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Author Topic: Lew's Speed Spool  (Read 6658 times)

slipperybob

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Lew's Speed Spool
« on: Mar 24, 2011, 06:35 AM »
http://www.lews.com/reels.htm

It's alive!  It has risen from the dead.   :D

Slip bobber fishing and ice lounger.

Slipperybob's Wish to Fish and MN Dish...Journal

O

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Re: Lew's Speed Spool
« Reply #1 on: Mar 24, 2011, 09:17 PM »
Is that the Browning versions or are they independent again?

slipperybob

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Re: Lew's Speed Spool
« Reply #2 on: Mar 27, 2011, 08:17 AM »
I'm unsure.  I always thought the Browning ones were BPS remakes?

Slip bobber fishing and ice lounger.

Slipperybob's Wish to Fish and MN Dish...Journal

slipperybob

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Re: Lew's Speed Spool
« Reply #3 on: Apr 05, 2011, 10:19 PM »
I bought the Tournament Pro for the lightweight, but now I'm finding out just what kind of quality I should be expecting.  First off, I went to remove the spool to put some line on.  Out comes some metal shavings.  Looked inside the spool.  There are still metal shavings stuck on the ported cross drilled holes.  So I changed my mind about spooling some line on it.  I'm going to have to knock out those other metal shavings before I do that.  Next I checked the drag.  Well, the star drag doesn't work.   No clicking adjustments.  Three or four star wheel handle turns and it binds up.  I didn't even get a full rotation.  Something is not right.  So now I just crank the reel and listen closely.  Gosh, it's noisy.  No gear grind, that's all smooth, but obvious bearing or spool noise.  Brakes are set at zero, and it's very noisy.  I wasn't too impress with the Lew's rubber sticker on the palm plate.  It looks like it's about to peel off.   It also kind of rubs me wrong while palming it.  I had such high hopes for this reel.   Hoping to do better than my Curado 50E's first impressions out of the box.  This is very bad for a first impression. 

I guess, it's going to be a return.  Seriously bad luck or plain just made in Korea quaility control.
Slip bobber fishing and ice lounger.

Slipperybob's Wish to Fish and MN Dish...Journal

slipperybob

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Re: Lew's Speed Spool
« Reply #4 on: Apr 06, 2011, 10:54 AM »
Made the return and exchange. Now I have a working order reel.  This reel is seriously over lubed.  You can see the oil just seeping through the joints, screws, and seams.  A quick crank test in the quiet room and there's still obvious noise, eventhough it's smooth.  Maybe just spool and bearings.  A slight rattly noise, but no difference from other reels with gear spacing.

I thumbed down the spool to check the drag.  It was smooth at low ends, but catchy at halfway or more on the higher end.  There's only two full rotation of the star drag to go from no drag to practically max drag.  It's a rather small drag setting range.  I think it's a dry drag, at least it sounds very dry.  There's slight imperfections on the spool on the rims and the side walls.  My eye's couldn't see it, but my thumb can feel it.

Furthermore the instructions refers to a six brake shoes, but there is clearly only four.  Even the picture next to it shows four, so there's a little goof up on the instructions.

There is some gear spacing and the handle will show that too.  Turn the star drag and it becomes solid, no handle movement.

Now that I can sit down and feel the clicking adjustments better, I can definitely feel how cheap it is.  I opened the cast control knob and there's jus a plastic clicker in there.  I reckon the first reel with the broken clicker for the star drag was made of plastic as well that broke.  Now I'm not sure if I will be fishing this reel for ice fishing at all.

Opend the spool and looked inside of it.  No metal shavings falling out of it, but I still see small metal shavings still on the inside of the spool stuck right next to the ported holes.  Much smaller and barely noticeable, but still there.
Slip bobber fishing and ice lounger.

