I own two Curado K's but they feel different

[pauldconyers]

I own two Curado K reels, one is the 6 speed and the other is the 8. I bought both brand new and were delivered in completely sealed boxes and had no sign of ever being tampered with. Anyway, the 6 is like INSANELY buttery smooth. I can sit there reeling something back and feel like there is no resistance whatsoever it is so smooth. The 8 feels much more "normal" as to what I would expect. With both reels in my hand and no line on the spool (and the same settings with the spool tension, brakes and drag) I can spin the handles of the 6 a few times and pull my hand off it and it will continue to spin freely for a long time but with the 8 it is by no means problematic but certainly not as smooth and free spinning as the 6. Is there some simple adjustment or specific spot I could add oil to to make the 8 perform like the 6?

[scbassin]

Shimano sometimes over grease their reels. It might need a cleaning & a relube.

[Hammer 4]

2 minutes ago, scbassin said:

Shimano sometimes over grease their reels. It might need a cleaning & a relube.

Yep, I bought a new Citica, and it had so much grease on the line guide, well in fact almost every moving part. Cleaned it all up, then oiled it, now it's pretty smooth.

[basser27]

34 minutes ago, pauldconyers said:

I own two Curado K reels, one is the 6 speed and the other is the 8. I bought both brand new and were delivered in completely sealed boxes and had no sign of ever being tampered with. Anyway, the 6 is like INSANELY buttery smooth. I can sit there reeling something back and feel like there is no resistance whatsoever it is so smooth. The 8 feels much more "normal" as to what I would expect. With both reels in my hand and no line on the spool (and the same settings with the spool tension, brakes and drag) I can spin the handles of the 6 a few times and pull my hand off it and it will continue to spin freely for a long time but with the 8 it is by no means problematic but certainly not as smooth and free spinning as the 6. Is there some simple adjustment or specific spot I could add oil to to make the 8 perform like the 6?

This happened with two fuego CT’s I bought. I bought a 7 speed and 8 speed. The 7 was buttery smooth but the 8 felt less smooth. I just dealt with it, never knew what the problem was. Must be quality control issues 

[Hammer 4]

Just now, basser27 said:

This happened with two fuego CT’s I bought. I bought a 7 speed and 8 speed. The 7 was buttery smooth but the 8 felt less smooth. I just dealt with it, never knew what the problem was. Must be quality control issues 

Not to get OT, but all my Diawa reels, the Fuego included have been the smoothest reels I've bought. But when humans are involved your bound to get someone that missed something..

[Tywithay]

I've found larger gears to not be as smooth in general. I think it's part of the territory. I've also had issues with the Shimano pinion bearings being dirty, not lubed, or just not good quality, and they make the reel feel like it's lightly grinding. 

[waymont]

I have three Curado K reels, and notice this too. The two 6 speed reels are buttery smooth, and the 7 speed has a rougher feel. It would seem the higher ratios aren't as smooth. Can anyone else confirm this?

[Reel]

It's easy for the grease to get into the smaller teeth of high ratio gears.  With use or a cleaning, this goes away.  Reels with ''crude'' gears or not enough lube may not be ''smooth'' for long.

[johnD.]

8:1 ratio reels don't stay smooth for very long with hard use.

[TBAG]

Yeah, my 6 speed K's are smoother than my HG or XG K's.

[pauldconyers]

So is there something I can do?

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

It’s not uncommon at all for reels (Or other mechanical devices) of the same model to feel slightly different. Each reel has its own personality to some point. Minute differences in lube amount and location, manufacturing tolerances, amount of use etc. after a season of use and deep cleaning neither will feel the same as they did out of the box either. The depth of teeth in gears of different ration aren’t different at least not noticeably to the naked eye. My advice to just fish them both hard and get them deep cleaned in the off season. 

[pauldconyers]

10 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

It’s not uncommon at all for reels (Or other mechanical devices) of the same model to feel slightly different. Each reel has its own personality to some point. Minute differences in lube amount and location, manufacturing tolerances, amount of use etc. after a season of use and deep cleaning neither will feel the same as they did out of the box either. The depth of teeth in gears of different ration aren’t different at least not noticeably to the naked eye. My advice to just fish them both hard and get them deep cleaned in the off season. 

The plan was to take your advice and send them to you in the off season. I know you recommend to "fish them hard" but if one of them only gets fished 10 times or so this year can I still send it to you when the time comes?

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Sure. The point is just to rule out any warranty issues. 

[pauldconyers]

1 minute ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Sure. The point is just to rule out any warranty issues. 

Yeah, I don't think there is anything "wrong" with it. It is just that it does not feel the same as the other. You'll certainly hear from me this winter.

[billjaco]

When I get a new reel, after adding a drop of oil to the bearings, I tie a 3/4 Rattle Trap on a long rod and head for a pond down the road. After making the correct reel adjustments for the lure, about an hour of continuous casting and rapid retrieves will result in increased reel smoothness and lure distance.

 

This break-in period seems to loosen up any excess grease while getting you familiar with how the reel performs. 

[OnthePotomac]

On 4/28/2020 at 7:52 AM, johnD. said:

8:1 ratio reels don't stay smooth for very long with hard use.

Don't agree. I have three K 8.5:1 reels and keep the micro drive gear lubed with either Shimano, or Cal's drag grease and they remain very smooth at three years old.  I do my own reels.  The finer the teeth on your drive gear, the heavier the grease needed.

On 4/29/2020 at 12:47 AM, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

It’s not uncommon at all for reels (Or other mechanical devices) of the same model to feel slightly different. Each reel has its own personality to some point. Minute differences in lube amount and location, manufacturing tolerances, amount of use etc. after a season of use and deep cleaning neither will feel the same as they did out of the box either. The depth of teeth in gears of different ration aren’t different at least not noticeably to the naked eye. My advice to just fish them both hard and get them deep cleaned in the off season. 

How true.  I have three Curado 200E7's and one of the three is like a different reel (all purchased within 90 days) 10 years ago  Throw the same bait on all three and the one reel will spool itself.  go figure.  All three meticulously maintained well by me.  I call it my super reel.