# Carbontex Washers and New Bearings



## mackyE (Jul 7, 2006)

Hi

I have been doing a lot of research on "pimping" my 12 year old Abu 6500c4, there have been a few posts over the years but thaough I would update some of the info for those who want some upgraded parts for old Abu's/Shimanos etc.

The parts I wanted are for my Abu, but you can find other parts from the web pages listed,

Bearings - Cheapest by far for us in Aus is 
www.hobbyparts.com.au at Wecker Rd Mansfield Qld,
lots and lots of bearings , ceramic bearing for ABu 4000-6000 is $9.20AUS vs $13-15 in the US, supposed to be a brilliant mod.

www.mikesreelrepair.com 
Cheapest place i could find to buy carbontex washers for my Abu $8.65 US, www.smoothdrag is only 50c more and cheaper post

The Calcutta 200 carbontex washers are only $3.65US from mikes reel repair !!! and are $6 US from smoothdrag.
Mikes reel repair also have a ball bearing idler gear upgrade for only $8.95 us , Ceramic pawl for the abus is $5.95US

dadsoletackle on ebay sells some parts, they have the 2 bearing worm gear gear upgrade for the abus for $33 Aus and free postage which is cheaper than anywhere else I could find,

Some parts will be cheaper direct from abu from the tackle shop I imagine, but most of these parts are not ABU originals.

Anyway for $18 for the ceramic bearings. $12 for the Carbontex washers, $6 for a pawl and $12 for the ball bearing idler gear will be less than $50 for a complete overhall of a great reel to better than new.

Will report on how the mods go after they are finished.

Cheers


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## Redfish (Apr 25, 2007)

nice info! I've put new bearings and carbontex in my old 6500 synchro. Will look at doing a few more mods now!


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## pescado (May 17, 2007)

Hey Macky

Jack erskine is the man for your carbonex washers, got a set for my cutta with some cals grease....smoooooooth as ;-)

http://jackerskine.com/dragfrictionwashers.html


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## mattyoga (Mar 30, 2008)

I've just done a similar thing on a 6500c3 and 5600c4 - the carbontex with some cals drag grease are fantastic - very smooth and adjustable.

I've also taken a little off the spool side edge of nylon gear thats fits into the non drive side of the spool (drives clicker and levelwind) as this often rubs up against the bearing - the 6500 casts like a dream, though the 5600 does not - even with abec 7 ceramic bearings lubed with rocket fuel - think the level wind mechanism may be the culprit so will strip that down and have a look next.

Have fun pimping - will be interested to hear how you go.

Cheers
Matt


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## mackyE (Jul 7, 2006)

I was in a bit of a hurry , here are part number details for the Abu 4000-6000 series, basically 4500/5500/5600/6500 for the last 20 years.

To check you reel for part numbers, look at the first few numbers from the reel foot and go to

http://www.abugarcia.com/product_schematic.php

Nearly all models use the #20907 washers except the syncro models which use the #15094

Abu 5500CA (Abu #20907) Set of 4 $9.00 fits nearly all c3/c4 models 4000-6000

Abu 053-B (10271 & 15094) Set of 2 $6.50 syncro models

http://www.smoothdrag.com/price.html lots of reels listed besides Abu's

FYI these are the same ones Jack Erskine sells.

here is the link to the new gear idler bearing mod, hard to get much information about it except that it is supposed to fit nearly all 5000-6000 reels, looking at my plastic gear it does not spin easily so seem a good idea.

http://www.mikesreelrepair.com/product_ ... s_id=71271 $8.95US

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Abu-Garcia-Ambas ... 286.c0.m14 $11.95us

For Bearings, the 4 x 10 x 4 (abu part #13472 2x bearings in spool) are part # smr104a-zzmc4-af-12 from hobby supplies

http://www.minibearings.com.au/catalogu ... arings.pdf

the 3 x 10 x 4 bearings for the older abu's with the bearing pushed in the side casing (abu #5230) instead of the spool is s623-csn-t9h-zzs-af12, this also fits my calcutta.

