Question for Avet Owners on Drag

[alantani]

this question was asked of me a while back.......

I got inspired this year reading all the reel rebuild threads that I thought I would try it myself. It's actually fun and very relaxing. The question I have is as follows:

I have an older Avet Lx reel. After cleaning and lubing, everything went back together. I started with the drag test. At strike the max I get is around 10 lbs. At full drag I get 30 lbs or more. I actually busted 40 lb line at full drag. Yes before you ask, the line broke at the knot.

What did I do wrong? I can't get the strike drag up to 15 lbs. What should I check? Thanks in advance.

the tolerances in this reel should be loose enough that you can change the belleville configuration without bottoming out the preset knob. here are the different ways to arrange a set of 6 bellevilles in order of increasing "stiffness" and decreasing height.

()()()
(()()(
(())()
((())(
(())((
(((())
((()))
((((((

the configuration of (())() is stock. if you have them in a "softer" arrangement, reconfigure them back to stock. if they are already stock, try (((()) or ((())). this should take care of it. if you find that your preset knob bottoms out, pull one of the flat washer from inbetween the right side of the spool and the drag pressure plate and install it next to the bellevilles. that will increase the "height" of the belleville stack and allow the preset knob to turn all the way down. let me know how this works out. thanks! alan

this is the second time i've posted on this thread but the first one is missing. did anyone else see it, or did i just screw up? alan

[alantani]

Originally Posted by Locke N Load

My only real question is with the LX. What else could be wrong with it that is causing me to have to turn the drag pre-set knob way past where there is freespool while in the Bait position to get decent drag? Or is it normal to have freespool only in the Freespool position when getting 15 pounds of drag at Strike and 20 at Full.

unless i misread the box, the avet lx is supposed to have 15 pound of drag at strike and still maintain good freespool at free, not bait.

what i have found is this..... when you exceed 9 pounds of drag with the avet sx and mx, and 15 pounds of drag with the jx and lx, you place so much pressure on the right main side plate bearing and it become increasingly more difficult to turn the handle. i hotroded a little avet mx to deliver 19 pounds of drag at strike and still deliver great freespool at free. tough to crank when in gear, though.

the issue is the single drag washer and the single right main side plate bearing in the avet. an equivalent sized accurate will deliver twice the functional drag range because it has two drag washers and two right main side plate bearings. oh, um, and the accurate also costs twice the price.

[alantani]

Originally Posted by Locke N Load

I believe he is biased against Avet since they do not recommend greasing their drags and he does. I have asked Alan questions and he has been very responsive and helpful. I certainly mean no disrespect (his 50 rebuild tutorial helped me out).

none taken.

i don't know what happened to my previous post, so we'll try this again. avet does not grease their drag washers, but they do pack their right main side plate bearing with grease. accurate greases their drag washers, but their side plate bearings are have greased and half dry. shimano and daiwa have an anti-reverse system using a single anti-reverse roller bearing and an ambassaduer-style dog. failures have been reported, meaning that the handles have gone knuckle-buster on people.

wouldn't it be funny if one company, like okuma, could put it all together? they could do it, you know. alan

[doughnut]

Originally Posted by alantani

none taken.

i don't know what happened to my previous post, so we'll try this again. avet does not grease their drag washers, but they do pack their right main side plate bearing with grease. accurate greases their drag washers, but their side plate bearings are have greased and half dry. shimano and daiwa have an anti-reverse system using a single anti-reverse roller bearing and an ambassaduer-style dog. failures have been reported, meaning that the handles have gone knuckle-buster on people.

wouldn't it be funny if one company, like okuma, could put it all together? they could do it, you know. alan

And I hope they do. (Thread Jack) All these manufacturers know the weak links, but dont "wrap it up" into one package. I hope it's Okuma or some small innovative company.

[REDWEISER]

Originally Posted by Locke N Load

Curiosity got the best of me so I tested straight from the reel. 12 and 21. This was with the drag set at 15 at Strike getting 24 at Full when tested through the guides. Interesting. The rod is an 8' with 8 Fuji SiC guides and a SiC tip top. The line is 80# Jinkai mono. I then put the reel on a rod with all Aftco rollers. 15 and 24. Who knew guides added so much drag? I guess the guys who posted before.

About the same results I've found from sic guides to rollers too ... about 20-25%.