Custom +R Tuned Pixy
Friday, March 5th, 2010 by dmodder
It’s good that I had my latest Pixzilla project or I would have been another victim of the winter doldrums. You got it, a long-cold spell …the water froze early last year but the ice hasn’t been suitable for any serious fishing. I’ve read all the books that I can stand, and surfing the net doesn’t help either.
At times, it almost seems like I spend more time shoveling snow than in my workshop, regardless of what my wife says about it. I’ve already got most of my rods, reels and other tackle ready for the new season; but it’s still too cold to get serious about the boats. I’m chomping at the bit to hit the water with my latest addition to the arsenal.
So, lets spend some time looking at my new custom +R tuned Pixy. Along the way we’ll cover some things like getting a reel painted, doing a smoothdrag.com drag kit upgrade, +R tuning a Pixy spool, and a few other goodies. Of course, there will be plenty of pictures, tips and lots of detail for those considering similar upgrades. An Aside: Little did I know when I started planning in November that the Pixy project would end up being my answer to the new Daiwa PX68. It’s expected to hit the shelves in a few more weeks!
Oh By The Way: Yes, that’s snow and ice in the background of some pictures, it was just starting to flurry when I took them. You didn’t think I’d let you get away without sharing some of it?
Background
Come-on, get real; how can you make a Pixzilla any better?!? It already approaches perfection for lighter presentations, and excels at pitching and casting a wide-range of lure weights. It’s no wonder that I have many of them now; they are fun to use, don’t hardly weigh anything, and the profile is easy for my crippled old hands to palm. If you’re a modder, there’s plenty to tinker with too! A Note: A stock Pixy is no slouch, many users outside of TackleTour have never heard of a Pixzilla! Just try buying a NIB LH Pixy – they don’t come up that often. However, if you are patient you can snag a used one! That’s exactly what I did, so read on…
I love pitching, roll casting and side-arming a Zoom Lil-Crit for smallmouth and can never seem to get enough of it! Most of the time I use them weightless on a light #1 bass hook rigged weed less. But sometimes I’ll put a 1/64 to 1/16 oz bullet sinker above the hook when in a little deeper water, pitching to specific weed openings in the wind, or as the smallmouth just begin to move in for the coming spawn. In early winter, I’ll even use them on sharper drop-offs near deep water; for some reason a smallmouth can’t resist that super-slow natural fall! Unfortunately, if you’ve ever pitched or cast a Zoom Lil-Crit this way you already know what I’m talking about – everything together doesn’t weigh more than 1/8 oz., and has about the same aerodynamic characteristics as a cotton ball! A Note: Although the Pixzilla does a fair job with the right rod, line and reel adjustment; I still wanted a little more. Remember my previous blog about always wanting to crank everything I can out of a reel? Well, here’s another example! Enough said for now.
~3” green pumpkin Zoom Lil-Crit TR with 1/32 oz bullet weight.
I’ve grown addicted to swept 4-bearing handles; they seem to be so much easier on my wrist, although I really don’t have a preference in carbon vs. aluminum. I also like the feel of Reel Grips and have them on all of my reels, especially since the profile seems to work better with my fingers. (O.K. you guys can laugh, I even use them on handles that have cork knobs!) Then you have the level wind upgrade; swapping the bushing for a new bearing and a small spacer sleeve, for better level wind performance and line lay. Of course, how could you ever have a Pixzilla without a Carbontex drag upgrade? And what about upgraded spool bearings and polishing a few key components in the reel; you already know where I stand on them if you’ve followed my blogs. Last but not least, I like a stealthy look. An Aside: Maybe I’m getting a little finicky in my old age, but I occasionally get wild with a bit of bling at times. O.K. I admit it, red shad has always been one of my favorite color schemes; and if there is black/green/white sparkles’ mixed in with the black it really catches my attention. Hey, red shad is kinda-sorta stealthy, isn’t it? A Note: I decided not to do the standard TD-Z level wind line guide mod as I was reassembling the reel. I’ve never really noticed much difference with or without it – so I stayed with the standard Pixy guide. (I admit that I typically use lighter and more-supple types of line, and suspect that is probably why the longer line opening hasn’t been much of a factor.) So, I’ve slowly started to migrate back to a stock guide in my Pixies anyway.
So there you have it, my specifications for the make-over. A Blog Note: I don’t intend to cover much of the “hands-on” side of the reel make-over, except for the drag upgrade. Instead, I’ll focus on things from a higher level – besides I’ve got other blogs that get into much of the actual detail. There’s even more information in the Maintenance Section of the TackleTour forum.
Custom Paint Preps
Although the Pixy I purchased had a little boat rash on each side plate and the frame, it was lightly used and in excellent mechanical condition. So, how could I have a new “Super Pixzilla”, without a custom paint job? Fortunately, if you’ve been around TackleTour, it doesn’t take long before you hear and see the reels that Calfish has painted! I drool all over my keyboard every time I see them.
Red shad color in winter sunlight!
Let me start by saying that Calfish did an excellent job on painting the reel, it exceeded my expectations:
- All different parts of the reel are the same shade, depth and glossy finish. Nothing that was painted appears abnormal or out of place and everything looks better than any stock reel I’ve seen. It was obvious that plenty of time, attention to detail, etc. was put in to the painting.
- The finish cured extremely hard and really shines! Smudges and fingerprints, wipe off easily with a very light spray of Eagle One Nanowax and a micro-fiber rag. There were no chips or scratches after I reassembled the reel.
- You could tell that he put a lot of effort into controlling overspray, taping and ensuring that excess paint did not affect how the spool fits in the frame and mounting of other components.
- There were no runs or missed spots, or hint of blemishes from the original boat rash.
- Periodic communications throughout the process kept me up to date on the status.
An Aside: The pictures of the reel just don’t do his work justice, the dark red plates and contrasting black frame are hard to capture with a camera, and especially during a cold and snowy winter day. They become very vibrant in direct light and you can see tiny sparkles and depth within the paint. However, the colors gradually change to a deeper and darker shade in reduced light – almost becoming dark maroon and stunning black in the process. Both the red shad and stealth look I was hoping for!
Indirect light gives a stealthy-red look!
You’ll need to disassemble the entire reel before you send the parts to Calfish. Everything! So in the case of a Pixy, don’t forget to: remove the clutch lever plates from the frame; the A/R bearing, tension o-ring and white spring plate from the handle plate; and the adjustment knob when you remove the other magnetic braking components from the palm plate. I only point this out because these components seldom get removed in normal situations. (You’ll also want to store them in a safe location after you remove them, along with the rest of the reel parts!)
A Tip: If you’ve never removed an A/R bearing from a Daiwa handle plate, stand-by! Sometimes they will just slide out of the socket in the plate with little effort, and it isn’t a big deal. However, most of the time they are pressed-in and getting them out is more challenging. Occasionally they are pressed-in along with epoxy – and things can be a major challenge. Search the Maintenance Section of the TackleTour forum if you encounter the last two cases and need help!
A Big Note: If you don’t have the skills, tools or desire to completely disassemble and reassemble the reel, you can have it done by a reel tech. Review the posts on TackleTour to find techs that have worked closely with Calfish in delivering a completed reel. (You’ll find them mentioned in the Show and Tell or the Maintenance Section of the forum.) It’s a great way to get to the same point, and there’s nothing wrong with this approach (although it costs a bit more). Another Note: When you send the parts you’ll also need to include the spool and the spool bearing that is pinned to it. Calfish will ensure that the sides of the spool are not affected by any paint on the frame!
You’ll probably want to clean and inspect the parts before you send them for painting. I used a small tooth brush and a 20:1 dilute solution of Simple Green to scrub the parts, warm tap water for periodic soaks, and finished by rinsing them off with distilled water. Once the front plate, both side plates and frame were dry I wrapped them in bubble wrap before boxing them up.
Stealth and red shad in mixed light!
I knew Calfish was going to be busy painting reels for other forum members this time of year; something I’ve followed on TackleTour for a couple seasons now. I was a little surprised that the parts came back about 6 weeks after sending them to him. There was still plenty of time to get a new handle, prepare other parts, etc., and even modify/test a Pixy spool with +R tuned braking components. There was always something to tinker with, and getting things ready was a good distraction during the blizzards that left us snowbound in part of January!
