[Pete]

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.

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