Hardy Conquest help ?

[Tony]

Hi

I acquired a Hardy Conquest, dial on the backplate, a few months back. It was initially fairly tired looking and would only spin for 5 or 6 seconds at best.

I backed off the brake shoe (if this is the correct term) and gave it a clean up and a relube only for it to make a real grinding noise! I decided to flush it out using carburettor cleaner and cleared a load of gunk out plus a hair! This seemed to have done the trick with the noise and would spin for over a minute after the initial clean, but before adding a drop or two of sewing machine oil. On adding the oil she would only spin for say 20 seconds or so.

I gave it a flush out again with the carburettor cleaner, with same result. Spinning it dry without oil and she spins like a dream. As soon as I add any oil sparingly it brings the time of the spin down to 20 seconds or so.

I don’t want to get hung up on how long she spins for but feel I’m missing something .... I feel she should run longer than 20 seconds but would be reluctant to run it without any oil.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Tony

[Watermole+]

As long as the reel spins freely, that is a that matters. The most important thing is that it has a low start-up inertia, in other words, it pays out line at the slightest provocation if required.

There is absolutely no fishing requirement that requires any reel to spin for minutes on end, if you think about it. For some strange reason, many feel this is essential, but it is in fact, entirely unnecessary and only serves to wear out the spindle and bush quicker that it would normally do.

The best thing is to forget about reel spinning marathons. If it will run nicely with the brake fully off, that is all you need. I usually fish with a small degree of brake on-to prevent the reel from emptying itself at my feet!

Just keep it clean, oiled and enjoy it.

wm+

[BoltonBullfinch]

Words of great wisdom from the reel master.

Thanks
BB

[Liphook]

Indeed. I see similar infatuation regularly with tournament field casters bragging about reels that run for minutes on end. What they don't often mention is having to have them maxed out with magnetic brakes when casting! Reels can run way too fast even for 200m plus casting with 150g or 175g, never mind a trotting reel for 20m Wallis casts.
WM+ what are your thoughts on dry graphite lubricants?

[ReelMaker]

I have some oil for lubricating electric razors and that is a really fine oil,you can buy small bottles on ebay ,give that a try.Reelmaker.

[Tengisgol]

She'll be fine out on the bank I promise!

[Pallenpool]

An overly free running pin can be a pain in the proverbial - a controllable pin is the order of the day - 20 seconds plus some lube you will have a completely usable and excellent reel.

[Watermole+]

WM+ what are your thoughts on dry graphite lubricants?

From experience, I have only ever used these for improving shooting on ranges. A long time ago now, I did read that they would improve the performance of rifles and pistols, where consistency has a direct bearing on long range accuracy and bought a tin of "Dri-slide" if I recall the name correctly. It was necessary to remove all traces of conventional oils first with solvent degreaser and put this on, which was supposed to make the rifle bolt slip faster and thus give better performance. It did work OK but was not so good that improvement was noticeable on 600 yard ranges..

As far as fishing reels are concerned, you do get improved competitive casting distance with multipliers fitted with ceramic bearings as free-floating spools can run at 30,000 RPM within seconds of line release, but again, it is vital to thoroughly degrease first.

It might be good with ball-bearing reels but with conventional, freshwater centrepins, I wouldn't like to say.. It goes agin the grain to remove normal oil from a reel which leaves it prone to attack by damp and corrosion and whether it would improve your casting or not is debatable..

Sorry I cannot be more informative..

wm+

[Liphook]

You are always informative WM+ ! I'm not a highly skilled engineer like yourself, but do lots of tinkering with all kinds of tackle. The dry ceramic bearings have certainly made a mark on the casting court but they do scream a bit! As you'll know most are tamed with big mono mag breaking systems that are backed off manually as the cast goes away (though an interesting alternative take on this is the Magnofuge system developed by Daiwa). Interesting that you mention range shooting as I practice FT with various calibres, mostly 30-06 Springfield / .338 Lap.Mag. The 1st time I came across commercial graphite lubricants for sale in a shop was actually for use on bicycle gear trains! With "true 'pins" I've always used plain sewing machine oil. What do you recommend?

[Nobby]

Is it just possible that this reel has so little clearance inside it that a film of oil is adding friction, rather than reducing it?

The Conquest is unique, I believe, in having no adjustable end float. I did have one once that was just too snug and I recall having to move the copper centre to the dome on the spool a little.

I think I did it by a short sharp blow with a block of wood onto a socket spanner knocking the spool onto the reel back, thus causing the copper part to be pulled outwards upon striking the top of the centrepin shaft.

This has the added bonus of causing the copper to deform to the exact shape of the damed top of the centrepin.

A bit drastic but nothing else was working....and on this occasion it did do the trick.