another saltiga problem ......

[alantani]

hoo, boy. i only have the one set of pictures for the spool issues, but i've had two guys come to me with broken spools from daiwa saltigas. you've seen this one before.



now i've come up with another issue. check this out. it's a saltiga 50.







so what happened is this. i added a small bead of grease to the screw hole. done that a thousand times with other reels. just as i gave the screw driver that last turn, i heard a "snap." i was horrified to see that the frame had cracked at the screw hole. um, $200 worth of horrified, i might add. that's the cost of a new frame. i spoke to another guy that does alot of reel work and he says he had the same thing happen, only he used corrosion x on the screw thread.

so what i think happened is this. the tolerances on the threads of the screw holes are so tight that there's no room for air, excess grease or excess oil to squeeze out when tightening down the screws. this causes a crack at this one weak spot of our $200 frame. a guy sent this reel for me to service and there's no way that it's going back broken. i just have to eat this one.

thank you for listening to this brief public service announcement. you may return to your regularly scheduled program ....

[flatbottom]

Have you been lifting weights alantani ?

I hope next week is a better one for you

you have a pm

[carom]

sorry to hear that man!...on the other hand, thanks for the info....better days will come

[reel fishy]

OUCH, that is not good. Send it back to Diawa with a letter that asks which is better.... Die Cast or Machined.

This is a perfect example of why you should consult a "reel" expert before purchasing one. Thanks Alan for all your help in the past it is greatly appreciated.

[alantani]

guys, the saltiga is a beautifully made reel. as with all reels, i recommend greased carbon fiber drag washers and open spool bearings. it's this "grease in all the screw holes" recommendation that i am going to have to revist. very troubling.

i honestly do not know if the frame is precision cast and then machine finished, or straight machined from billet aircraft grade aluminum. the "appearance" of the frame side by side with the side plate is different because the "grain" of the machine work is at right angles. that's why the two metal surfaces appear different.

i really hate posting threads like this. here's the problem, though. i constanly encourage guys to service their own reel. that's my whole schtick. i've never done a saltiga rebuild post, and i'm not sure that i want to at this point. still, if i come across a problem as disasterous as this, you guys HAVE to know. it's a $200 mistake. i would think that daiwa would bear the same responsibility.

[shoefish]

I appreciate you posting these up alantani- I have a saltiga 40 that I absolutely love, so it looks like I should make sure to have it professionally serviced when the time comes.

By the way, how did the spool crack in that first picture?

[alantani]

the spool buckled under the pressure of 4 pounds of drag from a 15 pound northern california salmon. daiwa replaced both busted spool, no questions asked. the frame was my fault. still, i want you guys to watch out! alan