Custom Paint Reassembly
Swept IZE 4-bearing 80mm handle.
I had planned on dealing with the effects of paint long before I ever sent the parts to Calfish for painting. Let’s face it, the spray and thickness of paint can be enough to affect the fit, mating, precision and even performance of reel components. [Also one of the reasons you need to be careful when painting a reel!] For example, the thickness of a coating can affect how one part matches and mounts with another. A run or little bit of paint in the wrong location can affect alignment or precision. In the case of threaded holes, overspray can affect how fasteners travel and torque components together. Bearing sockets present a unique situation; in extreme cases paint might prevent the bearing from even being mounted, or could adversely affect the bearings radial clearance if it can.
On the other hand, how can you really ensure adequate coverage and that chipping/ cracking won’t occur around an opening, unless you actually overspray a small part of it? An interesting dilemma and an age old problem involving two extremes, and one that coating and manufacturing engineers address all the time! So, I planned on dealing with the affects of paint ahead of time, simply because it should be expected. A Tip: I discussed removing excess paint with Calfish and he suggested that Acetone or other similar solvents not be used to remove any paint or paint residue near/in screw holes, etc.
A small bit of paint needed to be removed from the inside wall of
the bearing socket. The paint runs between the arrow tips.
When I got the parts back I checked them for paint that had to be removed before reassembling the reel. Calfish did a great job of taping and controlling excess overspray, so there wasn’t much I had to do in that regard. Thanks Calfish for making my project so much easier:
- The previous picture shows a small amount of extra paint between the arrow tips, on the inside wall of the drive shaft outer bearing socket. It obviously affected installing the bearing and was relatively thick. So, I lightly scraped it off the wall with a dull knife tip, blew the chips out with a little compressed air and wiped the socket out with a q-tip dampened in a little water. A Note: The rest of the paint on the front of the bearing socket should not be removed; it has no affect on alignment, the bearing or other components, and is not visible when the reel is reassembled.
The bottom red arrow in the picture below shows the hole where the level wind guard mounts in the palm plate side of frame. The paint was just a little too thick on the inside edge to allow the guard to pass through the hole. So I wrapped a small strip of 600 Wet and Dry sand paper around a ¼” dowel and lightly removed a small amount of paint on the inside edge – just enough to allow the guard to pass through. I don’t think it took more than a half-dozen light strokes with the paper to get what I needed.
- The remaining arrows in the picture below show threaded holes in the frame for the handle plate, level wind stabilizing bar, etc. When I checked them with the screw that goes in each hole, I found two that needed to be cleared. I used a very small pick to carefully remove paint in the threads, then blew the holes with compressed air and rinsed them out with fresh water. I also found that the threaded hole for the palm plate locking screw had a little paint in the threads that also needed to be removed. So, I used the same method to clean up that hole. I finished by running a spare palm plate locking screw coated with a very thin film of oil in-and-out several times, to ensure travel was smooth and not impeded (see the previous picture).
Frame openings where paint might affect reassembly. Most are
threaded holes for plates and the level wind stabilizer bar.
I really didn’t have any surprises while reassembling the reel and everything went together the way I expected. I did put a very-light film of grease on the threads of screws that tighten in the frame; something that I typically do anyway during an annual clean/inspect to preclude fretting. You might want to consider doing the same after having a frame painted, but there’s no need to get carried away with the grease when you do it.
Level Wind Upgrade
Stock bushing shown on Pixy level wind worm (bottom),
has been replaced with a small collar and bearing (top).
The Daiwa level wind upgrade has been around for several years now and I automatically do it on a new reel when required. I recently touched on it, about half-way through my Level Wind Fundamentals blog.
Some Daiwa low profile reels have a bushing under the level wind gear as shown in the bottom of the previous picture, and it’s possible to replace the bushing with a 4×8x2.5 mm bearing and a 5×6x2 mm collar (top of the picture). You’ll need ball bearing (part 39) F05-5601 from the TD-Z103H/105H and worm shaft collar (part 40) G01-0701 from the TD-Z 103, to complete the modification and improve level wind performance.
However, in the case of my Pixy project, I recognized that the new collar dimensions could be affected by the painting. Simply put, the added thickness of the new paint on the frame would likely require that I customize the collar under the level wind gear. So I decided to modify the original stock Pixy bushing to make it work, and would adjust its thickness for precise fit. A Note: Little did I know at the time, that Daiwa US didn’t have any collars in stock, so that was probably a good choice anyway! An Aside: Unfortunately a lot of forum members are still looking for collars and have level wind upgrades on hold. Oh By The Way: I’ve never had a problem getting a replacement bushing collar from Daiwa, like the one found in a stock Sol, Fuego, Viento, Pixy, etc. For instance, worm shaft holder (part 40) G41-7801 from a Sol never seems to be out of stock when I’ve ordered them. So, the information in the next couple of paragraphs may be an option…
Making Your Own Collar
Most of the 4x8mm end of the stock Pixy bushing collar needs to be removed to make the new collar. The good news is that the material is not that hard or brittle, and is very easy to work.
I’ve cut them almost all the way down (~2.5mm), with a razor-sharp contractor’s knife and even a Dremel wheel in the past, and filed them the rest of the way to square them up and get the correct thickness. DR on the forum has even used a belt sander to sand them down, and he’s made a jig to hold them while doing it. I even recall one forum member who filed the whole thing down to make a new collar! So, there are several ways to do it.
You can square and finish them up to the correct thickness with a piece of 600# Wet and Dry sandpaper, fine file, or even an Emory board borrowed for your significant other. A replacement collar from Daiwa is 2mm thick, but you can even leave it .1 or .2 mm longer for a custom fit – to remove the last bit of axial play from the worm gear as the pinion switches tapers.
A Test: In the case of my Pixy Project, the exact thickness of the collar ended up being 1.89mm, a little smaller than the standard 2mm because of the paint. It only required 42 passes on a sheet of 400 and 6 passes on a sheet of 600 Wet and Dry to make make the new collar — and took all of 3-1/2 minutes to do it (including the 2 checks with the level wind worm and bearing in the frame)! So stop waiting for Daiwa to get them back in stock and make your own — chances are you’ll spend 10x that long on the phone ordering one.
Tuning a New IZE Handle
One of the first things I did was to fine-tune the new IZE 80mm carbon handle that I got from Plat. The knobs I used were from a brand new TD-Advantage-153HSTA. Unfortunately, I didn’t like the fit when you mounted them with the usual washer(s) beneath the bottom bearing on each post. One washer was not thick enough, and the ~.13mm axial slop in the knob resulted in a noticeable click when you cranked a reel. Yet 2 washers were too thick, and the knob would bind depending on how far you tightened the knob screw. So I sanded one of the washers under each knob to achieve just the right fit, using 600 then and 1200 Wet and Dry paper. I lubricated all knob bearings with Xtreme Reel+, a dry lubricant that I’m testing again this season.
A Big Tip: If you are faced with the same situation, resist the urge to reduce the length of the handle post in an attempt to get a better fit with your knobs. Not only will you kill the resale value of the handle, it can create other problems down the road. For instance, you probably won’t be able to use it with any other type of knobs, and the debris that gets inside the post is almost impossible to remove and might cause a knob screw to seize!
Polishing and Tuning
I also did a little polishing and tuning on a few key parts. Something I’ve done on all of my low profile Daiwas now. I’ll even do it on a new reel, once I’ve checked it out. It feels so good afterward!
You can use my Polishing the Sol article to improve the way the reel disengages/reengages, provide a little better spool tension adjustment, and even reduce some spool noise that might otherwise occur while casting or retrieving.
A Tip: There’s no need to get carried away with the polishing!
Pixy Drag Kit Mod
Background
The stock Pixy has a drag stack that consists of a heavy top key washer, thick composite friction washer and an eared stainless steel washer that fits in the bottom of the drive gear. When new, the stock drag delivers about 3 to 4# of break-away pull, but running pull can be up to 1# less (especially after use). In addition, should the stack get contaminated with oil, grease or water; the running pull can become erratic and the stack may even stutter, and/or break-away pull can become non-repeatable from pull-to-pull. You’ll find more information about break-away and running drag in my previous Reel Drag Basics blog.
