reverse are they as well built?

Cheers,
Andrew

[Porthos]

Found that SRMO.com sells through Amazon and had the BG 6500 for 89.99 + 9.99 shipping.

With $12.84 in reward points from my Amazon Chase card and $33.04 cashback from my Chase Freedom card reward points, final price out-of-pocket came to $53.10.

Had been looking at the Quantum Cabo CSP80PTsE and was hard pressed to see where I would gain the additional $80+ worth of utility from it over the Daiwa BG 6500. Since I'm slotting the BG 6500 to take over as my 40lb spinner, that's well under Alan Hawk's 65lb fish limit.

Thanks, John, for your review that was the other factor in my decision making process for the BG 6500.

[johndtuttle]

Has anyone had a peek inside the smaller models? Aside from not having back-up dog for the anti-reverse are they as well built?

Cheers,
Andrew

I haven't seen them but there should be no other significant difference. Solid reel, keep it dry.

[johndtuttle]

Been thinking about this for a little while and it occurred to me that we can use a "grease seal" in place of the "mag-seal" of the Saltist and give the BG's clutch and pinion assembly substantially more protection than the bare reel.

This is the problem area:



As there is a gap between the Clutch Sleeve and the retaining cover that directly allows saltwater into the housing. Most splashes are deflected from this area by the protection of the rotor, but if the reel is submerged this is a highway into the pinion assembly.

What we are going to do is build up grease under this washer:



And then smush the washer down over the top of it:



Spread around the excess a bit for complete coverage:



and then put the rotor back on top and button her down. There will be a little stiffness from the grease on the first few turns, but after that it is not really noticeable.

If we pull off the rotor again (here the washer is stuck to the bottom of the rotor) we can see the "grease seal" under the washer that is protecting the gap:



This is not a perfect seal (ie does not make the reel regularly submersible) but will protect the pinion assembly/clutch from a brief dunk or regular splashes etc. far better than before.

Vigilance will still be required but this should help substantially this one problem area that is exposed to salt. This is how I would prep the reel (just takes a few minutes) if I was directly headed out to do battle and was worried about some potential brief dunks wading or was going kayak fishing etc.

[Kyle K]

Great idea, John.  Especially the use of the washer.  Looks like something the factory could easily incorporate, maybe with a synthetic washer?

[johndtuttle]

Great idea, John.  Especially the use of the washer.  Looks like something the factory could easily incorporate, maybe with a synthetic washer?

The trouble with an actual standard sealing gasket is that it increases the stiffness of the reel (consumer at point of purchase doesn't like) and is immediately noticeable (ie VS).

If the factory did this with grease, then it becomes trouble as the grease ages (gets stiff) or the base evaporates.

It really is a DiY solution that one would have to stay on top of. If you prep it like this then don't fish it for a year it could get gooed up and you would have to clean it out and re-do....but, if you knew you were headed out in the Yak or down to the beach on a rough day you could slap this solution in there in a couple of minutes and gain some worthy salt resistance.

TBH I have wondered if a simple system of over lapping parts that could be filled with grease would accomplish a majority of the goals  of sealing this area without stiffening up the reel too much....at a fraction of the cost of mag-sealed parts. This is a solution along those lines to protect the reel from splashes and rinses, without getting too costly.

[nelz]

Has anyone had a peek inside the smaller models? Aside from not having back-up dog for the anti-reverse are they as well built?

Just got back from the store from returning one... I had bought a 3000 and never even fished it. The problem is, at this size the reel puts out way more drag than the rotor can handle. I set it fairly strong, not locked down by any means, and the plastic rotor flexed to the point that it touched the spool. That's a deal breaker.

Some positive notes; the rest of the reel is solid and feels of high quality, beautiful styling and finish. The drag was super smooth and strong right out of the box and gears were smooth. Too bad about the rotor!