Delaware Valley Tackle

Check the spacer on the palm side under the bearing.

If you’ve had the cap off you may have lost spacers. If the cap was too tight for too long the spacer may be dimpled. You can flip it over to get some more life out of it.

If you feel the need to spool up with 10-12# mono a large arbor reel helps with casting and line management. With light braid on spinning being all the rage I’d pass in favor of a lighter reel.

This is a good leader knot but won’t work for line to line

I think there’s more at play here than line lay. I don’t think shims are the answer, at least not completely. I’d definitely tighten it up in the spool and try to keep some tension when retrieving. Ripping the light baits in might be throwing enough slack into the line to cause those loose loops.

Blasphemy!!

You were looking at a kit. You can buy just the blank. I consider the K2 a high end blank and have built some nice rods on them. Since they are a rod company they need to protect their rod prices when they price blanks muck like St Croix did. Bottom line is nice blanks but higher price than some comparable.

Right, I just don’t think the light gears are defective, just a trait some find annoying. I’d lean toward just buying a reel with brass gears to begin If I was that concerned but different strokes!

There’s no actual problem with the gears as far as I’ve seen. Some people just don’t like the inevitable sound and feel resulting from the light weight.

Just small stuff. The release for the left side plate and DC unit are hidden and not intuitive. Of course the manual is in Japanese that’s no help except for pictures that eventually saved the day. The crank shaft and level wind are attached to a shared plate. The e clips are extra small but tight. Just stupid stuff but when you’re under the gun any delay no matter how slight gets to ya.

I did two JDM Conquests yesterday and still traumatized. lol

Very nice. Congratulations

You know in today’s tide pod challenge world you’re opening yourself up with advice like this.

Simply flush the unit, swab rollers with light oil and replace. Make the the sleeve is right side up (wide top)and that if the schematic shows a collar on the actuator of the on/off that it’s present.

Only thing to add to this is that they are smooth. Something owners of “modern” reels chase through gear swaps, bearing changes, heavy grease....

I get $26.95 for Deep Cleaning (full frame off tear down) and now offer an Econo Service for $18 (flush and oil spool bearings, oil and grease reel as needed) postage averages $8 depending on weight, distance and insurance chosen.

Flush and oil the stock bearings before scrapping them. The difference new bearings make after that is much less significant. The Carbontex drag is always a good bet. I can hook you up if you want.

Excluding a bad AR clutch, back play is due to the fit of the sleeve on the shaft or in the key washer depending on make and model.

The smallest one looks like a contender as a flipping or frog reel. The others maybe a swim bait reel. The big ones are aimed at saltwater users I’d think.

Sure thing. Get it in as soon as possible. I’m doing OT to get everyone on the water.

Looks like a lot of reel for the $. Built like a tank from the description.

Not personally, just what I’ve seen surfing around.

Everything I’ve ever seen is north of $150. I’ve worked on a few painted reels and could always feel a difference when assembling. Not that it hurt anything performance wise.

The alloy gears are actually harder than brass but the hardness and light weight lend to sound and vibration some find off putting. The hard alloy can be brittle if the reel is cranked hard under load it might be an issue. If the rod is used to move the fish and reel to take up slack no problem.

Take your time and set aside time to complete the job in one sitting. An hr to two depending how far into it you’re going.