Abu 6000c drag and other questions

[yakfisher]

I have recently rediscovered my old Abu Garcia 6000c. It is in great condition but I have a couple of questions about it's performance.

I plan on using the reel for live baiting from a kayak (so casting not important) and plan on filling it with 30lb braid. I've come to realise that having a large line capacity is not that important even for large pelagics from the kayak when using decent strength braid as the fish are effectively towing you around and tend to tire quickly -and I love the feeling of fighting big fish on light gear. I have been using a Quantum energy PT 3000 spinning reel until now which has a great drag. 

The last time I used this reel was years ago when it was almost new and I hooked a decent tuna on it from the rocks. It almost spooled me on the first run (20lb mono) and I had to tighten the drag up pretty tight. What made me lose faith in the reel at the time was that the drag did not seem smooth but was coming out in "bursts". As mentioned above, this was straight from the factory and I haven't really used it since.

When I recently stripped this reel down for the first time and gave it a good clean and lube, I noticed that the black drag washers just had a very small amount of light oil on them. I wiped them clean and reapplied a small smear of the oil that came with the reel as I found them.

The questions:

I have read on this forum that some older reels are not suitable for braid lines – why not?

Is it correct to lightly lubricate these black drag washers with oil or should I leave them dry or use grease?

Is the drag performance I experienced normal for these reels when tightened fairly tight (but not overtight)?

Do you think I benefit from putting the carbontex drag washers or putting bearing in this reel for this purpose?


Thanks a lot for your help everyone.

Mark

[ReelSpeed]

Hate to tell you to open the reel back up...but just call dawn at smoothdrag and order the carbontex washers for this reel and don't worry any more.  Install them with some Cals grease and they will handle a very tight drag with amazing smoothness and strength.  Most stock drag washers do not do well with oil or grease on them..  For the price on the carbontex, it is hard not to just upgrade.

Aaron

[mhc]

Aaron is right, the carbontex washers are a lot smoother than the stock non-carbon washers. My ABU 6500 with stock washers let the drag pressure build up until it released then stop and let the pressure build up again, causing the surge or 'burst' of line release you described. Carbontex washers don't have the start up resistance other materials have, they simply release the line at the drag setting.

With regard to the bearings - ABU reels are great fun for modifying or 'hot rodding' a lot of the parts are interchangeable, you can easily change the bushings for bearings, add bearings to the level wind and idler bearing, swap the gears from 5.4 to 6.3 or 4.7 etc. Having said that, for Yak fishing and a maintenance point of view, the less bearings the better (I haven't fished from a kayak but imagine it is a fairly wet environment, with the potential to be very wet!!) You mentioned casting distance is not a priority - cleaned and lightly oiled bushings can be as good for casting distance as bearings - without the maintenance issues that bearings have.

As far as fishing braid on older reels, I haven't had any problems with 30 lb on ABUs. I do recall reading somewhere, probably here, that the thinner diameter of braid allows a reel to be loaded with a heavier line than it it was designed for, and combined with the improved drags, can lead to the spool collapsing - but I will leave that to the experts to comment on.

Hope that helps until you get more definitive advice.

Michael   

[0119]

You said you re-oiled the drag washers.  You need to remove that new oil and the old.  Never use oil only grease and only special drag grease like Cals or Shimano drag grease.  All I use are the old C series Abu's and they have smoothie carbon tex washers, much better than the old original washers.  That in mind my buddy still uses a 6000C from the early 60's that has its original washers and works fine. Using braid on any reel its important that the user keep in mind that you are not setting your drag to the lines lb. test. Your 6000 was never designed with 30lb line in mind, especially a superline that actually over tests to like 50-60lbs.  You will have to set your drag to the superlines diameter eqivalent in mono, something like 12 or 14 lb test.  Dont let any of this sway you away from the Ambassadeur though. Its perfect for what your doing.  Thats why I went back to them, simple and easy to maintain, yak fishing killed every shimano I had.  I fish the same way you describe, and drag really doesnt play that much into the fight....its just a sleigh ride.

