Super User Goose52 Posted January 31, 2014 Super User Posted January 31, 2014 Pulled the spool on a recently acquired JDM 100XT and discovered this "Ambassadeur-esque" two-pin system with non-captive brake collars. I was expecting a typical 6-pin system with captive collars. I have a couple 50XTs and they have 6-pin systems. Question: Is this system typical/standard on early Calcuttas? OR, is this some custom system the previous owner in Japan installed? The black plastic hub has positions for six pins...but only two are present. Any info? Thanks ! 1 Quote
Super User .RM. Posted January 31, 2014 Super User Posted January 31, 2014 From my experiance... That is a standard centrifical brake hub. It looks to me like the pins have been removed. The inner ring can come lose and cause the pins to come out also... Tight Lines! Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 1, 2014 Author Super User Posted February 1, 2014 From my experiance... That is a standard centrifical brake hub. It looks to me like the pins have been removed. The inner ring can come lose and cause the pins to come out also... Tight Lines! Thanks .RM. ! I pulled the spool and got a magnifying glass and examined the hub. You can see grinding marks where all six of the "wings" on the hub (that secure/lock the brake collars) have been removed. At one time, this was a standard hub as shown in the photo below of a 50XT spool. Good grief - redneck tinkering in Japan. The PO must have thought: "I'm only going to use two brakes anyway...might as well shave some spool weight and get rid of all the stuff I don't need !" Well, I usually only set two brakes myself although I might have to play with some different weight brake collars. Still a nifty reel ! Quote
Super User .RM. Posted February 1, 2014 Super User Posted February 1, 2014 The only bad problem with that is to get a fully functional hub you would have to get a complete spool assy.. Good Luck & Tight Lines! Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted February 1, 2014 Super User Posted February 1, 2014 That's an interesting Mod. If you do get a new spool, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the performance difference between the two, if any. You may have stumbled across the newest rage in mods . . . . A-Jay Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 1, 2014 Author Super User Posted February 1, 2014 The only bad problem with that is to get a fully functional hub you would have to get a complete spool assy.. Good Luck & Tight Lines! Indeed. I looked at Shimano's parts listings to see if that hub was available separately and it isn't (at least for a USDM Calcutta 100B). Regarding a new spool, not sure the USDM 100B spool would even plug into a JDM 100XT. I only paid $130 (shipped from Japan) for this XT and I don't really want to put more money into it. I think I'll just play with this system. I just cleaned it and will now have to wait for soft water (and a warm thumb) to check out the performance with these brake collars. If I think I'm "overbraked" - I can always try some lighter collars. That's an interesting Mod. If you do get a new spool, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the performance difference between the two, if any. You may have stumbled across the newest rage in mods . . . . A-Jay Yikes - I can picture it - people firing up their Dremel tools (otherwise known as "fully-automatic assault files") and cutting down their brake hubs... 1 Quote
John G Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 Hedgehog Studios list the Calcutta XT and 05' Calcutta as having the same spool I believe. I just checked Plat and they show a 05 Calcutta 100 spool for about $53.00. I know that you said that you don't want to put any more money into but it's nice to have the info anyway IMHO. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 1, 2014 Author Super User Posted February 1, 2014 Hedgehog Studios list the Calcutta XT and 05' Calcutta as having the same spool I believe. I just checked Plat and they show a 05 Calcutta 100 spool for about $53.00. I know that you said that you don't want to put any more money into but it's nice to have the info anyway IMHO. Thanks for the info! I didn't bother to check the spool availability from JDM sources - I knew it would be a bit spendy. XTs are fun to play with at the price I got it for....but if you put too much money into an XT, you could have got a used Conquest instead. I did put a stock Calcutta 100B handle on this XT so I'm into it for about $145 total - that's about the upper limit I want to go. Still, a bullet-proof all-aluminum reel, in good shape (a little rash but who cares), 21" IPT. It's a nifty cranking reel for only $145... The only other upgrade I'd consider would be carbontex drag washers but that's a nice-to-have...not a need-to-have. 1 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted February 1, 2014 Super User Posted February 1, 2014 This whole thread is going away when the new 2014 conquest shows up at your door. 1 Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 1, 2014 Author Super User Posted February 1, 2014 This whole thread is going away when the new 2014 conquest shows up at your door. I'll just have to try to spread "the love" amongst the whole Calcutta squadron...but that CQ2014 might get a bit extra love at first... 1 Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 9, 2014 Author Super User Posted February 9, 2014 I just cleaned it and will now have to wait for soft water (and a warm thumb) to check out the performance with these brake collars. If I think I'm "overbraked" - I can always try some lighter collars. For those that were interested, finally got this reel on the water today. With a 5/8oz bait, the reel is overbraked in it's current configuration. The gray brake collars that came with the reel are Shimano's "heavy" collars - too much braking. Tried a single gray collar - JUST manageable but perhaps too much potential for professional overrun. Installed the Shimano "light" collars and got much better casting distance but still a tad overbraked; but a good conservative all-around set-up. At some point, I might fire up the Dremel and trim back a set of collars until I get just a BIT lighter than the stock Shimano collars and it should be about perfect. This is like the original two-pin Ambassadeur 5000 braking system - playing with different length/weight collars to get the desired braking... 1 Quote
Super User .RM. Posted February 9, 2014 Super User Posted February 9, 2014 Don't get your dremmel out yet... The Shimano brake collars come in 4 configurations... Smoke/Clear- LightestRed/Pink- LighterGreen- HeavierGrey- Heaviest US nib reels come stock with the red blocks and they add the greens to the box.. The JDM stock green blocks.... For what your trying to do sounds like you need the clear blocks... Good Luck & Tight Lines! Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 9, 2014 Author Super User Posted February 9, 2014 Hey .RM. - thanks for the info. I've seen that info on the brake collar colors before. Although it's near the limit of my scales sensitivity, I did weigh the collars I had on hand. The gray and green weighed the same - the reds were about 15% lighter. Then I measured the physical dimensions - the gray and green collars were dimensionally the same. The red collars were the same length as the gray/green collars, but were .008" smaller in diameter - hence the lighter weight. After doing all the above weighing and measuring, I Googled the topic and ended up at Shimano's FAQ page. This is what they say about the brake (they spell break!) collars: Why are there more than one color of break weights for my Baitcasting VBS system? Shimano makes two different break weights; Heavy (Black, Grey, or Green in color) and Light (Red, Blue, and Clear in color). Most of the new reels are shipped with the light break weights on the reel, and the heavy break weights in packaging in the box. If the light break weights don’t provide adequate spool stopping power, change them simply by pulling them off of the spool and replace them with the heavier weights. So, if I find any clear collars I'll give them a go...but according to Shimano they are the same as the reds I'm running now. Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted February 9, 2014 Super User Posted February 9, 2014 Goose it might be a case of that was then and this is now. The brake collars of a few years back might be different from the current ones. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted February 9, 2014 Author Super User Posted February 9, 2014 Could be - doesn't really matter though. It's casting reasonably well at the moment and I have extra red collars that I can trim if I want to try to lighten the braking up a bit... ...AND, as you mentioned earlier, this 100XT may be put on the back-burner after the 2014 CQ100 gets here... Quote
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