About 4 years ago, some TackleTour forum members began testing various Pixy drag upgrades using multiple Carbontex and metal drag washers. If you are curious, you can find posts about them in the Maintenance Section of the old TackleTour forum; just go there and use “Pixy drag” for search terms. However, you can find a summary of the designs in the Sticky Post at the top of the forum. Most of the drag mods were somewhat complicated; requiring parts from other reels, specific reel measurements and even cutting a new drive shaft collar. However, they worked very well and eliminated the previously described problems.
Smoothdrag.com began supplying a drag kit that includes polished stainless steel and Carbontex washers that drop right into the Pixy. Everything you need to do a drag upgrade is included in the kit, except maybe a little Cal’s Grease (I’ll get to it in a few paragraphs). A Pixy drag upgrade became so much simpler and easier after that!
Details
I get a lot of PM’s and email from Pixy owners who are interested in a Pixy drag upgrade or have questions about the smoothdrag.com kit. It’s also a common topic in the Maintenance Section of the forum. So, I thought I’d provide a little more detail about it, since I used the kit for my custom Pixzilla – and suggest you do the same. Thanks Dawn!
A Note and Tip: Many reel techs will also install the kit when they work on your reel, it has become that popular! Most can do it during an annual clean and inspect -- Hint, hint!
When you use the kit you will still need to use the stock eared washer that fits in the bottom of the drive gear. However, you won’t use the stock top key washer and Teflon composite washer shown above.
Smoothdrag.com Pixy Drag Kit showing the new configuration.
When you get the kit you’ll notice that there are different polished metal washers and Carbontex washers, they will need to be installed in a specific order to complete the modification. The previous picture shows the correct arrangement, starting from the drive gear and working upward:
- The stock ear washer that was in the Pixy, gets re-used,
- One of the new larger i.d. Carbontex washers goes above it,
- One of the new metal key washers goes above that,
- The other new larger i.d. Carbontex washers goes above that,
- The new eared metal key washer goes about that,
- The new smaller i.d. Carbontex washer goes above that, and
- The other new key washer goes on top of the stack, directly under the drive shaft collar.
You’ll want to clean the new metal and Carbontex washers before you install them, to remove any residue, lubricant, etc. I suggest using a little Lighter Fluid (Naphtha), in a sealed glass jar to do the cleaning. Just drop them in ~1/4” of the fluid and put the lid on the jar. Periodically swirl them and let them soak for a total of 10 minutes or so, to loosen and lift carbon residue from the woven fiber washers.
A Safety Note: Be sure to exercise appropriate precautions for handling and using a solvent (adequate ventilation, fire hazard, no sparks or open flame in the area, etc.). You’ll find more on safety precautions in my Tool Time blog.
A Tip: You can clean the washers the same during the annual clean/inspect at the end of the season. However, it might take a little longer, especially if you’ve used drag grease on the washers.
Remove the washers and allow them to dry after cleaning. I like to lay them out on a clean lint-free terry cloth towel to dry in the air. A Tip: The solvent on the Carbontex washers may appear to evaporate sooner than on the metal washers. Unfortunately, the weave inside the washer can still hold a lot of solvent in it. So don’t get in too big a hurry applying drag grease on them; if you intend to use drag grease on your Carbontex washers. [You’ll work drag grease into the fiber, and any solvent still within the fiber can immediately break it down. YIKES!]
Drag Grease
“To use drag grease or not to use drag grease?” a question I get a lot on the forum. I prefer to use it because break-away drag seems to be closer to running drag and pull tends to be more consistent from pull to pull. In addition, the drag doesn’t seem to be nearly affected by “a good dunking” (yes accidents do occasionally happen), or a major “gully washer.” If you are a salt water anger or fish in brackish water the grease might help mitigate fouling of the stack.
On the other hand, top-end drag may be slightly less with drag grease (maybe ¼# or so, depending on the reel), and there is a little initial cost to get the grease.
So, some prefer the advantages of drag grease (called a wet drag), and others prefer to run them dry (called a dry drag). In the end, the choice is entirely yours.
Drag grease is different than the other grease used in a reel, although it still contains filler and lubricants:
- The filler holds and disperses the lubricant like in conventional reel grease. However, drag grease filler doesn’t break down until very high temperature, when compared to other grease fillers. In addition, the filler tends to insulate and protect lubricant molecules more than other fillers, from the heat developed by friction.
- The most important part of the lubricant consists of macro-molecules [or micro-particles] of a PTFE (Teflon). The macro-molecules are extremely long, chemically neutral and very strong – they will not breakdown or be penetrated like film lubricant molecules. In addition, the molecules form layers which move against each other, so shear becomes more directly related to the compression force on them (a very desirable characteristic for a drag brake).
- The rest of the lubricant typically contains a synthetic oil for carrying the PTFE molecules. It also often includes anti-oxidants, protectants and anti-coagulants; which improve the stability of the filler, and helps disperse and replenish PTFE molecules as they expend.
A Note: Strange things can happen if drag grease gets mixed with conventional reel grease and exposed to the conditions under the handle plate. Simply put, the results are unpredictable; it can glob like the curds in cottage cheese, can turn the surface of metals black, and even affect the ability of the conventional grease to adhere on gear teeth. If fresh water or saltwater gets thrown in with the mix, it can even turn dry and crusty when things finally dry out, or may retain moisture so algae will grow on/in the mix. Lastly, it may just do nothing but turn a little different color. Yep, that sounds like unpredictable….
Drag Grease Summary: So, the way the Teflon lubricant molecules shear in layers, how they behave under compression and the characteristics of the filler are what really distinguish drag grease from conventional reel grease. A Tip: I don’t necessarily recommend trying to use conventional reel grease in lieu of drag grease in a drag stack. It usually doesn’t last nearly as long and the drag stack can get sticky and inconsistent during use. Just my take after trying it a couple times; they were an emergency, honest!
A Side Note: The processes involved with PTFE types of solid lubricants and woven carbon fiber are very complicated, and I’ve taken the liberty of being brief.
Cal’s Grease, Shimano drag grease (ACE grease) and a few others can be used on your Carbontex washers (or other wet drag washers). I prefer Cal’s because it’s a little cheaper and easier to obtain, but have found that they all generally perform about the same. The color and consistency of Cal’s reminds me of smooth peanut butter; you can get it from smoothdrag.com and it comes in a 1 oz. or 1# container. [A 1 oz container will last most anglers a lifetime!]
Once the washers are dry after cleaning, I just work a small dab of Cal’s Grease into the surface with a finger and thumb. I like to ensure the grease actually gets inside the weave on both sides of the fiber because performance seems to last longer – but there is no need to get carried away with the grease. More is not necessarily better …read on!
Excess grease will get compressed out of the stack and can splatter under the handle plate, find its way to the teeth on the drive gear and mix with other grease (BAD!), etc. So, I typically squeeze the washer between my finger and thumb and rotate it to remove excess grease.
A Tip: A good rule of thumb for a bass reel is to only leave enough grease on the washers; so that if you touch them, you leave a finger print on them. (See the previous picture.) A Note: If you do decide to go with a lot more drag grease, make sure you know there won’t be undesired results should it find its way to the other grease in the reel. Some anglers might actually do this, to mitigate the effects of saltwater intrusion on the stack.
+R Tuned Pixy Spool
Background
I briefly mentioned the possibility of a +R tuned Pixy spool, toward the end of my Inside The Daiwa Spool blog back in November. That’s about the time that I started planning my Pixy project, so it was a teaser for what was to come. However, I seriously thought about not even posting anything about it in this blog, figuring there just wasn’t a lot of interest. However, I admit you need to be a hard-core spool modder to want to go this route, and maybe it’s a bit much for most or involves more risk than they want to assume.
I’ve been running a couple TD-X’s and S’s without any braking components on the spool for a few years now, primarily using my thumb to control overrun. I still have them; just don’t use them as much anymore, because I don’t cast/pitch/flip the heavier stuff that often.
