Poppin new Stella

Once again, someone offered to buy off my trusty pre-loved Twinpower SW8000 which I regularly used for GT popping at Jarak as well as a back up set for Maldives. It's in pristine condition and served me well with no reliability issues with proper care, maintenance, and battle prepared.

And without hesitation, I quickly got myself the new Stella SW8000 after a short trial period with the excellent SW6000. I kept the Studio Composite carbon fiber knob from my Twinpower as it is my favourite type of knob for medium to big game fishing.

I quickly got to work on preparing the reel for battle as there will be an upcoming trip to Jarak with the hopes that the GTs are around to pull some drags.

Stout and solid. That's what this reel feels like.

Jam pack the original bearings with marine grease to ensure maximum durability and smoothness. Original knob looks good but a tad heavy as I opt for the super light Studio Composite carbon fiber knob.

Top, drag stack has a new wavy leaf spring for better force distribution. Bottom, line roller has DLC coating oon the outer surface and a tad more grease than I usually see from Shimano reels. Good start, but not good enough for me. They should just include rubber seals here just like the Daiwas.

Line roller assembly being jammed with marine grease. Bearings' jam packed too. That's how I like to pack it.

A friend told me that the local Shimano folks here isn't equipped to disassemble this new SW Stella as they require some form of 'jig' to hold the rubber seal in place for reassembly. I've also read somewhere that people took it apart and was shocked to see that the rubber seal doesn't fit the frame like a glove. The thing with rubber seals is that they are designed to be slightly bigger than the fitment guide and only with proper fitment and compression will the rubber seal do its job properly.

To close the case with the rubber seal properly seated, it's all about intricate placement and fine adjustment of the rubber seals while finding a solid seal takes quite a bit of patience, it is possible. Just like the back case of a typical modern day wristwatch with o-ring seals. It regularly wants to pop out of its placement.

Above, exposed dry crank case. Bottom, main gear support bearing being packed with marine grease before locking it back into the housing.

Above, thoroughly coated internals with some magic touch on the rubber seal before closing the case. Below, ready to take on some big bad GTs. Fingers crossed that they are around.

If you notice the picture above, the spool's got some patchy coat over it. That's because I've coated it with a very light coat of marine grease to avoid salt water corrosion or pitting on the spool. It has become part of my ritual in preparing reels for battle even for bait casters.

I can't wait to put this reel on a proper work out and do hope that the GTs are around Jarak and willing to bite.