the bearing that gets the most wear and tear is the bearing holding the wormgear in the level wind (abu #21680), it is a 3 x 7mm part number 683a-zzmc3 and only cost $3-4 ea

Abu ceramic Pawl $4.99us

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Abu-Garcia-Ambas ... 286.c0.m14

dual bearing worm gear upgrade
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Abu-Garcia-Ambas ... 286.c0.m14 $33 US

i will add more info as I find it

cheers


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## mattyoga (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks - thats great info - I can't find the wormgear bearing:
"the bearing that gets the most wear and tear is the bearing holding the wormgear in the level wind (abu #21680), it is a 3 x 7mm part number 683a-zzmc3 and only cost $3-4 ea"

Think that sprolly where my prolem lies with the 5600 as it had to other stuffed bearings when I got - the bushed 6500 outperforms a stuffed bearing on the 5600c4 - wonder whether its more reliable to go from c4 to c3 and stick a bush back in - that bearing will always get exposed to alot of salt water and fail I'm guessing.?

Any ideas where to source replacement bearing/bush in Aus?

Cheers
Matt

ps I've found Mikes Tackle to be good for shipping in stock parts - though if you get on a dreaded back order it can tkae ages with litlle comms from them on status- I now cancel backordered components with them if that occurs as I've waited 2 months in the past and then cancelled as one back ordered item was holding up 6 stock items from being shipped.


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## mackyE (Jul 7, 2006)

Hi

The 3 x 7mm bearing for the level wind worm gear is part 683a-zzmc3 from hobbyparts at Mansfield, I could not find it in the list so I had to take my old one in.

You can get them from ebay dadsoletackle for about $2 US.

I just bought the ceramic pawls ,some small spares and a dual bearing level wind upgrade. I am seeing if dadsoletackle will do a better deal on the idler gear upgrade,they have it on ebay for $11.95us and its $8.99 us from Mikes Reel Repair. The ebay shop has the carbontex washer sets for my 6500c4 only $6.99 but its 3 washers not the 4 washers the smoothdrag and mikes repair sells but still pretty good.

I am putting an order in today, if you want anything from them I can add them to the order and send them to you in Aus and save a few $$ postage.


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

You've got some great prices there and the ABU's are nice and easy to mod up.

The duel bearing worm gear wasnt a great mod in my opinion, mainly cause the ball bearings weren't very corrosion resistant and rusted pretty quick. Don't think they did much in the first place. Can you get ceramic ball bearings for the worm gear?

The bearings for the spool and the drag washers are definitely worth getting, makes a huge difference. Also if you can get a modern "V" spool with the 6 centrifugal brakes, its worth up dating.


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## mackyE (Jul 7, 2006)

Hi



> The duel bearing worm gear wasnt a great mod in my opinion, mainly cause the ball bearings weren't very corrosion resistant and rusted pretty quick. Don't think they did much in the first place. Can you get ceramic ball bearings for the worm gear?


Yeah I heard the same thing, the bearings are very exposed and get corroded pretty easily, I tried taking out the plastic drive gear for the level wind and the difference in how the spool spun was amazing so there is a lot of drag there, thats why a lot of people take off the level wind altogether I suppose.
I am sure you can get ceramic bearing but I did not check, for $2-3 dollars its probalby OK just to change them often. I am only buying the dual bearing level wind upgrade as my worm drive is stuffed, I have 2 abu 6500's so I will combine the best bits and upgrade my syncro .

T


> he bearings for the spool and the drag washers are definitely worth getting, makes a huge difference. Also if you can get a modern "V" spool with the 6 centrifugal brakes, its worth up dating.


Had a look on ebay, some in England for sale but they ended up costing to much with shipping, be great to have a spare spools though . I should find out what a V spool costs from the local abu rep.