I also learned long ago, that trying to do the same with very light presentations like a Zoom Lil-Crit, just won’t work – even with the lightest of spools like the Pixy and my Presso rod. There just isn’t enough momentum from the lure and spool to handle much feathering on the spool, and when you do, things get extremely critical. [A Confession: O.K. I admit it, my thumb just isn’t nimble enough to pitch a 1/8 oz piece of popcorn tied onto the end of my line, while only using my thumb to control overrun! Whew, I feel a lot better now that that’s out in the open.] When you try, distance and accuracy are all over the spectrum, overrun is just too hard to control, and any wind turns a bad situation into “worser-than-worse.”
So it didn’t take me long to realize that I had reached the point where man and his “well trained thumb” could no longer perform as well or as quickly as machine…. I would need a little bit of variable magnetic braking for my latest Pixy project!
You can go back and review my earlier blogs for more insight:
Braking Mod
Disassembled TD-Z +R spool braking components (left),
and stock Pixy braking components (right).
It’s possible to swap the +R tuned Magforce V braking components from another spool, over to the Pixy spool for improved pitching performance. In fact, there are other changes you can make to +R components to fine-tune the spool braking response even more – if that’s what you want to do. (Maybe I’ll get into them someday.) I decided to use most of the braking components from a TD-Z +R spool. An Aside: Yes, you’ve seen this spool before in a couple of my previous blogs!
I already covered how to remove and reinstall Daiwa Magforce V and Z braking components in my Inside the Daiwa Spool blog. You can use the process, tools and tips from the blog; just be careful and pay attention to what you are doing, since you can damage a spool in the process!
To make a long story short, you’ll want to use the +R inductor and tabs, but the stock Pixy braking spring. A Note: It’s hard to make out in the previous picture; but the Pixy spring is a little longer, yet it doesn’t take quite as much compression force to compress it and the compression rate is not the same as the +R spring. So, you’ll just have to take my word for it; you’ll get a little bit better +R performance for the lighter presentations, with the longer spring. An Aside: Again, maybe I’ll blog about this sometime later.
+R modified Pixy spool (left) and stock Pixy spool (right). Notice
the difference in inductors, and how the stock inductor fits into the magnets a bit further, when compared to the +R.
It’s easy to see the difference between the +R inductor and the stock Pixy inductor in the previous picture. But also note how much further the stock inductor sticks into the braking magnets at spool start-up. (Use the collar on the left spool shaft to see the ~.8mm difference on the right.) Less braking would occur at spool start-up with the +R spool for both reasons. Remember that braking torque increases when more of the inductor is exposed to magnetic lines of force and the closer the inductor is to the magnets? See my Exploring Magnetic Brakes blog for more information.
Trivia: The braking tabs also have a little different mass and length; so the effect from different momentum and distance they travel, will also affect the rate at which braking is applied as the spool accelerates and decelerates. Sound complicated? Trust me it is….
I actually went through a couple different iterations to get the exact braking response I was looking for with my Lil-Crits. I tested braking response after each change by making numerous pitches and casts, and even did a some bench testing. You may have seen this already, since I posted it on the forum; Prototyping Tuned Pixy Spool. But here’s a video of a Magforce V braking system in action, the red light on the bottom of the spool is from a laser tachometer. It’s one of the tools I use to collect data when prototyping a spool. Notice how the braking inductor responds with varying spool speed – similar to what would occur during a cast.
By the Way: In case you were going to ask; no, you can not put a Magforce Z braking system into a Pixy spool. You need to stay with Magforce V because the tabs run on the side of the tapered spool and there isn’t enough room.
Wrap-Up
I wrapped things up by dropping a set of higher precision spool bearings into the reel. I’ll have more about them later… and that’s all I’m saying for now! But as far as casting and pitching crits, I’ll just say SWEET!!!
So there you have it… my winter +R Tuned Pixy Project. Hopefully you’ll find the information useful, much of it will apply to other reel models!
It was a good project for fighting off cabin fever, but now that it’s done I’m itching to get it on the water!
Like Always: I’m not associated with anyone or any products mentioned in this blog.
-dModder
I’d say there’s a lot of interest in Boca Orange Seal bearings right now, based on the PM’s I get on TackleTour. I can’t really say if it’s “winter doldrums”, a sudden desire to eek’ out a little better casting performance or even an influx of members wanting to maintain their reels. But hardly a day goes by when I don’t get a couple requests for info on Orange Seals and how to prepare them for installation.
Bearings are used at specific locations in a reel, to facilitate rotation of gears, shafts, knobs, etc. in order to reduce frictional loss. They carry the loads presented while making a cast or when fighting a fish, and maintain the precision built into the frame and components. They generally make the reel feel smoother while cranking and allow you to cast further; improving the efficiency of both processes. It’s no wonder that the bearings found in our reels are technically called anti-friction rolling bearings, because that’s exactly what they were intended for.
Facts O’ Life: Let’s face it, the way we use and maintain our reels, the value we place on them, and our personal preference or needs may influence one’s decision on upgrading bearings. When you factor in the amount of time, money, competing responsibilities, experience and other personal factors; it’s no wonder that one angler’s pursuits can be significantly different from another.
Orange Seals are ABEC 7 ceramic-hybrid bearings that are equipped with seals. Uhhhh, … say what?!? O.K., I admit there’s a lot of info packed into that sentence that needs to be explained… so let’s break it down. (It won’t take long before you start using modder lingo!)
So an ABEC rating (or similar international rating), only refers to bearing accuracy and precision, nothing more. Bearings not conforming to at least ABEC 1 are not considered precision bearings, and it is not uncommon to find them in low-end reels as well. You’ll find more information on ABEC in my Reel Bearings 101 article.
A Special Note: There is another type of bearing called a ceramic bearing (like shown in the picture to the left) – where the balls 
I probably get this question at least 2 or 3 times a week, primarily from anglers who have never upgraded bearings before and/or are considering getting Orange Seals for the first time. I suspect it actually reflects a bit of “you don’t know what you don’t know” when ordering them, so is one of the things I’ll address in this blog.
Let me start off by saying that I 
A Tip: Do yourself a favor and get into the habit – it will at least eliminate a doubt about cleanliness (and maybe lubrication), should you have problems after installing them! An Aside: I’m never really surprised to see a faint streak or plume of film coming out of a new “dry” bearing the first time I clean it. I’d say it happens about 25% of the time; not specific to any brand, supplier or bearing type. A Thought: If you’ve never cleaned your bearings before using them the first time, that’s great. But I wonder how long your luck will last?
You can clean your new bearings in a solvent like Naphtha, Acetone, spray brake cleaner, etc. Just exercise appropriate precautions for handling and using a solvent in this case.
You can lightly blow the bearings out with a can of computer keyboard compressed air or let them air-dry on their own. By the way, don’t necessarily spin the bearing with the air, just lightly blow out the residual liquid. A Surprising Tip: You can blow the balls out of some bearings if the shields/seals are not be installed and you use too much air pressure! I’ve personally had this happen to a set of non-Boca ceramic-hybrids.
To reinstall a seal, rest it on the side of the bearing and gradually press it back into the outer race/center race. Try not to apply a lot of pressure when you do this, because you can move the seal too far – to the point that the inside part of the seal contacts the center race of the bearing, or the bottom of the seal contacts the cage beneath it. If this occurs it can adversely affect bearing performance. A Tip: The seal will slide back into the side of the bearing and snap into the groove(s) on the races. But sometimes you may need to reposition it a little with the tip of your needle or Xacto knife, so the inside part of the seal is centered on the inner race and won’t make contact with it.
The decision to use your Orange Seals with or without the seals boils down to personal choice and preference, and a commitment. Like a lot of things, there are trade-offs or compromise with each case.
I’ve got 20 pair of Orange Seals right now, and have them in about ½ of my reels. I typically let family and friends use some; the first time they try one upgraded with Orange Seals they’re usually shocked at how easily they cast. In addition, all the reels I took on big trips last year were equipped with Orange Seals — they provided trouble-free performance despite heavy use!
I thought I’d spend a little time looking at the fundamentals behind the drag on our reels. Yep, you got it; the stuff beneath the drag star on your bait caster or the knob on your spinning rig. Along the way we’ll look at friction, what causes it, and how it relates to fishing and reels. I’ll also touch on a few things not related to drags; primarily to provide a little broader perspective on friction — we put a lot of effort into reducing friction, …but it’s not always bad!
