# Daiwa Caldia



## Oldandslow

Hi guys, I thought I would share my experience with the Daiwa Caldia so that prospective buyers may have a better understanding of the reels good and bad points.

To start with I am not new at this game, I have been fishing and servicing my own equipment for more than 45 years so have a pretty good understanding of how to treat high quality reels. I have over 30 reels in my cupboard from most of the major manufacturers ranging from the smallest baitcasters to large game reels.

I purchased two Caldia's, one a 2506 and the other a 2004 both from a Japanese online shop. The 2004 was perfect when it arrived, very smooth and a delight to use, the 2506 was nice but not as smooth as the 2004. The reason I chose the Caldia's was mainly because of their claim that their magseal system would prevent any water entering the reel should the reel be accidentally dunked, a real possibility when fishing from a yak. A Youtube clip was very impressive and sealed the deal for me. Their claim of using high quality anti rust bearings was also appealing.

Fast forward to the week before Christmas when the inevitable happened and the 2506 was submerged in saltwater when returning from an outside yak trip. As soon as I got home the reel was submerged in fresh water to rinse as much of the salt water off as I could without actually pulling the reel down. Normally I would just strip it down immediately, clean it out and all would be good. The problem with the Caldia is that the magseal can not be dismantled because Daiwa will not sell the ferrofluid used in the magseal to the general public. My only option was to send it to the Dawia Australia service center.

I immediately called the Daiwa Australia service center and explained the situation to one of their techs. Being the week before Christmas I was concerned that my reel would be sitting on the shelf for a while before they could get to it. The tech said they would not get to it before Christmas but any damage would already have been done so there was no need to hurry in pulling it apart. I thought great, they must really be corrosion resistant and I had chosen well.

I received a call from the service center today (15/01/2014) and the news was not good. The tech explained that the salt water had reached the internals of the reel and caused heavy corrosion. The repair quote was $240 for a reel I can buy new for $205 delivered to my door. The tech said that all the bearings would need to be replaced despite the fact that they are "anti rust bearings" as well as the gears. He said the problem was that the delay in opening the reel had given the corrosion time to develop despite the assurances from the original tech I spoke to. Obviously the reel is being returned as is.

My 2004 Caldia will now be used from the shore only until I can source some suitable ferrofluid for the magseal just in case it also cops a dunking.

I will replace the 2506 but not with another Daiwa, there are a lot of good reels out there that are user friendly when it comes to servicing and I will be getting one of them.

I have had plenty of reels that have been dropped into saltwater and not one of them has ever required one part being replaced. Not being able to service the magseal on the Daiwa reels leaves consumers at the mercy of Daiwa's service centers which is a great for them but not for the consumer.

The Caldia is a very nice reel to use but there is no way I would recommend them for Kayak fishing and I will never again buy a reel with a magseal system.


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## Dave73

Very relevant post and thanks for sharing.

I have an old model Caldia Kix 3000 and it's gone through hell and back, great workhorse.

We all like flash reels with many bearings but servicing them can be most costly.
Out there servicing costs of that magnitude isn't nice on the wallet.

Cheers Dave


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## paulb

Very Interesting - I've had one of the original Caldia Kix 4000's, for at least 6 years and it's been used extensively and dunked multiple times. I've occasionally strip and greased it and usually spray it with water. It's finally given up the ghost with the anti-reverse gearing rusting out. For better or worse, I've never had it serviced.

So....... I was very happy for it to have lasted this long and was all set to buy one of the new models, until I read this post............ Maybe I'll try and find another of the non 'mag sealed' versions and keep my old one for spares..


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## Oldandslow

Thought I should give an update regarding my Caldia 2506.

I received the reel back from the Daiwa Service Center yesterday and decided to pull it down even though they told me the corrosion in side was such that repairing it would cost more than a new reel. I couldn't just throw it in the bin because from the outside the reel looked new.

When I opened it up I got quite a surprise, there was no sign of corrosion and no evidence of water even entering the internal workings of the reel.

I carefully checked all bearings, removing the shields showed no signs of water and the original grease was still in place.

The gears were nice and shiny and the inside of the casing looked just like it did when it left the factory.

