Tatula Custom power drag

To complete the pimping process of my Tatula to be used as a medium heavy tackle setup, I need to beef the drag up a wee bit to squeeze some extra stopping power. After a few custom sized drag tests and ponding sessions, I've finally narrowed it down to a size that gives me quite a bit of drag force increase as well smoothness in initial takes.

Already pimped up, soon to be beefed up for better drag force and smoothness.

Regular checks will reveal parts that needs some tending too. Some roughed up bearings will be common.

Stock drags are already strong but there's more to be squeezed out from this reel.

Having oversized drag discs may not give you maximum drag force but understanding how each drag system works and how much pressure can the system apply onto the drag discs would give you better results and achieving the drag force desired.

This requires some testing with various sizes of drag discs for outright drag force using a simple rig and also out on the field/pond pulling some fish to get that feel of drag takes. For me, this should be a MH to H setup as the reel is spooled with 40lbs line and I will prioritize drag force over smoothness of maybe 7:3.

Custom sized carbontex drags to achieve stronger drag force and maintaining some smoothness.

Drag discs in place, visual checks all round for other ares that needs attention.

Quick clean up and lubed to bring back smoothness and casting performance.

All ready for some MH or H action.

This reel's built strong and tough, designed as a daily beater. No doubt about it. The only thing with this reel is that it's a little bit on the heavier side but when paired with the right rod, it'll be nicely balanced out for sure.

Twinpower for high speed mack chase

Here's another regular service on an oldie but goldie Shimano Twinpower which regularly serves as a fast and furious hunt for speedy spanish mackerel chase. A reel used several times a year when the macks are in feeding over on the east coast.

There are no reported issues with this Twinpower and therefore this should be a straight forward strip, clean and reassembly.

Stock standard since new, served the owner very well and have racked up many catches over the past few years.

Knob bearings are still smooth but well used. Thoroughly flushed and contact cleaned for a new packing of marine grease for long life performance.

Packed to the brim, redundant marine grease spread over the bearing within the knob to act as a seal when installed.

Drags are in excellent condition with no loss of drag power even after years of usage and never over loaded when fighting fish.

A combination of carbon and hyper-disc drag material for the drag system. No lack of power and efficient for sure.

Thoroughly degreased and surface contact cleaned ready for a new layer of drag grease.

Drag housing too needs to be degreased and contact cleaned to avoid mixture of incompatible greases.

Line roller's dry but smooth. Quality stuff unlike the latest S-ARB bearings that somehow just doesn't last.

Flushed, contact cleaned and newly packed with marine grease for long life performance too.

The entire line roller system is packed to the brim behaving like a water tight seal.

Never been opened before, grease have been injected into the service port and doesn't get anywhere beyond a few splatter on the back of the main gear.

Old grease removed and contact cleaned the entire inside of the crank case. A new layer of Shimano's heavy grease applied on all exposed surfaces for protection.

Good as new, ready for more high speed chase when the speedsters are in.

As promised, straight forward service of a highly reliable Shimano Twinpower SW series reel. This reel will serve the owner for a long time to come looking at how good the condition is even after years of use and never over loading the reel unnecessarily.

Old but gold Twinpower SW5000PG

This version of the Shimano Twinpower is here to stay and will be a highly sought after salt water spinning reel for some time to come. Reason being is that it's loaded with the most goodies from the Stella of its generation and somehow lasts longer with lesser known issues such as rusts and wear.

This particular jigging reel hasn't been serviced before and have been regularly fished hard stopping deep tropical pelagics. Externally, this reel looks brand new and cranks creamy smooth just like new. If it were to be of another series reel, you'd surely see signs of use.

Jigging reel up for its first service.

Dried up knob shaft bearings and some light rust can be seen near the handle where most exposure to salt water. Surprisingly, the bearing's absolutely fine with no signs of rust damage when spun.

Upon ultra sonic cleaning the bearings, it's like new and packed with marine grease for maximum protection and creamy smooth rotation. The knob shaft's been polished clean to remove rust stains, no pitting found.

Drags are also in excellent condition with just one carbon fiber based drag and the remainder discs being composites of sorts.

