# Spool Balancing



## Hudak (Sep 10, 2007)

Like most of you, I have read various articles on the internet on how to make our reels perform better. I have a question about balancing.

How does playing with the position and number of "humps" in the initial 20 yds or so of the line balance the spool? I am not questioning whether or not it does, I am asking if anyone can explain to me the principle behind how it works.

Robert


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

*Robert*

I've yet to hear a good explanation as to "why" it works, most of us just accept the fact that it does work and go with it. 

Doesn't do much for satisfying the curiousity, eh? 

Spool balancing gets brought up quite a bit, you can search the old threads, but it may not uncover anything new for you.


Mark


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## big brother (May 15, 2002)

i gotta go along with mark on this one, explaining how "humps" work reminds me of teaching the workings of a plasma cutter. at one time i would go into a long drawn out explaination of ionized gas being excited by an electric arc which would turn almost any gas, shop air, nitrogen, argon, etc. into a highly focused, high temp arc that would cut anything that conducted electricity. the blank looks, and any teacher knows that look, convinced me i was wasting my time. now i just say it is an FM process (we have a lot of processes in welding) and someone will always ask what an FM process is and i tell them it is 
F*^$ing Magic.
charlie


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## Connman (Apr 14, 2001)

because when you wind line on a reel you get random spaces between the line which changes the weight distribution around the spool .


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## Hudak (Sep 10, 2007)

Just to make sure I am understanding Connman's answer, the humps are a "known" density that counteracts the random spaces that would otherwise throw the spool off balance? Makes sense.....


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## Tommy (Jan 24, 2001)

The random spaces are created by the hump and the coarsness of the way the line is layed down. I always start with a single center hump, then fill in right and left _coarsley_ until level with the hump. From that point lay the line on a level as possible. I count handle rotations as i work across. 5-7 rotations per pas on a 6500 abu reel is just about right.

Tommy


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## ZZiplex (Aug 10, 2007)

I dont knot the line to the spool but I tape it with a very very small piece of tape. When you make a big knot and then putting line about that big knot the spool is not in balance and the spool shouldnt spin quiet. 
Very important to balance the spool. (that was told to me by the casting experts)


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## Black Beard (Jan 25, 2001)

Unlike oil and brake reel tuning. I feel that balancing the spool IS a Black Art.

Way back in the early 80’s we starting playing with the Abu XL UltraCast reels on the field and they worked. However, they were the very devil when it came to balancing the line on the spool.

I was talking with Terry Carol about it at an event and asked him for advice.

He said that in the really old days – 60’s - when reels used were invariably Penn 100’s the spools were so bad they took to making a very rough job of loading the first 20 or so yards of line and to an extent it worked.

To me it was a revelation! 

At the time I was spending a lot of money buying new spools in an attempt to get a few that were good, mostly to no avail. So I tried what Terry suggested with the humping and God help me, IT WORKED!!!!!

I have no idea why it should, all I can say is it does. Not all the time, I have spools where I have re-wound the whole spool 20 times, but in the end I usually get there!

BB


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## notso (Jul 18, 2005)

has anyone tried modifiing the spool to get it in balance 1st? It seems like it would be a fairly straight forward process.


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

notso said:


> has anyone tried modifiing the spool to get it in balance 1st? It seems like it would be a fairly straight forward process.



It is possible to start out with a perfectly balanced spool and throw it outta balance by the way you lay line on, so there is no getting around the line lay issue- tho every once and awhile I run into a spool that seems to stay balanced, that spool gets reserved for field work only


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## Hudak (Sep 10, 2007)

I am really starting to appreciate the nature of "Unlike oil and brake reel tuning. I feel that balancing the spool IS a Black Art." Lets take this to the extreme. 

You take the time to make sure your brand new spool is balanced. Spinning and spinning and spinning watching little dabs of electrical tape blur in front of you hoping the spool stops in different places every time without rolling back at all. Now you wind on your hump, fill the sides to level. Cut, tape it down and go back through the spinning, spinning, spinning thing to make sure it is balanced. 9 attempts later you now tie the remainder of the line and wind it on, tape it down and check the balance again. All this is done, you are proud of accomplishing the daunting task of balancing the spool. First cast, 200ft out you realize what balanced the last part of the line just flew off. You will never reach the next confirmed balanced spot and you now have a weird sound as you try to dump another 300-400ft off. Aggravating!! 

Worse yet, you worried so much about balancing the spool, you dug deep slung it, and managed to crack it off at 150'. Forcing you too start from step 3 all over again because you spent more time at the bench instead of in the field.

*This is just fictional.* I am merely attempting to release a little frustration. LOL Do not read any of this as my attempt to build a better mousetrap. It is only a whimsical account of my potential luck. _(No line was actually harmed in the writing of this scenario.)_


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## Mark G (Nov 15, 2004)

thekingfeeder said:


> I am really starting to appreciate the nature of "Unlike oil and brake reel tuning. I feel that balancing the spool IS a Black Art." Lets take this to the extreme.
> 
> You take the time to make sure your brand new spool is balanced. Spinning and spinning and spinning watching little dabs of electrical tape blur in front of you hoping the spool stops in different places every time without rolling back at all. Now you wind on your hump, fill the sides to level. Cut, tape it down and go back through the spinning, spinning, spinning thing to make sure it is balanced. 9 attempts later you now tie the remainder of the line and wind it on, tape it down and check the balance again. All this is done, you are proud of accomplishing the daunting task of balancing the spool. First cast, 200ft out you realize what balanced the last part of the line just flew off. You will never reach the next confirmed balanced spot and you now have a weird sound as you try to dump another 300-400ft off. Aggravating!!
> 
> ...


THe odd thing is it's USUALLY just the first 30 or so yards that make the biggest difference in getting a balanced spool. For that reason once I have a spool balanced I do tape off that first 30 yds or so to make sure that I never accidentally pull that line off the reel, even when changing out to new line, that first bit of line stays put.

After that, crackoffs and such don't seem to bother the balance.


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## Connman (Apr 14, 2001)

While a reel balanced with an underlay is a good start , you have to realize that every single cast results in a different line lay each time which changes the balance point on the full spool .And as line is pulled off the spool during a cast the weight distribution changes too ,if you are irratic with your line lay this can make spools vibrate badly while casting regarless of how well balanced the spool is to begin with .


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## Hudak (Sep 10, 2007)

That was the underlying humor in my message. Just because it seems balanced in the end, it doesn't matter if it is not laid evenly throughout. Hence the 200' out and vibration noises....

That wasn't anything serious, just poking fun at my luck, or so it seems.....


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