Testing drag on spinning reels

[Reel Beaker]

Hi,

i was wondering how the people here test your spinning reel drag system. The only way i know so far is to just hold the line while the reel rolls down slowly due to it weight. The drag must be tightened before hand to ensure that your reel rolls down slowly of course. Is there a better way to do it?

[Rivverrat]

Get yourself a set of inexpensive spring / drag scales. After a while you'll be able to set by hand any line 30 lb. & below. Not a good idea to plick weights off the floor to test drags every time you go fish. Yes there are rods that wont be effected by it.
Picking weights off the floor loads a rod very differently than the same force at an angle in front of you like when fishing...  Jeff  

[Keta]

What class reels are you testing?   I have 8# drag scales that will work for 25# class reels and you can have one for the shipping cost.  It might be cost prohibitive for you though.

[happyhooker]

And, keep in mind that drag can change somewhat depending on how full the spinning spool is of line.

Frank

[Reel Beaker]

What class reels are you testing?   I have 8# drag scales that will work for 25# class reels and you can have one for the shipping cost.  It might be cost prohibitive for you though.

What do you mean by class reels? Its just a 4000 spinning reel

[Reel Beaker]

And, keep in mind that drag can change somewhat depending on how full the spinning spool is of line.

Frank

why is that so?

[sdlehr]

And, keep in mind that drag can change somewhat depending on how full the spinning spool is of line.

Frank

why is that so?

Frank, it's about the physics of the situation. As the line is removed from the spool the lever arm gets smaller. With the force on the line the same, and constant, the drag increases by a factor of 2 for every time 1/2 the line is removed from the spool. So remove 1/2 the line and the drag doubles, but from 1/2 to 1/4 spool it doubles again, so by the time you're down from a full spool to 1/4-spool your drag has quadrupled....

Sid

[Reel Beaker]

And, keep in mind that drag can change somewhat depending on how full the spinning spool is of line.

Frank

why is that so?

Frank, it's about the physics of the situation. As the line is removed from the spool the lever arm gets smaller. With the force on the line the same, and constant, the drag increases by a factor of 2 for every time 1/2 the line is removed from the spool. So remove 1/2 the line and the drag doubles, but from 1/2 to 1/4 spool it doubles again, so by the time you're down from a full spool to 1/4-spool your drag has quadrupled....

Sid

whats a lever arm?

[Keta]

whats a lever arm?

Think of it as a gear set, as the line goes out the width on the spool gets smaller increasing the drag.

What do you mean by class reels? Its just a 4000 spinning reel

The drag range you are fishing.  The 8# scales are good for up to 25# line if you do 1/3 of the line breaking strength 30# is you go with 1/4 of the breaking strength.

[scrinch]

And, keep in mind that drag can change somewhat depending on how full the spinning spool is of line.

Frank

why is that so?

Frank, it's about the physics of the situation. As the line is removed from the spool the lever arm gets smaller. With the force on the line the same, and constant, the drag increases by a factor of 2 for every time 1/2 the line is removed from the spool. So remove 1/2 the line and the drag doubles, but from 1/2 to 1/4 spool it doubles again, so by the time you're down from a full spool to 1/4-spool your drag has quadrupled....

Sid

Think of it like a socket wrench. When you're trying to remove a nut, the farther out on the wrench's handle that you pull, the lower pressure you have to exert to get the nut moving. Same thing with a spool of line. The farther from the center of the spool that the line pulls, the easier it is to overcome the friction of the drag setting. That distance from the center of the nut to your hand on the wrench, or the distance from the center of the spool to the point where the line leaves the reel is called the lever arm. So as line is paid out, the lever arm gets smaller, and the line has to pull harder to overcome the fixed resistance of the drag.

[Reel Beaker]

And, keep in mind that drag can change somewhat depending on how full the spinning spool is of line.

Frank

why is that so?

Frank, it's about the physics of the situation. As the line is removed from the spool the lever arm gets smaller. With the force on the line the same, and constant, the drag increases by a factor of 2 for every time 1/2 the line is removed from the spool. So remove 1/2 the line and the drag doubles, but from 1/2 to 1/4 spool it doubles again, so by the time you're down from a full spool to 1/4-spool your drag has quadrupled....

Sid

Think of it like a socket wrench. When you're trying to remove a nut, the farther out on the wrench's handle that you pull, the lower pressure you have to exert to get the nut moving. Same thing with a spool of line. The farther from the center of the spool that the line pulls, the easier it is to overcome the friction of the drag setting. That distance from the center of the nut to your hand on the wrench, or the distance from the center of the spool to the point where the line leaves the reel is called the lever arm. So as line is paid out, the lever arm gets smaller, and the line has to pull harder to overcome the fixed resistance of the drag.

where does the line leave the reel for spinning reels? Is it the line roller? If so, the lever arm is fixed since the distance from the centre of the spool to the line roller is fixed.

[Midway Tommy]

[/quote]

where does the line leave the reel for spinning reels? Is it the line roller? If so, the lever arm is fixed since the distance from the centre of the spool to the line roller is fixed.
[/quote]

Think of it like tire/wheels on your car. It take a lot less energy to turn a 17" tire once it's moving than it does a 12" tire. All the line roller does, as long as it's lubed and working correctly, is guide the line onto the spool. 

[Gobi King]

Hi,

i was wondering how the people here test your spinning reel drag system. The only way i know so far is to just hold the line while the reel rolls down slowly due to it weight. The drag must be tightened before hand to ensure that your reel rolls down slowly of course. Is there a better way to do it?

Are you looking to test max drag?

for my 10, 20, 30 and even 40s I just use my hand and make sure the drag is smooth and not jerky. if I feel I am going cut my finger, then it is about 4 lbs.

for bigger drag settings, I tied my line to a known weight and lift it using tied to some heavy braid,

Please be careful pulling spring loaded stuff, make sure you use rope grade line to test drag, you don't want a break off and things be flying.

[philaroman]

some simpler explanations:

1) consider the circumference of a spool -- not the lip, but the "cylinder of line left on the spool": let's say it's 30cm filled & goes down to 20cm after a long cast & some drift...  so, when you set the hook on a far-out fish, it has to work against 3 revolutions of the spool under drag to take 60cm of line...  when you bring it in close, it only has to work against 2 revolutions of the spool under drag to take 60cm of line, even though your drag setting has not changed (for the lever analogy above, the line leaves the spool at the circumference & the radius is the length of the "lever" -- line rollers & rotor arms have nothing to do with it)

2) if your 4000 is a Shimano, it lists line capacities for 8/10/12 lb. mono on the spool -- that's your line class: call it 10lb or 8-12lb...  40 yrs. ago, Shimano actually called 4000-size "8-12A" (2000-size was "4-8A"); Daiwa calls 10lb-class 3500; Penn calls it 3000; Okuma calls it 30

[Gfish]

Reel beaker. If you had enough room you could test it. On say a football field(100 yds). Attach your line to the goal post, set the drag and then walk toward the other goal post. You should feel that there's more force needed to peel line off the spool as you get closer the the opposite goal post, if you leave the drag at the same setting.

The exact phyisics of it is hard see in my minds eye, but what guy's 'er talkin 'bout is real interesting. BTW, I use a pole-holder staked in the ground, set my drag to where I think it should be, then attach a digital wt. scale to the line and when I pull on it, I can see the reading.

Then I sometimes goa step further and mark my star, drag lever, or knob, matched up with a mark on the reel( not the spool on a spinner) at the measured 5 lb. drag point, for reference. White-out works good as a marker.