goodentight
Steelhead Master
As some of you know, I have been a Okuma Aventa 1002 advocate from day 1. I got my pin 2 years ago in August. I have fished approx 150 days between salmon run of 2011, fall/spring steel of 11/12, salmon 2012, and fall/winter/spring steel of 12/13. Thats alot of days to be out on one "intro" pin. And I am more than amazed at how it held up. Zero maintenance, zero problems.
At the end of steel season here, a week ago, I got a grain of sand in my pin for laying my reel down at one point. Great. It sounded like I was mixing cement. I went into the shop I respect more than any of the rest, Tightline, and they told me to just take it apart carefully and flush everything out with water. It usually does the trick.
So there I am at home, open it up, flush it all out. Put it back together, It is spinning well again. Until I realize I didn't put it back together properly, and have lost the rubber O-ring. Reel still "functions" but clicker works 25% of the time now and it is a tiny bit loose. For someone who has 43 days out in 2013 alone, something as small as that really pissed me off. NO ONE TO GET MAD AT HERE EXCEPT MYSELF. I recognize that. This is where OKUMA comes in afterwards.
I email Okuma. Tell them all I need is one tiny rubber O-Ring to get my pin running good as new again. I exchange the merits of witty banter in hopes the guy will just send me the one damn piece. I get a response, a WEEK later, simply stating they are unable to send me the part, and my best bet it to deal with some shop in ORILLIA. Which is over an hour from my place. Like hell I am driving the best part of 3 hours round trip to buy a $1 part. Extremely dissatisfied with OKUMA that they wouldnt just hook it up. It's not even the money. I'd have paid 20$ if it meant they would ship it to me, the hassle was over, and my pin was great again.
So I hit the water today with my half ass pin and got way to frustrated way to quick. I did some extensive research, and found this site. http://www.mikesreelrepair.com it has I think every part for every fishing equipment piece out there. Crazy. So I found my Okuma Aventa O-ring for $0.99. Boom. I about about to place my order after this post.
Finally, going to give a shout out to http://www.bocabearings.com as what seems to be the most legitimate company for replacement center pin bearings. I can get the best available, abec7 bearings for my aventa for $30 bucks. So between the 0-ring and 2 bearings, for $31+ship, I am going to have a reel faster than lightning.
After OKUMA screwed me I really started looking at "the next purchase" but you know what? A centerpin is just bearings on a pin. I really can't justify dropping 350 on an islander or 550 on a R2 if I will be just as happy with a $31 upgrade. I'll post as my purchases come in and let you know how it all goes. Good thing steel season is over and this happened when It did, and I have the summer to figure it out.
At the end of steel season here, a week ago, I got a grain of sand in my pin for laying my reel down at one point. Great. It sounded like I was mixing cement. I went into the shop I respect more than any of the rest, Tightline, and they told me to just take it apart carefully and flush everything out with water. It usually does the trick.
So there I am at home, open it up, flush it all out. Put it back together, It is spinning well again. Until I realize I didn't put it back together properly, and have lost the rubber O-ring. Reel still "functions" but clicker works 25% of the time now and it is a tiny bit loose. For someone who has 43 days out in 2013 alone, something as small as that really pissed me off. NO ONE TO GET MAD AT HERE EXCEPT MYSELF. I recognize that. This is where OKUMA comes in afterwards.
I email Okuma. Tell them all I need is one tiny rubber O-Ring to get my pin running good as new again. I exchange the merits of witty banter in hopes the guy will just send me the one damn piece. I get a response, a WEEK later, simply stating they are unable to send me the part, and my best bet it to deal with some shop in ORILLIA. Which is over an hour from my place. Like hell I am driving the best part of 3 hours round trip to buy a $1 part. Extremely dissatisfied with OKUMA that they wouldnt just hook it up. It's not even the money. I'd have paid 20$ if it meant they would ship it to me, the hassle was over, and my pin was great again.
So I hit the water today with my half ass pin and got way to frustrated way to quick. I did some extensive research, and found this site. http://www.mikesreelrepair.com it has I think every part for every fishing equipment piece out there. Crazy. So I found my Okuma Aventa O-ring for $0.99. Boom. I about about to place my order after this post.
Finally, going to give a shout out to http://www.bocabearings.com as what seems to be the most legitimate company for replacement center pin bearings. I can get the best available, abec7 bearings for my aventa for $30 bucks. So between the 0-ring and 2 bearings, for $31+ship, I am going to have a reel faster than lightning.
After OKUMA screwed me I really started looking at "the next purchase" but you know what? A centerpin is just bearings on a pin. I really can't justify dropping 350 on an islander or 550 on a R2 if I will be just as happy with a $31 upgrade. I'll post as my purchases come in and let you know how it all goes. Good thing steel season is over and this happened when It did, and I have the summer to figure it out.
