Junk Fisherman Posted January 23 Posted January 23 I have a Tatula SVTW that has a bearing that has gone south on me so I am using this opportunity to upgrade the stock bearings. Are ceramic bearings still the best way to go? How do I go about finding the size I need and where is the best place to order from? I've had a reel bearings upgraded before so I want to try this one myself. Any advice is appreciated. 1 Quote
garroyo130 Posted January 23 Posted January 23 Are you looking to replace just the spool bearings? What bearings are we talking about? Quote
Super User bulldog1935 Posted January 23 Super User Posted January 23 I've had no troubles with hybrid-ceramic ABEC-7 from HPR Bearings. He has an ebay store and a website. If you contact him, he can put a full bearing kit together for you. If you need to measure indivdual bearings, digital calipers are really handy to measure shaft diameter, and bearing O.D. and thickness. Spool bearings are individual casting niche. I like unshielded and microbearings so I can pick my own oil, but here also, I'll go to a different source for micro spool bearings, e.g., Roro, KTF, Hedgehog. 3 Quote
newapti5 Posted January 23 Posted January 23 Boca bearing website has many fishing reels bearing sizes. For Tatulas, spool bearings are 3x8x4 and 3x10x4, and the pinion bearing is 8x12x3.5. These are the three bearings that often need change/upgrade. IMO ceramic bearings are good for performance and maintenance, but you're sacrificing quietness and smoothness. It's a trade-off, not an upgrade. 2 Quote
Junk Fisherman Posted January 23 Author Posted January 23 5 minutes ago, newapti5 said: Boca bearing website has many fishing reels bearing sizes. For Tatulas, spool bearings are 3x8x4 and 3x10x4, and the pinion bearing is 8x12x3.5. These are the three bearings that often need change/upgrade. IMO ceramic bearings are good for performance and maintenance, but you're sacrificing quietness and smoothness. It's a trade-off, not an upgrade. Good info- thanks. I had a Zillion's bearings upgraded to ceramic so I am comfortable with the extra noise. The performance definitely improved with the upgrade. 32 minutes ago, garroyo130 said: Are you looking to replace just the spool bearings? What bearings are we talking about? Yes- just the spool bearings. 1 Quote
ike8120 Posted January 23 Posted January 23 I been using hybrid ceramics from the JZN store on Aliexpress. Haven't had any issues. I usually just replace the spool bearings and if there is a bearing in the spool tensioner. Also check Spool Speed Bearings they have the bearings with fast shipping. They have everything you need to change the bearings. 2 Quote
little giant Posted January 23 Posted January 23 HPR is great. Also Spool Speed is a great store as well. Find spool speed on the web. He has package deals for your reel. I put his Japanese abec 9 in my bfs spools, farther casts, smooth as silk! 3 Quote
redmeansdistortion Posted January 23 Posted January 23 Daiwa uses NMB bearings from the factory which are already of exceptional quality. I run them in all of my reels, even my bench tuned BFS Ambassadeurs and they perform just as good as the Hedgehog and Roro bearings I've used previously and are much quieter. I have plenty on hand if you need them. I remove the shields, flush with brake cleaner, then apply a thin film lube and they really fly. Something to keep in mind with bearings; the ABEC standard doesn't account for internal clearances, raceway finish, cage finish, or ball quality. ABEC is simply the tolerance of how a bearing fits to a shaft or housing. A well made ABEC 1 will outperform a poor quality ABEC 7 and so on. Quality bearing manufacturers can easily produce at least ABEC 5 tolerances with modern tooling. It's merely a marketing point now that isn't indicative of performance. 5 Quote
Super User bulldog1935 Posted January 23 Super User Posted January 23 I measured 10% different light-end cast-distance results between Daiwa stock microbearings and Roro, but that's cool. Quote
Motoboss Posted January 23 Posted January 23 I have ABEC 7 orange seal in all my Curados except one which I have Speed Spool ceramic bearings in. I’ve been really, really happy with the Speed Spool kit. The cost for the three bearing kit were less than two of the ABEC and cast a bit better. May be just a slightly freer reel but definitely smother. 1 Quote