Everyone on the planet has been exposed to friction; we studied it in school, deal with it every day and probably don’t always recognize it, might even take it for granted, or simply not care. But just like “the force” in the Star Wars movies… it surrounds us. An Aside: Sometimes I wonder, how many can still explain what it is and what causes it, and how it relates to our reels or even fishing; based on comments I’ve read on some forums over the years.
There are two general forms of friction:
The amount of sliding friction that occurs between two objects is a result of two important factors – the nature of the surfaces in contact and the amount of force that holds them together:
You can describe this situation a number of different ways, but a few ways you may have heard before include:
Rolling friction occurs when one object rolls on the surface of another. The Coefficient of Friction between the surfaces plays heavily in the energy lost to friction, and in some ways it’s similar to sliding friction, just usually much-much less. But compression and distortion of the surface(s) also needs to be considered, since both can have a big influence on things. For instance, if you’ve ever driven your vehicle in the sand on the beach you know what I’m talking about; it’s totally different when compared to a hard roadway!
Objects moving in a fluid or gas experience fluid friction, and it is called drag. (Drag is also referred to as air resistance when it acts between an object and gas, and fluid resistance when it acts between an object and fluid, to hinder motion.) Some good examples related to fishing include the flight of your lure in the air while making a cast and the way water affects your lure during a retrieve. That should give you something to think about the next time you’re hammering a hot shoreline with your favorite crank!
Although I’ll eventually get into the drag system on a Daiwa low profile in future blogs, the general configuration is similar to other bass reels. (The arrangement is straight-forward, but you should review your schematic for details.) A drag star attached to the drive shaft controls the compression between metal discs and one or more friction washers that set in the drive gear. Since the drive gear is not directly connected to its shaft, it will turn backwards when line is pulled from the spool, and the force required to pull the line is directly related to the sliding friction between the discs and washer(s). Line will even pull from the spool while you crank the reel (like while fighting a fish), since the amount of friction between the gear and shaft is dependant on the compression from the drag star. By the way, an arrangement of this type is technically referred to as a drag friction brake or clutch; anglers simply call it a drag.
The design and configuration of Daiwa bait cast level winds really hasn’t changed much over the past 30 years or so. Sure, a few models may utilize idler gears in rotating the worm shaft or even a drive plate to move the line guide, but almost all recent Daiwas essentially share the same arrangement. Subsequently, level wind components tend to look the same, although they may not be the same size.
The 
A 
Pawls and worms have been made from various materials over the years. Stainless steel, brass and bronze alloys, nickel and chrome plated metals and others have all been used throughout that time. Unfortunately, some materials wore quickly while others were susceptible to corrosion – and if you fished from shore or in brackish/salt water you may have felt lucky if you got through a season of fishing before you needed to replace them. That is still the case with a few reels today, but for the most part, manufacturers have generally adopted harder and more resilient materials in recent years. But if you have one of the older rounds or a low-end reel, it would be prudent to look for signs of corrosion, since it can quickly result in damage and wear.
The pawl cap and guide washer fit over the flat end of the pawl. They ensure the pawl is correctly aligned and positioned onto the worm shaft, in allowing the pawl to move as it follows the groove. Caps are typically made from metal, plastic, Delrin or other material, and can crack or strip threads if over-tightened. Lastly, the level wind may operate erratically if the cap becomes loose or if the guide washer beneath it gets excessively worn. A Tip: Although the cap may be made from metal, only snug it down when you reinstall it. It can crack or even fail later if it is over-tightened! A Personal Note: I used to carry extra pawls and caps for my round Abu’s. Occasionally I’d need to replace a pawl while shore fishing, and would invariably drop something in the sand! Grrrrrrr!
The Daiwa level wind guard has several functions:
Algae and other organic material can result in two types of problems. Not only can it directly foul the worm and pawl when dry, but worse, it can also damage certain metals or metal coatings. Stress cracks, pitting and blemishes can occur if the reel is stored while still wet, or if algae repetitively dries and gets whetted. Tannic acids released by leaf and shrub debris can also stain and blemish some aluminum alloys. Tips: Keeping your reels covered while walking through brush, scrubbing and rinsing the outside of the reel after fishing algae laden water, and making sure your reel is dry before storing it are always good practices!
Old lubricant (especially expended grease), that has picked up wear products from the pawl and/or worm shaft, can also be very abrasive. Most of the time it will turn very dark in color, consisting of a mixture of: foreign debris; metalic oxides, scale, and wear particles; oxidized lubricant and expended additives; and other material. So, if the grease gets darkly discolored (like in the picture to the right), or you notice a buildup of soft debris beginning to form on the worm shaft and groove, it needs to be cleaned and re-lubricated. A Note: The buildup can still occur if you lubricate your worm and pawl with oil, especially if the components are never cleaned before adding new lubricant! A Tip: Don’t expect new oil to wash away old debris! An Aside: The picture above shows factory grease removed from a pawl and worm on a Daiwa reel. I bought the reel used on the auction site; it needed some TLC!
Corrosion and rust can be especially troublesome for some stainless steel or plated pawls and worms. The problem tends to occur more often when the reel has been used in salt or brackish water, but can also happen with freshwater. Keeping the components clean and re-lubricated is a good line of defense. Accelerated wear and surface pitting, and periodic “rough spots” that you feel coming from the level wind, are a result of corroded or rusted components. A Tip: Using grease on the worm shaft and pawl may be an option in this case; just remember that they may also pick-up more debris! Corrosion-X or ReelX might be lower viscosity alternatives. [There is more information on this in the next few paragraphs.]
The lubrication of the worm shaft, pawl and pawl washer is important to correct level wind performance and minimizing wear, as previously described. However, the type of lubricant that you select should be carefully considered for your situation; since the wrong one might result in problems. Although most reels leave the factory with grease on components, that may not be the ideal lubricant for your situation.
I usually apply grease on the worm with a child-sized tooth brush; I work it into the grooves and onto the outer circumference of the shaft, by moving the brush as shown by the blue arrows in the picture to the right. A Tip: If the reel has been disassembled, I’ll usually apply the grease after I’ve installed the bushing/bearing under the shaft gear, and before re-installing the components back in the frame. The grease won’t get scraped off the circumference of the worm when you install the bearing/bushing.
A Tip: I do not suggest cleaning and lubricating any level wind components with WD-40. The light oil and water displacement property of the oil that is left behind, doesn’t last very long in the environment our fishing reels see, when compared to typical reel lubricants. Unfortunately, the light oil can also prevent reel lubricants from adhering properly – so it will need to be cleaned off anyway!
The picture to the left shows a blowup of a damaged TD-X worm; a nephew was cat fishing and used the reel body with the reel engaged, to pull a snag free while spooled with 60# braided line. Unfortunately, the pawl must have just started to enter that part of the groove where it begins to switch tapers (e.g. with the level wind guide positioned to the far side of the frame). When he pulled the reel, the pointed area between the tapers was torn — and the bottom of the pawl contacted the groove wall on the other side. [The lower part of the point is almost totally gone, and the rip extended to the outer circumference of the worm.] The arrow shows the direction that the pawl took in causing the damage. Notice how the adjacent point between the grooves was also deformed, when the pawl contacted it after the first point broke. A lot of potential energy can be stored within the structure of taut braided line!
The picture at the left shows a guide washer sitting on one of my finger; I removed it from a scrap reel that I got with several others from a local tackle shop. Note the two distinct blemishes caused by the flat part of the pawl – the washer is noticeably thinner in these two areas due to corrosion and repetitive pawl movement. (In fact, the whole washer was about half the thickness of a new one! YIKES!) The edges of the blemishes are also raised; the washer should have been replaced (or at least flipped over so the other side contacted the pawl), long before it got to this state. Periodic cleaning and lubrication would have also helped. [I even cleaned it up a little Naphtha before taking the picture.] A Tip: Although the washer on a Daiwa will start-off in the center of the pawl and pawl cap, it can move off-center should it need lubrication. This is due to the alternating movement of the pawl, and increased friction with the pawl and cap – causing it to become off-center. In this situation, the washer no longer protects the pawl cap from wear, as it eventually starts to move under the cap. As the picture shows, this probably occurred on two different occasions!
