Bought my first Daiwa baitcaster.

[Darth-Baiter]

So I actually read the instructions.  (Tiny as heck font!).   I gathered you run the spool loose an these SV reels?  Instructions state to get the spool just moving/clicking side to side with the thumb bar clicked down. It actually stated the reel is set to spec out of the box.  Mine had lots of side to side movement.  Okay. I can do that.  But, this means I’m never doing that thing I’ve done from the beginning where I tie on my bait and let it free fall in a controlled manner?  My friend lets his bait hit water or his lawn and he wants zero over run when it hits the surface.    No matter how heavy or light, just leave the spool tension alone?  
 

instructions also state if I run the spool too tight the reel will develop a strange noise.  Haha. I can’t remember exact wording..but talk about vague.  
 

I should pull out my Shimano instructions and give them a once over. Haha.  I have a bad habit of foregoing instructions.  Learned it from Dad. 
 

I spooled up the reel yesterday. Just as soon as I get up and put on pants, I’ll go outside with a practice plug, and coffee. I had 50 lb powerPro so I used that. I may not stay with it. 

[Lead Head]

You got it. I usually keep mine tight enough that I can barely feel the spool wiggle and barely hear the click. SV spool, breaking, and thumb take care of the rest. These aren't typically the longest casting reels, but for me they are a hassle free pleasure to cast. They also skip incredibly well. 

 

After you get a feel for it you will probably be surprised by just how much you don't have to adjust the magnetic brakes when changing lures. 

[Revival]

 

[diehardbassfishing]

4 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

Instructions state to get the spool just moving/clicking side to side, and put on pants.

 

Something like that!

 

Karl

[txchaser]

10 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

No matter how heavy or light, just leave the spool tension alone?  

Except in some edge cases, yep. No fiddling with tension, internal magnets, etc. Just set the dial and go. 

The Sv's seem to prefer a smooth cast, something like 95% of my backlashes will be in the first 30 feet of flight.

For me, the right setting on the dial is where I get a little fluff mid-cast that works itself out by the end of the cast. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Only time I've backlashed my new Zillion SV TW is ironically when I don't have a lure on at all.   If I just cut a bait off and barely pull that naked line.....that reel will backlash every time.

 

First set and forget reel I've owned, I couldn't grasp the concept growing up using the drop test until it stops without backlashing.     That said, it's brillantly simple in execution.  Works just like that.....set, forget it, and use the dial for any adjustments besides a thumb 

[Darth-Baiter]

tried (for science) to run an FG knot thru the line guide on the reel.  no go.  hahaha.

 

its pretty tight of a space, even for an FG.  I will run straight braid for a spell and figure out where to go from there.   I can bump and grind a knot thru my Shimano okay.  

[Dash Riprock]

12 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

So I actually read the instructions.  (Tiny as heck font!).   I gathered you run the spool loose an these SV reels?  Instructions state to get the spool just moving/clicking side to side with the thumb bar clicked down. It actually stated the reel is set to spec out of the box.  Mine had lots of side to side movement.  Okay. I can do that.  But, this means I’m never doing that thing I’ve done from the beginning where I tie on my bait and let it free fall in a controlled manner?  My friend lets his bait hit water or his lawn and he wants zero over run when it hits the surface.    No matter how heavy or light, just leave the spool tension alone?  
 

I think so. I get confused about what is and is not an "SV" reel and how that does or does not correlate to the braking system (Magforce?), but yeah, my understanding is that you leave the spool tension alone and don't worry about that free fall thing.

 

I have an SV TW103 and all I do is occasionally tinker with the brake dial. It's pretty much idiot proof for me. It's a fantastic reel. Been fighting off the bait monkey for one of those JDM Zillions everybody here raves about which I think is the same system.

 

 

[5/0]

On 10/2/2022 at 7:30 AM, Darth-Baiter said:

instructions also state if I run the spool too tight the reel will develop a strange noise.  Haha. I can’t remember exact wording..but talk about vague.

This makes no sense! If set at factory and should not be tightened, then why have a spool tension knob at all.

[FrnkNsteen]

40 minutes ago, 5/0 said:

This makes no sense! If set at factory and should not be tightened, then why have a spool tension knob at all.

Because if you pull it apart to clean, or have to do any maintenance ( i.e. replace a bearing), you will have to reset the tension. They are just saying they initially set it for you.

 

Plus,.. Some people just have to mess with things. Tackle Advisors has a good video on the Zillion where one of the first things he says is that the first thing he does with the no-adjust tension is that he adjusts it!

[ScottW]

Maybe this is why I still prefer my spinning rods at times over my baitcasters ? Got too many birds living in their prefab homes!

[Tatulatard]

1 hour ago, 5/0 said:

This makes no sense! If set at factory and should not be tightened, then why have a spool tension knob at all.

To adjust for different spool lengths do to manufacturing tolerances or when spool swapping.  Also total newbies may need some spool tension as training wheels.  This isn't a zero adjust or even a diawa thing.  All my reels have basically no spool tension.  I set them that way and never touch the knob again.

[5/0]

2 hours ago, FrnkNsteen said:

Because if you pull it apart to clean, or have to do any maintenance ( i.e. replace a bearing), you will have to reset the tension. They are just saying they initially set it for you.

 

Plus,.. Some people just have to mess with things. Tackle Advisors has a good video on the Zillion where one of the first things he says is that the first thing he does with the no-adjust tension is that he adjusts it!