Super User WRB Posted January 24 Super User Posted January 24 FYI the ABEC is a bearing tolerance standard not a brand name. Tom 1 1 Quote
Junk Fisherman Posted January 25 Author Posted January 25 lol- maybe I should just send it in to someone. I can't find the bearings I need on the Boca site or even the schmatic diagram on Daiwa's website. I have a Tatula SVTW TASV103XS. This one: https://www.tackletour.com/reviewdaiwatatulasvtw.html newapti5- those sizes you posted- those are what I need for this reel? Going to talk to some Daiwa reps at a fishing show today so I'll see what they say. Thanks for the suggestions. Quote
newapti5 Posted January 25 Posted January 25 40 minutes ago, Junk Fisherman said: newapti5- those sizes you posted- those are what I need for this reel? Yes, they are the same size bearings as my 16 Tatula CT's. As for Boca bearing website info, here's the page: https://www.bocabearings.com/products/bearingapps/fishing-reel-bearings Quote
ABU is overpriced Posted January 25 Posted January 25 Would never suggest you to buy anything Boca. They're nothing but Chinese overpriced garbage that are noisier than $3 Chinese bearings on Ali. If you want spool+side plate bearing, and you're looking for cheap ceramic hybrids, i'd grab these https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004851026485.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.5.121dK2wxK2wxUd&algo_pvid=d09f4afb-c771-499a-90a0-608fbc026d97&algo_exp_id=d09f4afb-c771-499a-90a0-608fbc026d97-2&pdp_ext_f={"order"%3A"281"%2C"eval"%3A"1"}&pdp_npi=4%40dis!CAD!5.49!3.62!!!3.73!2.46!%402101efeb17378183356824724e3bab!12000030743169791!sea!CA!753774228!X&curPageLogUid=CtIcMi0KSGfX&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A If you want higher end stuff, Hedgehog bearings, be it metal of ceramic hybrids, they're all amazing. 1 Quote
redmeansdistortion Posted January 25 Posted January 25 1 hour ago, Junk Fisherman said: lol- maybe I should just send it in to someone. I can't find the bearings I need on the Boca site or even the schmatic diagram on Daiwa's website. I have a Tatula SVTW TASV103XS. This one: https://www.tackletour.com/reviewdaiwatatulasvtw.html newapti5- those sizes you posted- those are what I need for this reel? Going to talk to some Daiwa reps at a fishing show today so I'll see what they say. Thanks for the suggestions. Tatula takes an 830 in the palm side and a 1030 in the crank side. Like I said, I have them if you need them. I just sent a set out to a guy in Grand Rapids the other day for the same reel. 1 Quote
Junk Fisherman Posted January 29 Author Posted January 29 On 1/25/2025 at 9:20 AM, ABU is overpriced said: Would never suggest you to buy anything Boca. They're nothing but Chinese overpriced garbage that are noisier than $3 Chinese bearings on Ali. If you want spool+side plate bearing, and you're looking for cheap ceramic hybrids, i'd grab these https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004851026485.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.5.121dK2wxK2wxUd&algo_pvid=d09f4afb-c771-499a-90a0-608fbc026d97&algo_exp_id=d09f4afb-c771-499a-90a0-608fbc026d97-2&pdp_ext_f={"order"%3A"281"%2C"eval"%3A"1"}&pdp_npi=4%40dis!CAD!5.49!3.62!!!3.73!2.46!%402101efeb17378183356824724e3bab!12000030743169791!sea!CA!753774228!X&curPageLogUid=CtIcMi0KSGfX&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A If you want higher end stuff, Hedgehog bearings, be it metal of ceramic hybrids, they're all amazing. Which of those are the 830 and the 1030? Thanks for the post. Quote
FrnkNsteen Posted January 29 Posted January 29 On 1/23/2025 at 8:33 AM, bulldog1935 said: I've had no troubles with hybrid-ceramic ABEC-7 from HPR Bearings. He has an ebay store and a website. If you contact him, he can put a full bearing kit together for you. If you need to measure indivdual bearings, digital calipers are really handy to measure shaft diameter, and bearing O.D. and thickness. Spool bearings are individual casting niche. I like unshielded and microbearings so I can pick my own oil, but here also, I'll go to a different source for micro spool bearings, e.g., Roro, KTF, Hedgehog. I have bought bearings and carbon drags from HPRbearings as well. Seems pretty good to deal with. I got new drag washers for all the old Daiwa TDZ I had bought, plus drag washers and spool bearings for a pair of Calcutta 101s I picked up a couple years ago 1 Quote
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