Trying to get the perfect reel for yaking that can jig/troll and cast plastics and slugs with drag to handle a big fish, easy to maintain and most importantly CHEAP. See if this does it soon


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## tryto2fish (Nov 14, 2008)

the price for a single ceramic bearing is equavilent to probably 1 new abu baitcaster reel itself.most sold on market for hobbies are only hybrid mainly the balls itself.if youre after a fully ceramic ones i think vbx and boca have them.so how many of these ceramic do you need again??? ;-)


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## soggypilchard (Dec 1, 2008)

gday guys
just a quick question, do you lube your drag washers? i have been oiling them in my spinning reels to minimise corrosion, is this what your supposed to do?
my reels get plenty of salt water on them while on the water


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## tryto2fish (Nov 14, 2008)

soggypilchard said:


> gday guys
> just a quick question, do you lube your drag washers? i have been oiling them in my spinning reels to minimise corrosion, is this what your supposed to do?
> my reels get plenty of salt water on them while on the water


should get carbontex or penn HT-100 drag washer and lube them with cal's grease for saltwater application.


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## mackyE (Jul 7, 2006)

Hi

Just updating my mods, got all the parts but the drags and upgraded my 1998 6500C4 (3 new bearings, pawl and level wind) and 1988 6500 syncro bearings (single ceramic bearing and pawl upgrade) ,very easy took 15 minutes.

had to wait till I was on holiday to try them out, tried to cast some live baits from a river mouth rock wall on 2 weeks ago , and ###@##$#@$$#$#$ the C4 would not cast more than 20 meters!
The syncro with one simple bearing upgrade would outcast it EASILY, hmm back to the drawing board. Took everything apart again, tried swapping some parts between reels, was not the level wind. Took off the brake blocks BINGO the C4 spools beautifully now. Smooth as silk. So all this time I though it was stuffed bearings in the level wind was actually deformed blocks.

Moral of the story, try replacing your brake blocks before you do the more expensive mods!

See how it will go when I get new (smaller) brake blocks and the carbontex drag next week.


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## mackyE (Jul 7, 2006)

Found this great post on Abus from "Rudy on the Surf" Alamo Area Anglers



> Among the many questions people have about ABU reels, the most frequently asked ones would be the meaning of those numbers stamped on the reel foot. This number can usually tell the approximate age of the reel. In most cases, these number are not serialized or unique to each reel except for some limited edition models. These numbers usually indicate the production code which can mean a different design, manufacturing process or material change. Associated with these numbers will be the year in which this code was implemented. (For example, 741120 would be different from 750030). There is no consistency in the way ABU number the reel foot but with a little experience combing servral other factors like design etc.. one can usually tell the approximate age. A useful rule which I learn from a tackle dealer in UK:
> 
> 4 figure numbers Found in 5000 De Luxes and 5000C Deluxes spanning early 1960s to 1970s Smooth foot
> 5 figure numbers Sometimes found in mid 50s record ambassadeurs and very early Ambassadeur 5000. Also found in reels made in the late 60s / early 70s especially the 5000C. Smooth foot
> ...


Note the White Block part 20211 can be interchanged with black part 20208 and blue? part 19390


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

mackyE said:


> Moral of the story, try replacing your brake blocks before you do the more expensive mods!
> 
> See how it will go when I get new (smaller) brake blocks and the carbontex drag next week.


They sometimes get squashed, if your not careful when reinstalling the spool. Great to see you have it sorted......now go catch a big fish.


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## mattyoga (Mar 30, 2008)

I had the same experince! upgraded bearings, levelwind drive, rocket fuel and so on only to find it was the breaking :lol: - think mine may have just needed a good polish round the rim.

I took all the break blocks out, though it was a bit too racy with no blocks so have just popped 1 black one back in and have yet to see if that will be enough (with none it was backlashing a little on hard casts and needed alot of thumbing). It'll be way less than the 2 whites I started off with originally.


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