Reel Modifications

[ShakieHead]

I have 6 Abu Garcia Revo Prm's. Love these reels but they are missing the one thing that makes them perfect to me. Power Handles. I hate the short 92mm handle on them. I have been trying to find larger handles without going with then cheap set most of your major retailors carry, want to keep the high end look going. Just wondering if anyone has change the handles out on these. I was thinking of going with the Smoke handles and just puting the knobs off the revo handle on them or going with the Carbon Fiber handles a company called Mikes Reel Repair makes but its in Canada and I'm looking at a 6-8 week wait on shipping and they are 50.00pcs. I can get the smoke handles for 42.69 without nut and locker. Anyone have any idea on a route I could go with this?

Thanks
Josh

 

[JB]

Re: Reel Modifications

Hi, Josh.

Welcome to iboats.

Give the Revo handle to a machine shop's toolmaker and tell him/her what you want. You will probably end up with the best handles known to man.

 

[River_Lizard]

Re: Reel Modifications

Have you tried to contact Abu Garcia tech service and ask if they make a power handle that will fit on the Revo?

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Reel Modifications

Abu 7000 reels use a single paddle power handle, don't know if they would fit a Revo though.

At one time Okuma offered a free power handle if you bought an Induron reel, I bought a couple of them and got the power handles. The nut cover is a piece of plastic and kind of cheeky, but the handle is pretty nice. You could try their parts dept and see if they have any of the Induron power handles left over, along with the nut cover. (I can measure the shaft hole, if you want to see if it will fit your Revo)

It's on the gold reel.

 

[ShakieHead]

Re: Reel Modifications

Thanks for the replys. I contacted Abu Garcia and the only thing that they have to offer is the power handles off the Revo Winch, which looks the same handles bass pro sales just cheap. They also have the MGX handles but they are the same size as the prm handles 92mm. The great thing is all your reels are made pretty much the same. The only company that uses a different size nut and shaft is Shimano. I called Bass Pro Rod and Reel Repair parts department, and they said they could get any part for any reel for me, so I think I'm gonna order 2 Smoke handles and see how they work out, and go play with some other reels and see if I can find some handles that I like. I will keep you guys posted on how they workout maybe some pics when I get them.

Josh

 

[ShakieHead]

Re: Reel Modifications

Well I thought I would update and show pics. I bought two quantum smoke handles and all the parts to them. I am really pleased with the handles and the service I recieved from Quantum/Zebco Brand. So heres some eye candy and if anyone is interested in two abu garcia revo prm handles with knobs and all hardware Pm me or let me know.

Before

After

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Reel Modifications

Looks like it worked out well. How much longer are the Quantum handles?

 

[dingbat]

Re: Reel Modifications

Looks like a good way to strip the gears out of the reel.

 

[ShakieHead]

Re: Reel Modifications

Looks like it worked out well. How much longer are the Quantum handles?

The stock handles measure 4in knob to knob the Smoke handles measure 4.5in. Doesnt seem like much but made a world of difference.

 

[ShakieHead]

Re: Reel Modifications

Looks like a good way to strip the gears out of the reel.

I'm curious to how this could strip the gears. The only thing changed was handles nut and cap. Nothing done to drag, washer, gears, etc. Spoke with BPS Rod and Reel Repair before doing it and said that there would be no problem with it. A company called Pure Fishing makes all the reels for quantum, abu garcia, bps brand, and many more, they all come out of the same plant, so all parts are interchangable except shimano. So I'm curious to how this could be a problem. Please explain.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Reel Modifications

I?m Mechanical Engineer by profession and I run a custom rod and reel shop on the side. If I had a $ for every striped gears I've replaced in the past 10 years from power handles I could have retired a while ago.

I am sorry, but 80% of the people I?ve talked with or know at Bass Pro don?t have a clue what they are talking about. They will tell you anything to sell you something something.

Torque = Force x Radius. You went from a 2? radius to a 2.25? radius, which is a 12% increase in torque right off. The fact that you can now get a better grip, and thus apply additional force, adds on top the 12%. Now you thrown the fact that a 6:1 ratio is pushing the boundaries of best practice gear design.Iit all adds up to not such a good idea.

Pure fishing makes the Walmart and Bass Pro Abu Garcia reels but I can assure you that the good Abu stuff is still built in Sweden. The Record and Ambassador C3 as well as the International series are built in Sweden.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Reel Modifications

I can see what dingbat is saying, but don't think you are going to hurt the reel,,, unless you abuse it. Hook up on big fish after big fish, straight grinding them back to the boat, and the longer handle will find the weak points of the reel. But, if you play the fish with the rod and pick up slack line with the reel, the longer handle won't hurt anything. Reeling in bass, pike, musky, etc, is a lot different than the saltwater species dingbat and his friends are chasing after, or how they are landing the fish.