Slipperybob's Wish to Fish and MN Dish...Journal

slipperybob

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Re: Lew's Speed Spool
« Reply #5 on: Apr 06, 2011, 08:38 PM »
On to the spooling of line.  I've never been a real fan of a tapered spool wall.  So as I spool the reel up, it does stack the line a little more towards the sides.  This kind of cause unusual bulges, but as you fill the spool up, it goes away.  After some 12# mono backing to about halfway, I connected with some 10# Fireline to test the casting distance and ease of use.  It is to compare with the Curado 50E with 10# Fireline, since I was looking for a cheaper alternative with comparable specs.  At 1/2 oz, it was just slightly less casting distance, but easily gets 35 yards.  At 3/8 oz, it was very difficult to dial in.  I tried two brakes and 2 magnetic setting but lots of line problems.  I tried all four brakes and 2 magnetic setting, but still fighting line problems.  Bump the magnetic up to 4 and then got some decent casting distance of about shy 25 yards.  At 1/4 oz, it was nothing but disaster.  Spent all day casting with line problems and couldn't get any distance worth.  I could get like 10 yards a few instances.  Then as I got confident that I tried a long distance cast and then tangle central.  I had to cut the Fireline off.  First time ever, but I guess I cannot expect this reel to compete against the Curado 50E in the light lure category.

I've respooled with some Sufix 832 in 30# and retried with the 3/8 oz.  After several attempts, I've gotten it dialed in pretty good to not get any line overuns.  I'm getting a little over 25 yards at it.
Slip bobber fishing and ice lounger.

Slipperybob's Wish to Fish and MN Dish...Journal

slipperybob

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Re: Lew's Speed Spool
« Reply #6 on: Apr 07, 2011, 04:56 PM »
I've re-attempted the 1/4 oz bullet weight.  It came down to one click of the cast control knob to get line overrun or none.  I had to put some effort into the cast but I'm getting just a little over 20 yards with it now.  It's not bad but comparing to the CU50E with an effortless cast gets me about 25 yards.  The TP1SH is now dialed in decent.  It's a good competitor with the CU200E7, now.
Slip bobber fishing and ice lounger.

Slipperybob's Wish to Fish and MN Dish...Journal

slipperybob

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Re: Lew's Speed Spool
« Reply #7 on: Nov 29, 2011, 05:36 AM »
After some light seasonal use of the reel, the drag star clicker is now pretty much shot.  It barely clicks.  Also notice that the reel has begun to show a slight slow down in overall performance. 
Slip bobber fishing and ice lounger.

Slipperybob's Wish to Fish and MN Dish...Journal

slipperybob

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Re: Lew's Speed Spool
« Reply #8 on: Apr 02, 2015, 06:19 AM »
Gosh, I didn't realize it's been this long already.  Still have the reel.  The plastic drag star has cracked and no clicks left on it.  I've kind of retired it to back up or standby.  Still the reel works.  Will bring it out now and then.

Slip bobber fishing and ice lounger.

Slipperybob's Wish to Fish and MN Dish...Journal

slipperybob

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Re: Lew's Speed Spool
« Reply #9 on: Jul 01, 2015, 03:01 AM »
I took the reel out for some casting with various lures.  I guess no matter how well I clean and lube the bearings, I just can't seem to get it back to its original out of the box performance in casting distance.  Not sure how else to tweak it.  I wonder if I should ever go back to use some Quantum Hot Sauce, but I am not a fan of red lubricant.

Anyway I turned all centrifugal brakes off and went about half magnetic, five.  Got a few backlash while lure was in middle of casting flight.  Might have caught air currents or just the problem with 20# braid.  I did have the spool full.  Maybe that may have contributed to the backlash as well.  The reel is also exhibiting signs of sluggish resistance once I dial in the settings for cast control.  Mostly the spool tension knob has the influence.  In part free cranking is very smooth, but resistance is felt progressively as soon as the spool tension is adjusted to compensate for lure weight.

Sadly my Shimano Citica 200E' s are performing smoother and casting further.
Slip bobber fishing and ice lounger.

Slipperybob's Wish to Fish and MN Dish...Journal

 



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