The anti reverse clutch was not turning smoothly and a couple of the rollers looked like they had a scuff mark on them so I cleaned it out with a solvent and it worked perfectly.

The handle knob felt a bit rough but when I pulled it apart the bearing was fine, it was just a bit of fine sand in the grease around the bush where the knob fits onto the handle, a clean and lube and it was fine.

The bail roller and bail arm also felt like there was grit in them so I cleaned them out and re oiled them and they felt like new.

When re assembled the reel felt great. When new the reel was never as smooth as my 2004 Caldia but now it is, I think the anti reverse clutch may have had a problem from new that was rectified when I cleaned it out.

As for the $240 repair quote from the Daiwa Service Center I am not sure what to think. When I sent it in it did feel rough but I now know that this was caused by a combination of the anti reverse clutch and the sand in the handle knob, both easily fixed. I think their diagnosis of severe corrosion was an assumption going on the feel of the reel because had they opened it up they would have seen there was no corrosion. It would seem to me that they just took a worst case scenario and quoted on replacing everything.

The magseal was a non issue and appeared to do its job.

My problem now is going to be explaining to my wife why I just bought a new Shimano Stradic to replace the Caldia when there is nothing wrong with the Caldia.


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## Scott

CAV said:


> As for the reel have you taken it back to the service centre, because I would be and I also would be tearing the deadshit who quote me $240 to replace the reel, a new arsehole for not doing his job right, then once that is done, a nasty letter to Diawa about their piss poor service centre.


I couldn't agree more. Many years ago i used to run the Penn service centre in NSW and we never did a quote without a complete strip down. So many times all things needed was a run through the ultrasonic bath to remove sand ect and they were fine without the mindless lets just replace everything approach. Knowing the margins we use to make on spare parts, it would be a profitable business for Dawia to do as they did to you.


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## robsea

A most interesting post, oldandslow. Glad to know that your curiosity and experience discovered the error in the service department's diagnosis. I assume that having stripped the reel down to investigate the condition of the internals means that you no longer have the ferro fluid in place. If this is the case, surely Daiwa Australia ought to make the fluid replacement available to you at their cost.

I bought a certate 2004 based on the magseel hype. The outcome of your experience with Daiwa will certainly be remembered by me when I make my next reel purchase. Thanks again for the post and if you can let us know whether you will use the Caldia without the fluid or whether Daiwa will admit its mistake and make good for you.

Cheers

Rob


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## Oldandslow

robsea said:


> A most interesting post, oldandslow. Glad to know that your curiosity and experience discovered the error in the service department's diagnosis. I assume that having stripped the reel down to investigate the condition of the internals means that you no longer have the ferro fluid in place. If this is the case, surely Daiwa Australia ought to make the fluid replacement available to you at their cost.
> 
> I bought a certate 2004 based on the magseel hype. The outcome of your experience with Daiwa will certainly be remembered by me when I make my next reel purchase. Thanks again for the post and if you can let us know whether you will use the Caldia without the fluid or whether Daiwa will admit its mistake and make good for you.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Rob


G'day Rob, the ferrofluid was still in place when I disassembled the reel. On the Caldia it is a very simple system and the fluid stays in place when the magnet is removed. There would only be a couple of drops or less in the seal.


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## hijacker

hi all
had the same issue with my emeraldas infeet 2506(worth $200 new!)....exactly same senario....$150 for bearing kit only :shock: 
(4 bearings +anti reverse needle roller bearing),
also woudnt sell me anti reverse bearing on its own.
cleaned and doused bearings works just like new,also inards show no corrosion.

your not the only one they have tried to dupe.(and i'm being nice)

its why all my reels are another brand

IMO Daiwa suck


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## Oldandslow

"You have 30 odd reels, will she really notice?

As for the reel have you taken it back to the service centre, because I would be and I also would be tearing the deadshit who quote me $240 to replace the reel, a new arsehole for not doing his job right, then once that is done, a nasty letter to Diawa about their piss poor service centre."

I just did a count and I am down to 29 reels, I sold a couple of large game reels and gave away a heap of old spinning reels and yes my wife did notice I bought the Stradic. When it comes to spending money wives always know. No, I won't be taking the reel back to Daiwa but I will learn from the experience and will let others know as well.


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