I like longer handles to slow down my presentation as I don't have think "slow down", it just comes natural. With the short handle I was always reeling too fast, unless I made a conscious effort to reel slow. Also, if you are using lures with a lot of water resistance, the power handle will make them easier to crank in. For the same lure speed, the same amount of force is being applied to the gears, but it's easier for the fisherman to turn the longer handle. Of course you could pull the lure faster, with the longer handle, applying more force to the gears, thus striping out the gears. But, that gives you a good reason to upgrade equipment...

I've never heard a fisherman complain they had too much fishing equipment wives maybe but not the fisherman :facepalm:

 

[dingbat]

Re: Reel Modifications

Reeling in bass, pike, musky, etc, is a lot different than the saltwater species dingbat and his friends are chasing after, or how they are landing the fish.

There is absolutely no difference. A #10 jack supporting a #5 car is loaded no more loaded than a #40 jack supporting a #20 car. Both are supporting 50% of their rated loads.

Reeling in bass, pike, musky, etc, is a lot different than the saltwater species dingbat and his friends are chasing after, or how they are landing the fish.

You got me scratching my head here. What is different?

 

[scipper77]

Re: Reel Modifications

My opinion on this matter is that if better mechanical advantage results in a more aggressive drag setting then the gears are naturally seeing increased wear. Or if you were to catch a fish that would not have been able to take any drag with the smaller handle, the longer handle will produce more force on the gears.

In any event I feel strongly that being informed of risks and rewards is what really matters here.

Keep the reel clean and lubricated and never abuse the setup and I'm sure you will be just fine.

I would guess superlines cause way more stripped gears than long handles. I mean I use 30# test on a reel that would never see more than 12# with mono.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Reel Modifications

I would guess superlines cause way more stripped gears than long handles. I mean I use 30# test on a reel that would never see more than 12# with mono.

Braids have no affect on a reels available torque or the drag system. The only way you could damage a reel using heavier line (braid) is if you modified the drag to exceed the design capabilities of the gears or you locked up the drag for whatever reason.

The biggest culprit of stripping gears is people using the reel as a winch. If I had dollar every time I see someone cranking the handle against the pull of a fish I could have retired by now.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Reel Modifications

Braids have no affect on a reels available torque or the drag system.

But having 30# line allows you to set the drag much "tighter" than 12#. Weather "winching" in or letting the fish take the drag, more drag is harder on the gears.

O.K. I thought about this a little more and you are absolutely correct dingbat (I am also a Mechanical Engineer), when reeling against drag the strain causes lubrication to fail in the (moving) gears. Stationary gears see no friction (Dynamic friction at least) so there is no opportunity for heat to build to to inadequate lubrication. The drag system is designed to carry off the heat of friction.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Reel Modifications

Reeling in bass, pike, musky, etc, is a lot different than the saltwater species dingbat and his friends are chasing after, or how they are landing the fish.

There is absolutely no difference. A #10 jack supporting a #5 car is loaded no more loaded than a #40 jack supporting a #20 car. Both are supporting 50% of their rated loads.


You got me scratching my head here. What is different?

The biggest culprit of stripping gears is people using the reel as a winch. If I had dollar every time I see someone cranking the handle against the pull of a fish I could have retired by now.

That's the difference...

I don't think I have ever seen anyone "winching in fish" freshwater fishing, but see it all the time saltwater fishing. Get 30 guys on a boat, 30 lines in the water, and you need to get the fish on the deck ASAP, so the fish doesn't get tangled up with everyone elses line. If the fish isn't pulling line off the reel, you need to be reeling it in, even if it's slowly, you need to be working the fish into the boat, not trying to play the fish into the boat. This is reeling against a hard pulling fish, high load on the reel. I'm not saying all saltwater fishermen do this, just saying "winchin' fish" is more common in saltwater, than freshwater.

Even at that, is all comes down to load (IE: car jack). I grind in fish all the time, if appropriate. When I'm "dink" striper fishing I grind them up all night long, not much of a battle reeling up a 1-2-3# fish on a 15# rig,,, where that same 15# rig could catch a 20+# fish. (Why use a 15# rig, abrasion resistance, don't have to re-tie that often.) This would be like using a 3 ton floor jack to support my kids bicycle....

For the OP, I don't think he's going to have a problem with the longer handle,,, unless he's tying off to the bumper of a school bus...

 

[R Socey]

Re: Reel Modifications

The way I look at it is, no matter how much leverage you have, if you set your drag loosely enough, it will negate the pressure on the gears. On the other hand, if you increase the drag so the line does not play out, then when you cranked down the pessure on the gears would dramatically increase - it's all in the drag.