Reel bearings
 

Tore down a few of my Avets and one of my SX's pinion bearing is shot. Anybody have any information on the Boca ceramic bearings? Are they worth the extra money or should I replace them with a stock Avet bearing?

Re: Reel bearings
 

Hey Marc, as we spoke the other day on the Mimi, it is the pinion gear. I recently had my reel serviced and all the bearings were replaced except the pinion bearing which my dealer was out of stock on. I just spoke to Avet and it is a flat spot on that bearing that causes increased reeling difficulty as drag is increased. My fault sice I went passed full drag setting. The bearings can be gotten from my local dealer I use and another source I have . They both are not sponsors so can post them here? From all my research the Boca ceramic bearings are the fix! Did you fish today? I had to cancel...bummer.

Re: Reel bearings
 

Hey Dennis, one of my Avets was doing the same thing yours was, the bearing was actually seized and I managed to get it spinning, but now when reeling it in, I get that same resistance that yours was getting with the intermittent thumping. I'll call around to see who has them in stock, I know who your guy is. Didn't go out today as I had originally planned, saw the Mimi was out producing in deeper water...oh well!

Re: Reel bearings
 

Save your money. The races or cage in which the ceramic bearings sit is metal and subject to corrosion. And, over time WILL definitely corrode. Avet will send you the necessary bearings for a minimal fee plus shipping.

Go to the Alan Tani web site, it has all the information you could ever need regarding bearings, and for that matter reels in general as well.

Hope this helps and saves you some cash.

Re: Reel bearings
 

Thanks Pete. I do go on the Alan Tani website, I refer to his reel break downs before attempting to tear down my own. I guess my question is since there seems to be issues with Avets pinion bearing (I say this because I know of others that have had to replace just the pinion bearing in their Avets) that either an upgrade was available, or do I need to do more maintenance than usual to prevent it from developing the flat spot I'm experiencing.

Re: Reel bearings
 

Find out the size and look into other companies such as Pioneer Bearings. As long as you know the size you can do much better by avoiding any "reel bearings". Using a company that specializes in bearings will be much better. There Are A Few Out There.

This was an issue when I was still with Canyon Reels. We went out to find our own bearings..... worked out much better. Plus.... your eliminating extra hands and extra cost touching them.

Re: Reel bearings
 

Marc, this is straight from the horses mouth.

there are a couple of things going on here. one, if you exceed a certain load on any of the smaller avet reels, you will blow out the right main side plate bearing. you will know that you are damaging the reel because you will note a slight resistance when you turn the handle. with that first turn, you have just damaged the bearing. the more you turn, the more damage you are causing.

even if your drag range is low enough, water can still intrude. avet's bearings are actually well packed with grease. water can get in, so they should be repacked. i like the yamaha product for that application.

and lastly, avet's bearings. they generally charge $5 per bearing regardless of size. part of that is service to their customers, the other part is that they are inexpensive to begin with. the bearings from smoothdrag.com or bocabearings.com are a much higher quality. it would be worth switching over to a higher quality bearing, but only if you will pack it with grease AND keep the drag below a certain range. otherwise, stick with the cheap avet bearings and just replace them as you go. alan

With that being said. Most people exceed the max drag setting. And, doom the bearing to failure. Ceramic bearings don't solve the problem. If they did they would certainly be the reccomended upgrade by Alan and every other expert.

As a side note; the Tani web site has no advertisers or sponsors just reel heads looking to save you money. Straight forward professionals and novices who can guide you, no strings attached.

Re: Reel bearings
 

Thanks for the responses guys. I contacted Avet and ordered a few of the pinion bearings from them. I figure that since it is the one bearing that seems to take the brunt of the load out of all of them that I should have a couple on hand in the event one of my other SXs experience the same issue. Being that I can tear the reel down and change the bearing in a matter of minutes, it's worth it to stick with what it came with. I don't go real tight with the drag setting but have had the reel for two years, for the price of one bearing to make it perform like new again is absolutely worth it.

Re: Reel bearings
 

What's up Marc? I highly suggest you pull the shields off the new bearings and clean/pack them with grease before you use them. You can either put the shields back or leave them off. Those blue shields are easy to pop off/on so I put them back. I clean them with TCI oil that Alan recommends and then pack them with some kinda grease of your choice. While you're at it, take some of the same grease and lightly coat the entire reel. Next year you can take the reel apart and it'll look like the same way you closed it up. I do this too all my Avets and they are smoother then when they come out of the box. I've never had to replace a bearing yet except from old reels I've picked up from others. Facebook message me if you need a link to check out that TCI oil.

Re: Reel bearings
 

I have a first generation MXL that is due for an overhaul as it is grinding away.
Avet offers a rebuild for 39 bucks which includes return shipping.
Is it worth it or would a local shop be better/cheaper?
I am sure I need a bearing which is covered under the program.

Re: Reel bearings
 

I'm not gonna knock either... Although it's always good to support our locals. Bearings are like 10bucks each and around $25 for the service. There are like 6 bearings in there that "could" be bad and be replaced.

Re: Reel bearings
 

New bearings from Avet arrived in the mail today. I ordered 4 of the pinion bearings being that they seem to be the most problematic of the bunch, for $5 each I figured it was worth it to have a few extras. Took Anthony's advice and popped the new one open, barely any grease in there:eek: I was surprised being that it's a brand new bearing. Anyway, packed it tight with some Quicksilver marine grease with Teflon (just happen to have a new tube handy), put the shields back on and the reel feels like brand new. If you're mechanically inclined, the Avet is a pretty easy reel to work on, just print out one of their schematics from their website for reference. If not, there's a lot of local shops that can do it for you for a really good price too.

Re: Reel bearings
 

One upgrade I'm considering for a few of my Avets is the South Florida or Kodiak Cams. The problem it solves is common on most lever drag reels and that is you you have very little drag adjustment between the bait and strike setting. Once you move the lever from bait you almost immediately go to strike.

This would allow you to make adjustments to line out tention and in my opinion, would make them better for dead sticking drift baits as well as live lining larger baits like bunker.

http://www.avetreels.net/ACCESSORIES.html