Bottom most drag surface is also in excellent condition. Just need a clean up and new coat of drag grease.

Contact cleaned to remove any greasy film on the entire drag system, ready for a new coat of drag grease.

Lightly coated drag grease on the entire system.

Line roller assembly looks like new too. Bearing's a little dry, needs cleaning and packing of new marine grease.

Inside the crank case, no surprises here, dry on most surfaces and dressed enough around mechanical parts.

Oddly enough, this is the first time I see green coloured standard Shimano grease. Puzzling. Total removal of the old grease will be necessary for new application of marine grease for maximum protection.

Out goes the old, in comes a fresh coat of marine grease. Coating every imaginable surface would drastically reduce any chances of salt water corrosion or pitting.

After years of use and storage, this reel still looks and feels new. Amazing stuff really.

Even with about half the goodies of a Stella on this Twinpower, a true value for money reel that will perform and serve you for a long time.

As it is, current used market price for this series of Twinpower's already commanding a premium price over other similar reels. I was told that some retailers with old stocks on their shelves been pricing this reel above the newly launched 2015 Twinpower.

Crusty Stella

Here's a look at a big game reel that's survived to fight another day. This Shimano 18000's battled some monster GTs, doggies, macks and speedy tunas. It's now due for some mid life service and maintenance. Sticky drags, noisy and rough cranks are some of the issues that needs to be sorted out.

Externally fine. Some tell tale signs of serious fishing's done with this reel.

Knob bearing's dried up to the point of being powdery, bearings are surprisingly still alive.

This reel comes equipped with stock carbon drags and it's been through helluva lot especially for the smaller ring sized top stack drags. The bottom stack petal shaped drags are super duty carbon discs and are still going strong, sturdy but dirty.

A quick look under the spool shows that the drag's been through some serious fights. Dried up gunk all over the system.

The top stack (smaller) drag's mostly disintegrated from powerful speedy fish runs. It's so thin that the effort to lift the carbon drag from the disc plates breaks it apart in many pieces. That's probably the cause for sticky drags.

Custom cut carbon drags to match original dimensions including thickness.

Bottom stack drags and disc plates cleaned. Newly cut carbon drags to replace disintegrated carbon drags.

This reel's been previously serviced elsewhere and there are signs of forced removal dings on the line roller itself. This is probably due to rusted out and jammed roller bearings.

Line roller grooves damaged, don't think salt water corrosion can do this kind of damage.

Dents all around the line roller groove. It's probably teeth marks from pliers trying to pry open the jammed bearings. A deal breaker kind of damage which will destroy your line.

Not only the bearing's are dried up and rough, the line roller shaft's lightly worn too. This will need parts to be shipped from Japan as replacement.

Another forced entry found around the anti-reverse system's cap screw. There's a deep gash on the cap which looks like tool slippage.

Anti-reverse bearing cap gash. Most likely from tool slippage. Luckily this is only an aesthetic damage.

Insides are dry.

All the grease in this crank case needs to be replaced as they have been properly used up.

Main gear's got some wear and tear signs even though it's a hardened alloy. Gear mesh is still fine, cranks smooth without back plays.

The entire crank case needs to be de-greased and contact cleaned to be ready for a new layer of marine grease for maximum protection.

New marine grease application around the entire crank case upon contact cleaned to ensure no mixture of incompatible grease.

Line roller and knob bearings took some serious beating, all dried up but very much alive. Just need to be ultrasonic cleaned in preparation for new packing of marine grease.

Salt water corrosion can be super damaging. Above, ultra hard chrome coating on the line roller assembly arm's all crusty and flaky. Bottom, upon removal of the corroded bits, there will be no more protection and hence the need to pack this crevice with marine grease.

Line roller assembly packed with redundant marine grease as a seal against salt water ingestion.

New packing of marine grease into the knob bearings for maximum protection and seal.

Well lubricated, awaiting new line roller guide to be replaced.

Top end reels need quite a bit of TLCs too as you can see that not only does the mechanical system take some serious beating, the entire reel needs to withstand salt water corrosion damages over long periods of time.

With proper care, regular checks and servicing done, this reel will be able to serve you many big battles for long periods of time.