When you cranked the reel with the washer in this condition, you could feel the distinct scraping of the pawl as it rubbed under the pawl cap (by putting a finger on the pawl cap); and occasional ticking as the tip frequently lost contact with the bottom of the worm groove. I was a little surprised; although the guide moved erratically, the way the line laid didn’t seem to be affected nearly as much as I thought it would have been. The picture to the right shows the inside of the cap, if you look closely you can see that it has been significantly worn.
The picture to the left shows a worn TD-X pawl, I took it out of a reel that was given to me for scrap parts. Notice that the crescent tips and crescent itself has been badly worn. When I tested the reel the line guide would hang up on the palm plate side of the frame, and would not switch tapers unless I put significant pull on the line while cranking. The lateral force on the guide from the line pull would eventually cause the pawl to switch tapers. [Go back up the page and look at a new pawl!]
The picture to the left shows a worm shaft from an early TD-S. The reel wouldn’t crank; the level wind was jammed tight!
I’ve been tinkering with Daiwa spool braking components for the past few years. Fooling with things like inductors, tabs, springs and other parts found on the low profiled bait casters. Unfortunately, I don’t think Daiwa really intended for anyone to work on them; it can be a challenge that requires patience, skill and dexterity. But if you are spool modder you have no choice….
I’m going to cover some more-advanced bench activities in this blog, when I get into disassembling a spool. Trust me, it is not my intent to get everyone who reads it, to go out and start tearing theirs apart. In fact, it can be frustrating and isn’t as easy as it looks – and you can quickly ruin a spool just by simply loosing or damaging the wrong part.
Daiwa employs three different braking configurations on their spools; the Magforce, Magforce V and Magforce Z braking systems. The difference in the Magforce designs is primarily related to the spool braking components and what occurs as the spool rotates. There is a close correlation between the braking system selected in design, and the applications the reel is intended for. All three designs will be found on bait cast reels being sold today.
The picture to the left compares the size and profile of the c-clip (left), to a typical frame e-clip (right). A Tip: Save your XACTO knife blades and don’t try to use one to pry into the backside of the clip. The fit is too close, approach angle is too steep and clip internal spring force is just too high. Trust me when I say it will be difficult getting the broken knife tip back out of the groove! Another Tip: If you loose the c-clip, don’t try to substitute an e-clip unless you find one that is the 
The clip is under slight compression force from the spring and clip washer below it. So, catching both tips at the same time with a tool is tricky, and you can damage the washer and spring if not careful. But it can be done, as long as you aren’t concerned about the attempt-to-success ratio! A Hint: Moving the washer and spring out of the way will help. I realized the advantage of doing this very early on, but struggled finding “just the right things” that also still allowed full access to the clip….
Lastly, when you get the clip part of the way out of the collar – stand by…. The clip internal spring force can cause it to “pop-out” and escape all the tools you have crammed inside the inductor! Yep, you guessed it; getting lost amongst the rest of the junk circling the plant! A Big Tip: Unfortunately, you can’t let that happen since it is a key component needed for reassembly; 
The light eventually went off, in the process of trying various tools, devices and methods to remove the clip! I found that I had best success putting more effort into relaxing the internal spring force of the clip, while also putting less effort into pushing it out of the groove. In other words, “brute force” would work; but you don’t need to use nearly as much, if you also relaxed the c-clip at the same time! 
Rotate the clip so the open tips are lined up with the opening at the end of the crow foot, and with both facing 
Use your thumb on the hand holding the spool, to also press down on the top of the compression tool, so the washer and spring are fully compressed. (No need to go overboard with the pressing, you just want to establish plenty of room between the top washer and the clip.) As you do this, try to cover the area between the inside of the inductor and side of the spool tip with the bottom of your thumb, 
Start the end of the plucker into the inductor. While keeping the plucker parallel with the spool shaft, slightly open it, so the 
Braking components are free to come off the spool shaft once the clip has been removed. So refer to the schematic for your reel, to get familiar with the individual components, configuration and orientation as you remove them.
I use tweezers when I remove the braking components from the spool. My crippled old fingers just don’t work as well as they once did – and some parts are very small and too easy to drop.
Be sure the tapered sides of the spool tabs are oriented in the insulator, so they make proper contact with the side of the spool or tapered ring. [The picture to the left shows how the tabs mount in the insulator, in case you have a doubt.] You can reinstall braking components on some spools, with these tabs upside down, and the braking system won’t work at all!
Although reinstalling the c-clip is not nearly as difficult as removing it, the process does require a steady hand and a little dexterity. So, I use tweezers or long nose pliers to place the clip tips into the groove before pressing it in. There should be plenty of room to do this with the compression tool installed on the spool.
A Tip: Rub/lay the clip on a NIB magnet for a few minutes, so it becomes slightly magnetized. The tips of the clip will remain in the groove and the clip won’t roll off the spool shaft nearly as easily. Another Tip: Resist the urge to use a tiny dab of grease, drop of oil, adhesive, etc. to restrain the clip. It could be difficult to clean-off and just may migrate down the spool shaft, and affect the proper movement of the insulator/inductor. A drop of water placed on the groove with a fingertip will work better than nothing; as long as you don’t drink a lot of caffeine that morning!
If you’re content using other tools, methods, etc. to disassemble your Daiwa spool, far be it from me to get you to change. I know there are other ways to get it done (been there and done most), and that’s great! I admit I still haven’t found “The Holy Grail” when it comes to spool tools; but I think I’m getting closer!
Once you get the hang of working on the spool, things do get easier. Unfortunately, that’s also the most likely time you can become too casual or complacent about things, and get careless – just like I did with the +R spool. I’m also sure over-confidence, distractions and poor judgment were contributing factors.
If you work on many reels, it won’t take long before you realize that the tools you use can have a direct influence on the final outcome. Simply put, wrong tools can result in damaged parts, lost time and frustration. Right tools can result in a reel that’s in much better condition than before, minimal effort and satisfaction from completing a professional job! No secret here; it’s a fundamental view shared by many reel techs, and the topic gets plenty of focus at most industrial assembly and maintenance-repair facilities.
You might also need a ¼” and 3/8” slot blade screwdriver for some reels. However, the screws you’ll us them on are not nearly as critical or as difficult to remove, so standard harder-tipped screwdrivers should be fine. I happen to use Stanley or Cobalt screwdrivers that I got at Menards, there’s nothing special about them.
Almost all of my pliers also have smooth or satin finished inside tips, which allow you to firmly grasp a part or component, while reducing the potential for surface blemishes or other damage. In fact, I try to minimize the use of serrated tipped pliers at my workbench, whenever I can.
wide as an adult brush, which makes it a little easier to use on pinion gears. (Over the years I’ve also used stiff-bristled acid, flux and small glue brushes.) Just work the brush into the bottom of the gear teeth and cover the entire circumference of the gear.
Craftsman has a 6 piece Needle File set that comes in handy for knocking down a burr, dressing up the knurled end of a pin, smoothing a sharp edge, etc. The set occasionally goes on sale at Sears and includes #0 needle cut, flat, round, half-round, 3-square and square files(Craftsman #06757). However, I’ve also seen similar files on Amazon, in Home Depot and some hobby shops for a little less. They look almost the same as the Craftsman, but also come in other styles and larger sizes.
Tweezers come in handy for grasping and mounting the end of smaller springs and clips, positioning components in difficult locations, and removing parts from your solvent or cleaning solution. You want a set with a tip that is small enough to get into tighter locations, yet is sturdy enough to grasp and hold the end of a spring as you attach it. [For stronger or heavier springs you’ll probably use a pair of bent or needle nose pliers.]
You’ll need some reel oil and grease; which can be a blog topic of its own. I suggest you search the 
If you fish in salt or brackish water, you may also want to use corrosion inhibitors like Beoshield, Reel-X or CorrosionX. In fact, the lubricants that you may want to use and how you use them may be entirely different for salt/brackish water, when compared to fresh water.
Although not necessarily required when first starting, you probably will eventually need a caliper, especially if you do a lot of modding or troubleshooting. A caliper can be used to measure the size of bearings, diameter of washers, height of a drag stack, etc.
At one time I could see the leg hairs on a horse-fly at 100 yards, but alas, that’s not the case anymore. So, I find myself wearing magnifying glasses or a jeweler’s head visor more often, than in the past. Although not required, I admit that they can make life easy at times.