 

1 hour ago, Tatulatard said:

To adjust for different spool lengths do to manufacturing tolerances or when spool swapping.  Also total newbies may need some spool tension as training wheels.  This isn't a zero adjust or even a diawa thing.  All my reels have basically no spool tension.  I set them that way and never touch the knob again.

This makes sense.

[new2BC4bass]

22 hours ago, txchaser said:

Except in some edge cases, yep. No fiddling with tension, internal magnets, etc. Just set the dial and go. 

The Sv's seem to prefer a smooth cast, something like 95% of my backlashes will be in the first 30 feet of flight.

For me, the right setting on the dial is where I get a little fluff mid-cast that works itself out by the end of the cast. 

Finally.  Someone else that calls it 'fluff'. 

5 hours ago, 5/0 said:

This makes no sense! If set at factory and should not be tightened, then why have a spool tension knob at all.

One of the first reels I sent out for cleaning was the TD Fuego.  I didn't know about running the spool loose.  He told me my spool tension was too tight and being too tight could damage the plastic part under it.  True?  I don't know.   Don't like to tinker and always send my reels out for cleaning, repair or upgrades (other than changing spools).  My tension was so tight he couldn't cast a 1/4 oz. lure with it.

[5/0]

7 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

He told me my spool tension was too tight and being too tight could damage the plastic part under it.  True?  I don't know.

Yes the disk in the cap can dimple. I’ve had that happen, just flip it over. Since then I’ve not tightened it down excessively and will always back it off after each outing.

[Darth-Baiter]

yup.  a "sharp" sound.  Sharp?  probably lost in translation.

 

 

[Bankbeater]

I got my first Daiwa BC about 4 years ago.  I tried to adjust it like my Revo, and I couldn't get it.  I finally broke down and watched a YouTube video.

[new2BC4bass]

1 hour ago, Bankbeater said:

I got my first Daiwa BC about 4 years ago.  I tried to adjust it like my Revo, and I couldn't get it.  I finally broke down and watched a YouTube video.

I never watched any casting videos until after I was already comfortable with all my reels.  Wish I had.  Should have shortened my learning curve considerably.

[redmeansdistortion]

I don't think the factory has any specific settings they use.  Each one of my Daiwa SV reels, whether it was made in Japan or made in Thailand had varying degrees of lateral play.  My Millionaire CT SV had zero side play from the factory.  All three of my Alphas were different as well, even being the same model.  I set mine to where there's about 1mm of lateral play.  For what it's worth, the Millionaire may have been set that way due to the brake only being a 10 step vs the 20 step on the Alphas.

[FrnkNsteen]

11 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

  I set mine to where there's about 1mm of lateral play. 

Wow!! That's a lot of play. I set mine tighter than that. I slowly tighten mine little by little as I am clacking the spool side to side and stop when I can no longer detect movement.

 

If I were to guess, I'd say I am somewhere between 0.000" and 0.010" of movement. You can just barely see movement in the spool if looking at where the spool edge and frame meet. I don't want tension on the spool, but I don't want side to side slop in the spool either.

 

To each their own. This just works well for me.

[redmeansdistortion]

3 hours ago, FrnkNsteen said:

Wow!! That's a lot of play. I set mine tighter than that. I slowly tighten mine little by little as I am clacking the spool side to side and stop when I can no longer detect movement.

 

If I were to guess, I'd say I am somewhere between 0.000" and 0.010" of movement. You can just barely see movement in the spool if looking at where the spool edge and frame meet. I don't want tension on the spool, but I don't want side to side slop in the spool either.

 

To each their own. This just works well for me.

It is a lot lol.  One of my SV700S spools has the TD-Z Type R+ inductor spring plus an added shim and that thing will absolutely bomb anything from 1/8 on up.

[king fisher]

I set my reels as recommended in the instruction manual provided by the manufacturer.  Then I play with the brakes until I can cast effortlessly far enough to catch any fish that I am targeting.  

      After fishing with the reel, for awhile, and catching bass with absolutely zero difficulty, I always  decide to start backing the break off in order to get a few more feet of distance.  Even though  I already know the few extra feet, wont help me catch more or bigger bass.  I continue to back the breaks off until I get a grade 10 AA backlash.  I then spend the next 20 minuets of prime fishing time practicing, my already highly perfected back lash removal skills.  After once again proving my master angler untangling qualifications, I adjust the break back to a more conservative stetting's, and resume catching fish.  Why I always think I need to back the breaks off to the very edge of the casting cliff,  I can't say for sure.  Maybe it is the thrill of feeling the line start to explode while I adjust my thumb pressure successfully  avoiding disaster at the very last micro second. Most likely I just don't feel like I have had a complete day of fishing if I haven't had the pleasure of picking out a monster back lash.  I'm not really sure, but it happens so often, I don't foresee any behavioral change on my part.  Maybe a new reel will help?

 

 

[bulldog1935]

Very specifically, Daiwa intends Zero tension on the spool spindle, which is why they call it Zero Adjust.  1 mm side play is where I set all my CT surf reels. 

The measurement is not critical, simply the existence of Any discernible side play is critical. 

I tighten until I can't feel side play (spool must be in freespool).  Then I loosen to where I first notice side play. 

As far as casting distance goes, it should always be read as casting effort. 

A lower-effort cast is a more accurate and reliable cast.