[Keta]

My 5000C and 6000C came with a oiled "felt" drag washer.

Yak, I have a tub of 6000C parts on my work bench waiting for me to attempt to modify modern parts for this reel.  If I can get it to work I'll post but as of now it is a low priority job.

[yakfisher]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Based on the info I now realise that the oil that I saw on the drag washers was probably not meant to be there.

I have emailed Dawn about getting a set on Carbontex washers and some Cal's grease posted over. I owe the reel that much and think i'll stick to the original bushings for now. From memory the reason I originally chose this model was because the guy in the shop was recommending it over the bearing ones for durability. I am definitely willing to sacrifice a little smoothness for some longevity as the reels do get a good dousing on every trip on the kayak and it feels pretty smooth to me anyway.

I was looking for prices on these new but it seems that here in Australia there the only bushing model that is still available is the 7000i model - did they stop making the 6000c?

I had previously been looking at getting one of the smaller sized shimano TLD overheads or one of the older Penn Spinfisher spinning reels as a second reel for slightly heavier use but after learning a bit more about these Abus and seeing how easy they are to work on for a novice like me, I think i'll get another one second hand from ebay if I find one in good condition for a good price (plus my girlfriend is originally from Sweden so makes it easier to convince her that I need one!!  ).

Is there a model that has a heavier drag and more line capacity that would suit even heavier line such as 60 - 80lb braid?

Thanks again,
Mark

[yakfisher]

The number stamped on the reel foot is 050214 23. I'm under the understanding that the 0502 means that the reel was manufactured in May 2002, but I have been trying to work out what the other numbers represent. Does the 14 mean that it is the 14th generation of this model?

The reel has an axle that feels like it is solid (it's heavy for its size) that is removable and slides through the spool. It has a bushing mounted on it towards one end. There are 3 black drag washers with 3 metal washers.

Mark

[Keta]

Your reel is 30 years newer than my 6000C.

[Bryan Young]

60-80# braid, you will probably have to go with something heavier.  That's much heavier than what Abus are designed for.  Depending on your drag setting, you may need to go with an all aluminum frame reel.  Depending on the cost vs. size, i would recommend the Shimano Torium 20.  many load this reel with 50# braid with a 20-30# top shot.  This may suit your need.  You will need to upgrade the drags and spring loaded dogs (for reliablity).  Preservice will save you on the corrosion issues that others are mentioning.  Not hard and we are here to help.

The new Abu 6000/6500s have a 20# braid rating, and therefore, you could probably use that and set your drags according to 20#, but I would not recommend going anything higher or risk frame warpage.  I use 20# braid on my 6500 C3 with no issues.  Works great for light jigging for me.

[yakfisher]

Thanks mate. I'll definitely look into those as I haven't heard of that model of Shimano before.

I had another look at my Abu's box. It just says 6000. I just assumed that it was a 6000C because it has bushings. What is the difference between 6000 and 6000C?


Mark

[Mooki]

The number stamped on the reel foot is 050214 23. I'm under the understanding that the 0502 means that the reel was manufactured in May 2002, but I have been trying to work out what the other numbers represent. Does the 14 mean that it is the 14th generation of this model?

The reel has an axle that feels like it is solid (it's heavy for its size) that is removable and slides through the spool. It has a bushing mounted on it towards one end. There are 3 black drag washers with 3 metal washers.

Mark

050214 23
05 = Year of design (for the first revision), 1995
02 = 2 Revisions since original model
14 = Year of production (14 = 2004)
23 = Week of production

Seems to me you have a fairly modern reel, also the fact that the brake stack is composed as you say.
You can buy new bushing if the need should ever arise, I believe yours are 4x10x4 but you might want to double check.

6000 vs 6000C, the C simply indicates that the reel has bearings instead of bushing

[yakfisher]

Hey thanks a lot for all of your help everyone. Learning lots...