SOL or Alphas???

[bassfan]

Hi all,
I'm in the process of buying an R edition Alphas at the moment as everything I have read about them sounds impressive. For those interested the best price I could find was at Fishhead.com (Brisbane) for $399.

I have read that they are built very strong & are suitable for everything from bass to barra, but my only concern is that they apparently have an aluminium drive gear. I realize this is a weight saving move, but I personally would prefer stainless gears and a few extra grams of weight.

Anyone had any strength problems with aluminium gears in these reels...?

BF

[jack-n-barra]

Have had an Alphas 103 for a couple of years now and stiil love it, it has landed me a lot of realy nice fish. Save the few extra dollars and get one.

By the way Jim where did you get your new drag washers I think it's time to put new ones in mine.

Cheers Tod

[alphas]

heres some pics...rell has sic bearings,replaced the plastic bushing on the level wind with a bearing and spacer,bassart 90mm handle and graphite knobs

[bassfan]

That's one tricked up looking reel alphas, have you had any dramas with the aluminium drive gears on bigger fish...?

[alphas]

not at all bassfan,only use this reel for bass fishing..never had any dramas and have landed lots of big bass with it..Still has standard drag washers too.It is a tough little reel

[Hairy_Harold]

One thing to make sure with these reels is don't let them get wet. When they get wet your drag is instantly rooted until you service it. Found this out fishing in a kayak on the weekend drag shuddered and stuck like crazy on my Alphas R 103L. There is a weird problem with my alphas it doesn't re-engage the spool properly after winding, it jams and crunches but only on very rare occasions.

[Jungle Jim]

By the way Jim where did you get your new drag washers I think it's time to put new ones in mine.

Cheers Tod

Fish head mate, i put cals grease on mine too

Jim

[Jungle Jim]

I have read that they are built very strong & are suitable for everything from bass to barra, but my only concern is that they apparently have an aluminium drive gear. I realize this is a weight saving move, but I personally would prefer stainless gears and a few extra grams of weight.

Anyone had any strength problems with aluminium gears in these reels...?

BF

Mine alphas is an ito ai and it does have the aluminium main gear. I have one that i use and one Nib (also for sale here)

I know this is not the best thing to say given that i have one for sale BUT yes i have had problems with it.

The gear itself has been fine but another problem with the reel has caused a trip switch to lift and rub the back of the main gear.

This actually has nothing to do with the fact the gear is aluminium but the associated wear i dare say is a lot worse than it would have been if the gear was made from a harder material.

Below is a pic from another forum where the guy has had exactly the same problem. the reverse of my main gear is worn exactly the same as this. Whilst this is not the cause of the problem it is a symptom of it none the less.

This issue is a direct result of the thumb bar not re-engaging properly. (which is a more complicated issue that i won’t go into here) So if anyone has any issues with the thumb bar i would suggest addressing it asap to avoid further damage.

That’s the best i can shorten it down to here but feel free to pm if you need any more info.

Jim

[alphas]

Is it a problem only with the ito's j jim??

My friend has a stock 103 and straight from the box the drag was notchy..erskine kit/cals sorted it out but annoying all the same..mine from the box has been silky smooth.Annoying when there is so much variance between the same product.

[Jungle Jim]

Is it a problem only with the ito's j jim??

My friend has a stock 103 and straight from the box the drag was notchy..erskine kit/cals sorted it out but annoying all the same..mine from the box has been silky smooth.Annoying when there is so much variance between the same product.

I’m not sure if it is just the itos. . . . .
Of the 2 itos i have only one is used. I bought that reel used in Australia knowing that it had a problem with the thumb bar which in turn caused the damage to the gear.

I opened it up and could see straight away what was wrong with it and the damage to the main gear. I had a play and ordered some replacement parts from the steez schematics (they are written in english and daiwa aust stock these) and fixed the thumb bar issue. Since i have had only one occasion where the problem has returned and am now working on a definitive solution just for peace of mind and to have it perfect.

It was just pure coincidence that i was reading an o/s site that a guy had the say problem as me with the ito ai. The problem and damage to the main gear was so similar i initially thought it could have been the same reel before it was sold to me.
I have since confirmed it is not the same reel however my case is therefore the second one i have heard of with ito ai’s.

In both cases -the bloke in the US and the guy i bought mine off -have commented that they flick the thumb bar with their thumb (out of habit) rather than turning the handle to engage the spool. And interestingly turning the handle rather quickly (rather than a half hearted turn) on my reel results in a very positive engagement.

So i guess to sum up the aluminium gear on my ito has no performance issues however it was damaged by a failure in another system. Perhaps if that gear was harder then damage would have been less. That doesn’t however solve the initial issue. .....
I am now of the mindset that proper turning of the handle to re-engage the thumb bar (and perhaps a positive quick action rather than half hearted 1/16 turn) and regular –thorough - maintenance would have prevented the damage.

Had the reel been inspected at the first sign of the thumb bar issues the grinding would not have become so severe (or occurred -best case scenario) and the consequent wear on other parts of the reel would not be so accelerated.

That said as a collectors piece I’m glad i have a Nib example which is in my opinion a very, very good but of kit indeed.

Sorry to ramble disregard what doesn’t interest you ...and if anyone wants any more details on the problem with thumb bar happy for you to shoot me a pm

JIM

[Hairy_Harold]

Jungle jim I have a similar problem with my alphas r-edition, I was reading an article on tourtackle about fine tuning the sol so it might be worth looking into for the alpha aswell. It is aimed towards smoother disengagement of the spool and return/clicking the thumb bar.

[alphas]

worm drive bearing upgrade
firstly strip both sides off your reel.
Then remove drag and pinion gear.
Remove the front plate on the reel,the line guide will fall as you remove this long screw.
undo the line guide cap,then carefully remove the e-clip that holds the worm gear shaft.
The standard stepped plastic bushing is then removed from the worm drive/line guide shaft.
CAREFULLY cut the spacer in two.
The bearing you require is 8mm O.D,2.5mm wide and 5mm I.D,
Place the spacer and new bearing on shaft,as shown,and re assemble
Do this and get some sic bearings for your spool,four 4mmx7x2.5mm bearings for your handle knobs(for sol and standard alphas owners)and feel the difference..

[bassfan]

Thanks for the replies to those that did, it sounds like there may be a few design flaws with this reel, but in taking your advice on thumb bar use I hopefully will avoid the problem. Went ahead with the purchase & used the reel yesterday. It's certainly nice to use -similar to my chronarch 50mg.
I have a little habit of gently releasing the thumb bar with my thumb while slightly cranking the handle to engage the gears, in the belief that I am being gentle with the reel. Sounds like I will have to retrain myself to just crank the handle & let the thumbar click off to prevent the dramas you mention Jim.

cheers

BF

[Dan_23]

Go the Alphas R.... seriously... but put carbontex in it cause the stock drag is horrible.

You can also add a few BB to the handle knobs to make it 10+1

[bassfan]

Impressive captures on such a small reel Dan. Where do you get the carbontex upgrade kit, and at what cost? I'm pretty happy with the reel, just wish the main gear was made of harder material like stainless steel.

cheers

Bassfan