# Choosing and setting up bearings....



## galaxy51 (Feb 4, 2009)

When deciding on what bearings to go with on a distance casting reel I have read of a wide variety of bearings being used. Stock Abus, abec 5s, abec 7s, ss and ceramic bearings. Red Rocket Fuel is mentioned frequently and I read somewhere that the Yellow Rocket Fuel is used in stock Ambassadeur Rockets?

I am trying to find a relatively common starting point. What are you guys using for bearings and oil and what is a common spin time to shoot for when tuning your reels? 

I use a thumb with pressure to get the spool up to speed to measure spin time. Does my method get me in the ballpark in regard to spin times?

Start the cast with a little mag resistance and then dial off as much as you dare?


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## SteveZ (Nov 30, 2006)

I like abec 5 ceramic bearings and red rocket fuel. Pick and choose your bearings until you get bearings that spin freely when clean and dry. Helps to take a shield off to get 'em nice & clean. I kinda set a standard of 15 secs of spin time for fishing bearings and 20+ for field play. Lube with a couple drops of oil. As far as the spool, flick the handle & push the button and watch 'er go. Depending on how well the spool is balanced you should get a couple minutes of spin time. Mebbe more...much more...


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

galaxy51 said:


> When deciding on what bearings to go with on a distance casting reel I have read of a wide variety of bearings being used. Stock Abus, abec 5s, abec 7s, ss and ceramic bearings. Red Rocket Fuel is mentioned frequently and I read somewhere that the Yellow Rocket Fuel is used in stock Ambassadeur Rockets?
> 
> I am trying to find a relatively common starting point. What are you guys using for bearings and oil and what is a common spin time to shoot for when tuning your reels?
> 
> ...


Red rocket is the standard, yellow is a bit fast, and tournament grade super fast.

You'll need to crank the handle and release the push button to get a good spin time, no way to do with just the thumb and get good spin times.


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## galaxy51 (Feb 4, 2009)

When adjusting the spool bearings on my old CT converted 5500 C3 I need quite a bit of end play before the spool becomes really free. Would the tighter bearing tolerance of Abec 5 bearings make the end play adjustment take less travel to get from zero spool travel to a point where the spool spins freely?
Any pros and cons between SS bearings and ceramic?
Also, I went to remove the dust shield on the stock bearings and I was not able to get the snap rings out to allow dust shield removal. Is there a trick to removing the snap ring on stock Ambassadeur bearings? I tried several times with a stick pin from the wife's sewing kit.


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## kingfisherman23 (Dec 14, 2003)

Galaxy, I was about to shoot you an email, but I guess I'll take care of it in this post instead.

The endplay of a spool and the tensioning knobs do not affect the bearings in a stock Abu with the plastic cog in the sideplate. The right side knob touches the end of the spindle only, and moves that back and forth. The left side knob moves a brass bullet back and forth. The spindle rests in the bullet and the outer lip of the plastic cog is what touches the bullet when you slide the spool all the way to the left. The tighter the spool tension, the more friction between the bullet and the cog. So in a working reel with inboard bearings (non-fixed spindle), the spool should spin freely when there is any side-to-side play in the reel. If that is not the case, you may have a damaged frame, spool or spindle.

If you are using a speed bushing that only touches the inner race of the bearings, you will not see a difference between endplay and no endplay as long as you do not over-tighten the bushing (causing the bearing to break).

Regarding spin times: Testing for max spin requires dry bearings and is mostly an indicator of the balance of the spool (this I've learned from Tommy's posts on the subject). After cleaning the bearings, induce spin by flicking the handle and pressing the free-spool button. With the stock Abu bearings in my Rocket, I reached a spin time of 3:06. The stainless ABEC5 bearings were slightly better, at 3:35. I could improve this time by balancing the spool, or perhaps adding ABEC7s. However for actual use, a 3-4 min spin time is a guaranteed blowup. Adding oil to the bearings or adding some braking mechanism (either centrifugal of magnetic) is necessary. For fishing, you want a 9-12 sec spin time. For distance I'm not sure what exactly to look for, but I'd imagine that 30 secs of free spin is plenty.

Most of the difference between the bearing ratings (again, from what I've read and heard on this board and in talking with people) is seen in the oil capacity. ABEC5s will hold more oil than ABEC7s, and less than ABEC3s. I do not know what the advantages of ceramics versus steel, and I look forward to someone knowledgeable chiming in with that info.

Now on to mag use during the cast. I would do some testing to establish a good starting position for the initial cast. Be prepared to burn through some mono to find where your mags are best set to handle this initial shock to the reel. After the weight is away, focus on the reel. You want to adjust the mags in flight so that there is a small amount of fuzzing during the cast. Back the mags off as much as possible so that you can reach this fuzzy area and not blow up. What you want to see is the spool literally throwing the line off itself. Somebody posted a video recently where some distance guys actually mounted a camera on the rod looking down at the caster, and you can see the line coming up off the reel, arcing over and down to the guide. I can't seem to find it now but maybe someone knows what I'm talking about and can link to it.

Here is a great post where Tommy weighed in about bearings:
http://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55535

And another on gaining distance when switching out bearings:
http://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60341


Evan

ETA: Found the video!

This is Danville throwing a tourney reel. Watch the line before and after the adjustment.
http://www.pierandsurf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60386


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## Rockfish1 (Apr 8, 2005)

for some reason I was under the impression the upper end of the ABU's (over $100) came with SS abec 5 bearings in them from the factory...


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## sinisterfins (Sep 20, 2007)

You know , I just bought 5 sets of abec 5's & didn't get 1 set that would spin for more than 6 to 8 seconds . I've removed the dust shield , soaked them etc. & really didn't improve any of them . They came from VXB . Think I'm doing something wrong?


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## SteveZ (Nov 30, 2006)

sinisterfins said:


> They came from VXB.


IMO these are not high quality bearings. I think it was Surf Cat who, in an earlier thread, said that ya get what ya pay for when it comes to bearings. He was dead on. You can get good bearings from other places. Try Bill's Custom Reels...he had some that would spin for a loooong time. Dunno if he still sells 'em. Boca has some quality stuff but you will pay for it. Also you might check Breakaway or the folks who sell rocket fuel.


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## sinisterfins (Sep 20, 2007)

Thanks Steve . For some silly reason I thought I was buying quality but I now know better .


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## jlentz (Sep 11, 2005)

I would recommend Boca bearing. I have been very pleased with their ceramic bearings and service.

John


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## seajay (Dec 18, 2005)

Most of the difference between the bearing ratings (again, from what I've read and heard on this board and in talking with people) is seen in the oil capacity. ABEC5s will hold more oil than ABEC7s, and less than ABEC3s. I do not know what the advantages of ceramics versus steel, and I look forward to someone knowledgeable chiming in with that info.

The ABEC Rating is a tolerance scale. How would one be able to measure how much Oil a bearing will hold?
Here is a Great read that will give you mor insite on Bearings.
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=13.0


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## galaxy51 (Feb 4, 2009)

Evan, I found the problem with the 5500C3. The plastic gear on the left side of the spool that engages the levelwind system is also a spacer. The plastic gear apparently saw some neglect and has enough wear on the end of it that when the endplay is removed the spool sits off to the left of center. I will need to buy a speed bushing for it and the problem should be resolved. 
Kwesi at gotdistance will have one.


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