You may want to use a solvent for cleaning 
quickly penetrates and breaks down Cal’s and Shimano drag grease, and frees debris and wear products from the fiber. Just swirl them around in a sealed jelly jar and let them completely dry before adding a light coat of drag grease.
sealed jar also reduces the time required for cleaning. Jelly jars work great, and you can even get them in miniature sizes for smaller parts like bearings. Just dispose of them if the seal leaks or gets damaged. A Tip: Change the solvent whenever it becomes discolored or cloudy to the point that you can’t see your parts in the jar, and always try to finish cleaning in a jar of clear solvent.
I usually just lay my parts out on the towel as I work on a reel, since I won’t have it disassembled that long anyway, and my workshop is my “Man Cave” [e.g. it’s off limits and doesn’t get disturbed]. However, I typically put the parts in a white ice cube tray and set it aside, if I do need to leave one disassembled for a while. Some Tips: White ice cube trays allow you to see the smaller parts better under typical lighting, when compared to colored trays. It’s also easier to remove small clips, screws and springs from trays that have rounded bottoms for each ice cube. You can number the slots on the tray and sequentially put each part in a slot while disassembling the reel; and work your way backwards when re-assembling the reel. Lastly, you might be able to use the bottom of a cardboard or Styrofoam egg carton to hold your components, although I’ve found they aren’t very durable and are easy to flip over.
Don’t forget that you’ll need the schematic for your reel(s). Many reels come with one or you may be able to find it on the net. I put them in vinyl sleeves that fit in a 3-ring binder, so I don’t need to look for them the next time I work on a reel.
By The Way: How could you have a workbench without Ms Casey and friends being there to help keep track of important dates and to brighten things up? I have my 
Nobody likes a “jerky” bait caster drag! You know, one that randomly pukes out line in pulses instead of being smooth like a Cuban cigar! Or what about a drag that you have to crank down with a cheater-bar just to get it to hold; worn and tired out for sure? Then there’s the drag you can’t trust, one that won’t play line when you know you’ll need it; probably contaminated with oil, dirt or debris. And last but not least, the worst of the worst; how about the Hot N’ Cold drag! One minute its working fine and then the next it won’t hold – someone call the doctor, got a case of drag bi-polar …it just might be the Phantom Drag!
I dealt with my lead core line problem by coating the bottom of the spools with a thin layer of Plasti Dip. (I wanted a more-permanent fix since the rods weren’t used that often, and the smaller spools needed to be filled with as much lead core as possible.) Once dry, the layer provided sufficient friction to keep the line from slipping on the spool when wet or dry, hot and cold, etc. [Plasti Dip is a coating material used to rubberize handles on pliers, screw drivers, etc. It can be found at Home Depot, Lowes, Menards and other hardware stores. A Tip: To get the best coating make sure what ever you put it on is free of any moisture, wax, oil and debris. I cleaned the bottom of the spool with a rag that I had dipped in a solvent, and let it dry before brushing on the Plasti Dip.]
Spool bearing upgrades are probably the most common modification that Tackle Tour baitcast owners make on their reels, and it’s a frequent topic on the forum. That shouldn’t be surprising, since bearing upgrades have become a quick way to achieve a little better casting performance (although some make them for other reasons). One thing for sure, hardly a day goes by when you don’t see someone mention bearing upgrades in the Maintenance, Show & Tell, Reels or Enthusiast Sections of the forum!
You’ll need a few tools and consumables to do the job correctly:
Side Note: I didn’t ’sugarcoat’ any of the previous points, since you need to be aware of the obvious risks, pitfalls and potential problems involved in removing the spool pin. (Be assured that it was not an attempt to scare you away from replacing your own bearings.) In fact, the vast majority of ‘first timers’ do extremely well – if they have the right tools, take their time, and seek advice when they have a problem or question. [However, there are many good reel techs available to do the work should you find you don't have the resources, mechanical skills, inclination or patience; and there's nothing wrong with that!] Lastly, if you find you are getting in trouble the best suggestion I can give is to stop – since things can go down-hill quickly! 
Some members have also reported good success in using a pair of coil crimping pliers as shown in the adjacent picture. The groove on one tip will accept the pin, as it is pushed flush with the side of the spool, by the other tip. However I never have used a pair myself, so can’t offer any specific guidance, suggestions, or information on where to even get them.
1. Back-off Spool Tension: Reduce spool tension until force from the pinion under the tension knob no longer acts on the palm plate. This is an important habit to establish when ever you remove the palm plate on a Daiwa reel – since you can damage the palm plate.
20. Reinstall the spool and side plate: Reinstall the spool, side plate and lock it in place with the plate screw. (Reversing the process described in Steps 1 thru 4.)
The efficiency of just about any cleaning solution can be improved by using an ultrasonic. Not only will it save time and take less effort, but it will also do a better job at cleaning. Ultrasonic cavitation will usually occur inside cracks, blind holes, at joints, and inside screw holes; that otherwise might not have gotten clean. In addition, you won’t need to use an aggressive chemical to get the surface “metal clean” in an ultrasonic, if properly-sized, operated at the correct temperature, ideal solution, etc. The picture at the left shows an Alphas Ito aluminum frame that just came out of the cleaner; it’s as bright and shiny as the first day I got it (even though it’s been cleaned 6 times and used for over 600 hours on the water).
In theory, distilled water might work as the cleaning solution for reels in an ultrasonic cleaner. However, I’ve tried it a few times on some old frames and handle plates, and the results were not very good. Not only did it take significantly longer to clean the components, but I never felt they were as clean as they could have been by using an actual cleaning solution. The surfaces didn’t look “metal clean” and felt like they still had trace amounts of oil on them (a waxy look and feel). I even tried increasing the temperature of the bath up to 75° C and still wasn’t happy with the results. [But I had to give it a try!!!]
2. Remove the bearing – Once the clip is removed the bearing is free to come out of its socket. However, sometimes the bearing will tilt and become stuck in the socket. If this occurs, just lightly tap around the top of the outer race to reposition the bearing and then pull it out. In addition, stray static magnetic force can hold the bearing in the socket as it begins to clear the top of the inner ring. So, gently grab it with a pair of tweezers or a small pick to get it the rest of the way out. I do not suggest tapping the palm plate on an open palm, because the bearing can fly out of the socket. If it hits a hard surface it can be damaged.
4. Remove the ceramic plate – The ceramic plate sits loosely in the bearing socket. So, use a small pick or screwdriver to move it out while the palm plate is tipped on its side. I typically catch enough of it so I can flip it on a side and grab it; but exercise care, because it can be scratched, chipped or even crack if you try to pry it out. (You might even damage the coating on the metal bearing socket if you try to pry the plate out.) Sometimes oil will cause the shim beneath it to adhere to the plate, so just remove both together if this is the case.
5. Remove the remaining shim(s) - The brass shim sits loosely on top of the screw in the bearing socket. Sometimes the shim will be copper or there may even be a couple stainless steel shims like on some of the early TD-Xs – so consult your schematic for your exact arrangement! If you tilt the palm plate over the shim(s) will usually fall out of the bearing socket, just don’t loose or bend them.
6. Remove the Set Plate Screw(s) – Use a screwdriver to remove the set plate screws. Some screws will require a Philips head screwdriver and others may require a flat blade, depending on the reel.
7. Remove the magnet holder retainer - This step may not be required, depending on the condition of the magnet set plate and magnet holder. A reel that has seen a lot of braking adjustment may be loose enough that the set plate and holder will easily disengage from the gear teeth in the knob, and they can be removed together with the retainer in place. If you are unsure about the condition of your set plate/holder, then it’s probably best to just remove the retainer – the magnets will typically stay in position because unlike poles are opposite each other. [You'll notice in the picture below that the polarization marks haven't moved and are still aligned with each other.]
8. Remove the set plate & magnet holder - The magnet holder has gear teeth on one side, that engage with the gear teeth on the bottom of the adjustment knob. Usually it will just lift off the palm plate, but sometimes you need to slightly-tilt the set plate/magnet holder so the teeth disengage. Resist any urge to rotate the set plate/magnet holder to remove them; the set plate is still engaged in 2 tabs beneath it! These tabs prevent rotation of the set plate while the palm plate is being removed from the reel, and they can easily crack on some palm plate material. The tabs can bind on some reels, so just take your time and don’t force anything.
