ABU BAITCASTERS

[Dan_Muir]

Gidday fellas.

I own a couple of ABU reels - 5600c and 5000c - I have also had some in the past which were put out to pasture

The drag on these reels is a pain in the but - consistantly have problems with the drags becoming jerky - particularly on start up - HELP.

Dan

[caveman]

i'm no expert but i'm sure you will get some replies say give jack eskrine (spelling) a call he is in cairns he's suposed to be the man on drag systems

cheers gary

[caveman]

www.jackerskine.com

[dudley]

Most tackle shops have teflon sheeting. If not you can buy it from bearing retailers. Using a punch set , make your own drag washers. I do, and they are great, even on the Tica Taurus and Shimano stella.
Cheers,
Peter

[agnes_jack]

Dan
As gary said give Jack Erskine a call. He does some good quality washer kits, improves the drag quality heaps. ;)

Regards, Tony

[Dan_Muir]

Thanks for the advice guys - makes you wonder why ABU have not better drag cos I'm guessing other Abu owners have the same problem

Dan

[cHiCo]

i own a 6500C3 and havent had any problems with the drag. How often do you service the reels? Do you wash them with fresh and oil them after every use. It pays to look after them and to pull it apart and give it a quick clean doesnt take anymore than 20minutes

[Dan_Muir]

Yes cHiCo,

I always lightly with hose and clean them - pull em apart about every 6 months.

can you tell me if the ABU drags are a dry drag or otherwise
maybe I am oiling the reels excessively resulting in some oil seeping into the drag washers.

[cHiCo]

well not sure on that one. after washing and drying i drop about 2 drops of oil from the little tube supplied with the reel into the star. Seems alright.

[NeilD]

The ABU runs dry washers in the main so use a little teflon grease eg Erskines or better still drop him a line and grab some new washers and you wont know the reel.

Cheers Neil

[Bushbasher]

All Abu baitcaster drags are a dry drag and it is quite probable you have over oiled your reel and thus had oil find its' way into the washers. Another problem of over oiling can be that oil mixes with the grease on the gears which thins the grease out and in effect washes the protection away giving rise to excess wear on the gears. The golden rule with these types of reels is LESS IS MORE so use a minimum of lubricant on the main gear shaft and minimal grease on the gears themselves. The biggest mistake most often made is over oiling the one way bearing in the handle (or the bush as the case may be). What happens is all that excess oil drains past the bearing or bush and works it's way down the shaft and into the drag. From there it spreads to the outer edges of the drag surface/main gear and mixes with the grease..........
I have 5 Abus' and the 2 6500s' in particular get an absolute flogging 3-5 times a week with a minimal amount of lubrication. I service my reels regularly but between times all they get is the spool held under a very slow running tap, after every session, for a couple of minutes to get the salt out of the line and maybe a wipe down with a damp cloth if the covers are grimey. It's only when they show some sign of needing attention that I open them up and clean and lube them. That can include uneven drag function, a different "feel" through the handle when winding, reduction in casting performance or even just a change in the sound the reel makes during normal function. Until then if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
By all means , if you only use your reels periodically then a wipe down with inox or something similar is in order after letting the reel dry but every 12 months pull the reel down and give it the full service anyway as the lubricants will still deteriorate with age.


Cheers
Bushbasher

PS. The drags are designed to run dry so NEVER put grease in them and if you're still not happy with the performance there are Smoothy and Extreme Smoothy drag washers available from Jack erskine and other outlets. Also if you really want to max out the drag you can get milled and machined half hard metal washers to go along with the smoothys that will improve the drag out of sight ............. and they are also a dry drag and MUST be kept dry and clean.