New Abu 6500 carbon drag washers

[Sudsy]

Came home from Montauk Tuesday to find a set in the mailbox (Thanks Bob Hulme from Abu! )

Very, very nice and very similar to the Penn HT100's. Switched out the super smoothies that I had in there and gave the new system a test run on a few zillion blues today.


If you have a 6500 series Abu reel get a set of these immediately ! Much better then the Smoothies and a world of difference from the old Abu drag - always the achillies heel of the reel.
The old machine gun feeling the drags once had is a thing of the past and, best of all, the initial pull is very smooth - no hard jerk to get it started.

Also, I received the newly designed cog gear Part #1117079 and ball bearing insert - it's the white plastic gear on the mag side that engages the levelwind. It's now machined to take a ball bearing - As soon as I can find a ball bearing levelwind assembly I expect to significantly add to my casting distance.

Again, Good job ABU

[rogerstg]

Did you get them wet during your test? That's where the carbon fiber types often have problems.

Either way, you could always test them with Shimano drag grease. I like not needing to trim HT-100s.

[Sudsy]

No, didn't get wet and no, no grease - fished em dry.

Next time out I'll give the reel a dunk and see what happens.

[Outback25]

Sudsy,

how many lbs of drag do you think upgrade will allow without total lockdown? The ones ive got have not been changed, and I can only get about 5 or 6lbs of drag out of them on lockdown.

[rogerstg]

Originally Posted by Outback25

Sudsy,

how many lbs of drag do you think upgrade will allow without total lockdown? The ones ive got have not been changed, and I can only get about 5 or 6lbs of drag out of them on lockdown.

Be careful, a repair guy on another board stripped the main gear at about 15# using a greased HT-100 modification. You should be safe with maybe up to 7#.

*Edited for accuracy*

[Sudsy]

I asked Bob Hulme these questions and here are his replies:

Bob

Help, I'm getting questions I'm not confident I can answer:

How many lbs of drag do you think upgrade will allow without total lockdown?- [Hulme, Bob] 13.5 lbs.
Grease? - [Hulme, Bob] Dry
Availability, when and where? - [Hulme, Bob] Available now from Abu Reel Service.

[rogerstg]

Some food for thought. Here's a thread that addresses some of these issues. Pay particular attention to Alan Tani's [alantani] responses.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/t...=51663&start=1

FWIW, I don't think Bob Hulme would be caught dead suggesting a competitor's drag grease (I don't blame him). My experience is that dry works as long as they stay dry. That's practically an impossibility for me. Greased with Shimano drag grease gives me consistency whether the reels get wet or stay dry, and they stay very smooth.