Note: The picture to the left shows the exposed palm plate. The curved arrows identify where the screws thread into the palm plate. Although the excess material around the screw holes seems robust, the material can still be stripped or even crack!
9. Remove the brake knob retainer – The brake knob retainer is held in place by the small post that is molded on the palm plate, which fits into the hole in the retainer. To remove it, just slide the end of a thin screwdriver under the edge that faces away from the knob.
10. Remove the brake adjustment knob - Most of the time the brake knob will fall out once the knob retainer is removed. You might find a small loose washer on the screw [brake dial washer], so ensure it doesn’t get lost – consult your schematic. [The washer sets between the palm plate and the bottom of the knob on some models, on the palm plate screw itself.]
I thought I’d spend a little time discussing spool tension and magnetic braking. The relationship between the two has stumped many new bait cast reel owners over the years, and making adjustments on-the-water can even cause a veteran caster to wonder at times. In addition, when you consider spool tension components can wear and need servicing just like others in the reel, someday you might find “the mag winch” just isn’t responding the way it once did at preventing backlash.
The most likely time a backlash occurs is when an angler tries to “eek” out a little extra distance from his cast. [I'm sure we've all had this happen to us at least once or twice while out on the water?] Without knowing it, you can apply enough force on the rod (and lure), to exceed the braking capabilities setup on the reel. So, a backlash occurs unless you readjust the reel ahead of time or feather the spool with a thumb.
Let’s face it; some magnetic braking systems are not as resilient as others, so maximum counter-torque and responsiveness can vary from one brand or model to the next. Because of that, spool tension will usually need to be adjusted to keep magnetic braking within a usable range. Spool tension and magnetic braking may also need to be rebalanced if you use a trained thumb to feather the spool during the cast. (The more you use a reel and “educate your thumb”, the fewer adjustments you’ll need to make, and the better the reel will perform.) Lastly, characteristics of the rod, your casting style, effort you put into your casts, the lure, and other factors previously described can all influence final reel settings. What you are ideally striving for is:
The important thing to remember is that spool tension components will require maintenance, just like other parts in the reel. For example, shims and washers can scratch or dimple; disks can crack or wear; and the spool shaft tips that they contact can become scored, blemished or affected by corrosion. So, all will likely require some amount of periodic cleaning, lubrication and replacement to ensure consist performance. Excess noise, vibration, loss of tension adjustment range, and erratic operation may result when the components need service.
Daiwa’s Magforce® braking designs have been around for over 25 years now and first appeared in the Procaster PMF1000. It has essentially been used in all Daiwa bass reel designs featuring magnetic backlash control since 1982.
The early Daiwa mag casters used individual button magnets to provide the magnetic flux that induced braking torque on the inductor. The use of small SmCo magnets provided significant design flexibility; they were relatively easy to mount, plentiful and provide an abundance of magnetic flux for braking.
There are also 4 magnets mounted in the center ring as shown in the left side of the picture to the left. Magnets also alternate between North Poles and South Poles, but the painted poles face toward the inductor, covering 240° of the outer circumference. There are also 2 empty magnet locations on the inner ring; but they are only aligned with the 2 empty magnet locations on the outer ring when the brake adjustment knob is set for minimum braking. (We’ll get to what happens to the position of the outer ring and its empty slots, shortly.)
All buttons in both plates are glued in position in the plastic spacers. Notice that there is also a shield located on the outside of the outer ring and another around the bearing socket itself (shiny silver rings shown in the pictures). The shield around the bearing helps prevent the bearing from being affected by the strong magnet flux produced by the inner ring SmCo magnets; and both shields help improve close-coupling between the magnets on each respective ring, by redirecting return flux.
The inner spacer (and its magnets), can sometimes shift position around the bearing shield. When this occurs you’ll likely notice that braking is no longer adjustable – essentially always at maximum braking regardless of what the knob indicates. So, carefully remove the inner spacer (try not to knock any magnets loose or damage the glue), put a very light film of super glue on its inner circumference and slip it back over the shield. Just make sure the knob is set for maximum braking, and align the yellow/blue magnet faces as indicated in the sketch above. Once dry, it will stay in position.
Around the time of the TD-X Supertune and TD-S, Daiwa began using 2 specially magnetized rings, instead of rings made from individual SmCo button magnets like in earlier reels. (The same rings are used in the TD-Z, Alphas, Fuego and many other subsequent models.) Although the new rings were generally the same physical size as the early rings, they are uniquely different.
An Aside: It may be hard to visualize having two magnetic poles on the same surface/side of a magnet (or adjacent to each other), probably because you are most familiar with button or bar magnets. (Buttons and bars typically have a pole on opposite ends of its surface.) However, think about an Alnico horseshoe magnet that has the magnetic poles almost touching each other – both essentially on the same side, and adjacent to each other.
Early NIB materials sometimes had internal weaknesses; and under the stress of magnetization, they would shatter or lose pieces from the surface that would be violently ejected. This had to do with the characteristics of the material itself, how it was fabricated, and need for extremely precise high-flux magnetizing fixtures required to super-saturate the NIB. As a result, NIB materials could not be magnetized in special pole arrangements and patterns until the late-1990’s.
Maintenance Notes: Although the plating on the new rings is quite durable, if you happen to gouge or chip the finish (or even chip an edge of a ring itself), you have a problem. Nickel plated finishes are difficult to repair (and reseal), especially when applied over some substrate materials like silicon-iron, magnet alloys, and even existing plating itself. Small bottles of an activator and brush plating are available, but they are not usually sold in retail markets. Larger-scale plating kits are also available, but they aren’t meant for touching up small areas or to restore a hermetic seal. So the best thing to do is to exercise caution and prevent damage from occurring in the first place!
How can you do a good job of covering magnetic braked reels, without touching on a little history? So I thought I’d diverge a bit from the “technical Dark Side”, and share some impressions, thoughts and information from a historical perspective. Just remember, I’m no authoritarian when it comes to older reels; heck, I can’t even remember what ever happened to my Mag Procaster I got 25 years ago!. However, I have spent a lot of time during the past four winters surfing the web, going through old fishing magazines, and even looking through patents. I’ve also been fortunate to periodically exchange email and PM’s with a few collectors!
The first magnetic braked fishing reel was actually made by the Horton Mfg. Co. of Bristol Conn. It was called the Electromatic and came out in 1948, even though the braking system was patented years earlier. However, the reel was only a moderate success – probably because it was relatively expensive and had to compete against newly designed spinning reels of the time.
In the case of our reels, many patents are originally written in another language, and the translation into English is not always “favorable”. So the net effect is that you need to diligently study them in order to gain a firm technical understanding. I went through three boxes of computer paper….
Here’s some tips from my latest experience in searching patents, should you ever decide to go that route. I’ve found that when I am looking for an invention and don’t have any specific data (patent no., inventor, issue date, etc.), it’s much faster if I start with one of the free patent search engines. Sites like Google Patents and freepatentsonline.com seem better integrated and are much easier to use than most government patent office websites. If you are going to do a lot of research, the plain text formats come in handy, so you can cut and paste information into your own word processor or spread sheet. In addition, they usually provide direct links to related patents that you can follow. Just be aware of this because it’s easy to also “get lost along the way”, should you have started off by looking for something specific. …my list of favorites quickly grew out of hand as I bookmarked page after page.
Here’s an exercise to see how easy it can be going this route; go to 
Daiwa did beat Shimano by about a year from a US product release standpoint. (In case you enthusiast types are wondering, I can’t really say what happened in the JDM or international markets.) Daiwa came out with their US Magforce Procaster Lite series, and the PMF-1500 and PMF-1000 are shown in their 1982 catalog. [Even though Bass Pro Shop did not list them until 1983.] Shimano released their Bantam Mag series and Abu-Garcia released the Ultra-Mag1 series in 1983. All three of the manufacturers designs used the latest rare-earth magnets, just in a different configuration. Ryobi and Lew’s also produced reels with magnetic anti-backlash systems that year. In all likelihood, they’d been developing magnetic braked reels at the same time. So, 1983 is considered by many to be “The Year of the Magnet”.
