Calcutta 400/700 = BOAT ONLY
Abu 6500/7000/7500 = BOAT or SURF
Newell 220/229 = BOAT or SURF
My pick is still the Abu for distance. I know Alberto will disagree with me on this.
You should know that competition distance casters use modified 6500 reels (with magnetic brakes of course) to get distances of 700, 800, and even 900 feet! [Latest update is nine hundred twenty-seven feet, two inches with a 125 gram weight by a caster in the U.K.] No other reel can do that.
If you find that the Abus are not casting as well as you'd like, they need to be cleaned and relubricated. This is something you can do yourself.
Remove spool (unscrew the right side three big plate screws) and ball bearings (unscrew endcaps, for the left side you will need to pull out the retaining spring before you can pop the bearing out). Give the body a soapy freshwater rinse.
Soak both ball bearings in WD-40 or Starter Fluid (be careful with the latter, the fumes are toxic and explosively flammable). Take a blow dryer, put on heat setting, and blow dry bearings for a minute (helps if you have a thin piece of wire to hold the bearings).
Repeat flushing with WD-40 or Starter Fluid. Repeat blow dry to get the last of the old grease out.
Put a few drops of 20 weight 3 in 1 oil in the bearings.
Get lens cleaning paper, clean the ends of the spool spindles with the lint-free paper. A drop of 3 in 1 oil on each spindle.
Re-assemble reel, adjust the spool tension on the left side (back it all the way off, set the reel on free spool, start turning the knob clockwise until you just see the spool start to turn, this is your "zero") and you should be good to go.
I do this after every trip or casting session. Once you do it a few times it takes 15 minutes to do.
Same methodology goes for the Calcutta (slightly more difficult to extract the bearing from the left side) and the Newells (same difficulty as Calcutta).
This message was edited by bassturd666 on 2-18-02 @ 7:37 AM
Abu 6500/7000/7500 = BOAT or SURF
Newell 220/229 = BOAT or SURF
My pick is still the Abu for distance. I know Alberto will disagree with me on this.
You should know that competition distance casters use modified 6500 reels (with magnetic brakes of course) to get distances of 700, 800, and even 900 feet! [Latest update is nine hundred twenty-seven feet, two inches with a 125 gram weight by a caster in the U.K.] No other reel can do that.
If you find that the Abus are not casting as well as you'd like, they need to be cleaned and relubricated. This is something you can do yourself.
Remove spool (unscrew the right side three big plate screws) and ball bearings (unscrew endcaps, for the left side you will need to pull out the retaining spring before you can pop the bearing out). Give the body a soapy freshwater rinse.
Soak both ball bearings in WD-40 or Starter Fluid (be careful with the latter, the fumes are toxic and explosively flammable). Take a blow dryer, put on heat setting, and blow dry bearings for a minute (helps if you have a thin piece of wire to hold the bearings).
Repeat flushing with WD-40 or Starter Fluid. Repeat blow dry to get the last of the old grease out.
Put a few drops of 20 weight 3 in 1 oil in the bearings.
Get lens cleaning paper, clean the ends of the spool spindles with the lint-free paper. A drop of 3 in 1 oil on each spindle.
Re-assemble reel, adjust the spool tension on the left side (back it all the way off, set the reel on free spool, start turning the knob clockwise until you just see the spool start to turn, this is your "zero") and you should be good to go.
I do this after every trip or casting session. Once you do it a few times it takes 15 minutes to do.
Same methodology goes for the Calcutta (slightly more difficult to extract the bearing from the left side) and the Newells (same difficulty as Calcutta).
This message was edited by bassturd666 on 2-18-02 @ 7:37 AM
