SV Spool: Fault and Remedy

The new SV shallow spool by Daiwa comes stock with 2 reels, namely the Steez and T3 SV.

I'm lucky enough to get my hands on a piece from the first production batch for my Ryoga 1016H.

After some time of usage, a design fault surfaced which greatly reduced my casting distance as well as consistency.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered where the fault lies.



It is caused by 2 factors:

1) Excessive tolerence space between the main spool shaft and the rotor's guide.

2) Plastic rotor's guide not rigid enough.


I will not go into details of how Daiwa's magnetic brake works. There's more than enough information on this topic if anyone cares to do an online search. Will only give a brief idea of how it works below:

In short, the spool's induction rotor is suppose to extend into the magnets at the very first moment a cast is made due to the centrifugal force generated.

This is to prevent backlashes resulting from the rod's loading action when casting: Initial burst of force when releasing thumb on a low brake setting will almost guarantee backlashes.

The design fault that I discovered had actually crippled the spool's performance.

What happens is that when a forceful loaded cast is made, the induction rotor naturally extends outward. No problem here.

Thing is, it will sometimes get stuck at it's outward position not being able to retract back.

This is caused by the 'foot' of the induction rotor cap digging into the freeplay space between the guide and main spool shaft resulting in a stuck rotor.

Users who face this problem will know what I'm talking about here.

Noobs might not even be able to detect anything wrong with their SV spools.

Ignorance is blissful indeed...



My remedy is simple yet effective.

What I did was to fill up the said excessive space using a tiny piece of polycarbonate sheet.


And of course, you can send the spool back to Daiwa and try to explain to them the design fault.
Be prepared for a loooooooong wait though.

That is, if they will even admit their flawed R&D and remedy it for you at all...

If they do this, they will have to recall all SV1000 spools on this planet and replace them with new improved ones, not to mention the money and reputation at stake here.


Do not be put down by this minor fault though.
The SV1000 spool is easily the best performing spool upgrade option by Daiwa till date.

For those who trusts their own hands, here's a pictorial walkthrough to guide you along:

First is to remove the induction rotor by extracting the 'C' clip which holds everything together. 

What you will get is the 'C' clip itself, 2 identical washers, a soft strength spring and the induction rotor.

Do not lose any of the small parts, especially when removing the 'C' clip.

See the arrowed gap? 
It's the main culprit of all this hassle.
The excessive tolerance freeplay gap will trap the rotor's footing rendering it stuck in activation position.

This photo shows the rotor's guide.
Turn the spool over to the other side, use a pen's tip and push the 2 'black dots' to remove the guide.
The 'black dots' are actually the guide's footing.

This is how the guide looks like up close.

I fashioned the 'gap filler' from a braided line's packaging which is made from polycarbonate sheet.
In case anyone wants to know, it came from Sufix 832's packaging.

Squeeze a droplet of super glue onto something and apply a coat on the insides of the guide by using a toothpick.
DO NOT apply super glue to the guide directly.
It's way too much!

Fit the polycarbonate piece into the guide and allow plenty of time to let the glue set.
Next, slowly shave away the excessive polycarbonate piece with a very sharp crafting knife.

Slowly shave it off bit by bit instead of cutting off the whole chunk.

After it's shaved to the same dimension as the guide, slot it back into the spool shaft along with everything else. 
Again, take care not to lose anything in the process.
Be extra careful with the 'C' clip: it is difficult to put it back in as taking it out due to it's small size.

Problem easily solved!

Even with a bugging girlfriend at my side...   lol