Anyone who owns one of these ever have the knob on the handle seize up??? Always cleaned well after use....it seized up???

Opinions on these reels??

I have two broken ones in the garage.... both stopped working shortly after purchasing, never felt an urge to get them fixed as i didn't like them much to begin with....

Matt

Yeah I bought this one last fall....have not liked it from the start!!:yak:

swap out the whole handle?

Yeah....but I think this reel sucks!!!!:huh:

Those are great reels. I own 6. Never had a handle seize though. But I also took them apart to clean them every 2-4 weeks during the season... now I fish VS's (I said I never would)... I'll never go back.

-Dave

you thought the spheros were to pricey DAVE and larry??/

BF give the Spheros a try.

Sounds like it's VS time :rtfm:

Other than price $$$$$ what is the difference? Are they not both made by Shimano???

"where have all the good reels gone"

gone to JAPAN every one..........

when will we ever learn

when will we.....

ever............

...............learn..... :rotf3:

I had mine seize up last year after it got soaked. take the handle off and soak it in some fresh water over night, then spin it for awhile, it should loosen back up.

Other than that happening once, I love them.

Other than price $$$$$ what is the difference? Are they not both made by Shimano???

Yes...but the Spheros is a better reel.Maybe not as baby smooth but oh such more durable and reliable.I have a 1st year production model 8000 that still is awesome.

BTW the Spheros is made in Malaysia if that means anything.

Quantum Boca is a great choice too.

I have a Speros 6000FA that froze up, thing has not been used many times and I rinsed it good after each use!
Would the handle or the reel be the problem ?

rinse by fine mist, dry off, spray handle/knob and area with wd-40....wipe reel down with rag sprayed with wd-40.....

until I can justify buying a VS...I'll stick with Shimano....
I don't think I'll buy another Stratic for the surf though....the Spheros is better suited....

I bought a Spheros 8000 since my 4500 baitrunner has been flawless for about 15 years now. I haven't had a problem with the 8000 but I know someone that has, and he was told that it is not a completely sealed reel. I would think that using it in the surf could be a problem. I don't use mine in the surf so I really wouldn't know. :confused:

I haven't had a problem with the 8000 but I know someone that has, and he was told that it is not a completely sealed reel. I would think that using it in the surf could be a problem. :confused:

It is not completely sealed, cannot stand to be dunked.....it has a waterproof drag is all.....where as the Stradic does not...

Thanks for clarifying Slingah. I assumed that it was completely sealed when I bought mine so I just wanted to pass the info along in the event anyone did the same.

i have two broken stradics...the anti-reverse went on both of them after minimal use

I've seen a few Spheros reels come into Mike's shop that were pretty well corroded internally. It isn't as waterproof as a lot of people seem to think :hs:

Spray the whole thing down with "corrosion block" let it sit for few minutes and then begin trying wo work the stuck parts.

rinse by fine mist, dry off, spray handle/knob and area with wd-40....wipe reel down with rag sprayed with wd-40.....

until I can justify buying a VS...I'll stick with Shimano....
I don't think I'll buy another Stratic for the surf though....the Spheros is better suited....
I dont do the fine mist thing, to be honest I usually just drive to the car wash and spray the truck and rods/reels/and kayak down and throw a quick blast of wax, I know I shouldn't but the wax makes the rods easier to clean and keeps the green crude from forming around the guides. Sometimes I even wipe down my rods with furniture wax, it works ;)

I do the same thing with wd-40 on my reels, works like a charm....

I own 4 of them, for the money they are pretty damn smooth.
BUT, once they get dunked, they just never seem to be the same.
I have a vs150 and a 200, those are now my surf reels, for obvious reasons...

I own a spheros 8000 as well. Great reel. I pretty much clean everytime I come home from a trip(dont really mind). I usually rinse it with the hose, let it drip off for a few minutes dry it and then clean it off with wd-40. One thing though, I did get some corrosion on the lower lip of the spool. It was a bad egg since I had only used it 6 times before it started happening. I had called Shimano and explained it to customer service. They had sent me a new spool the next week(great service by the way) Put the new spool on, its completely spotless no issues at all. It was weird, the spool that they had sent me was much more durable and tough compared to the one that went bad. I dont know why... Anyways great reels for the $$

The problem is not with the handle but the anti reverse. I have the same problem with mine from the start, these reals do not like salt water. Or for that matter salt air. Just bringing mine out to the beach would cause the handle to seize like yours or be hard to wind. I had it fixed at first(40$) and it repeated doing the same thing to the point were the anti reverse does not work at all. And another thing the handle unsrews when I have a fish on. Your best bet is to try to keep the anti reversa clean some how.

until I can justify buying a VS...I'll stick with Shimano....
I don't think I'll buy another Stratic for the surf though....the Spheros is better suited....

Best investment I've made for the surf, hands down. Bought a VS200S off classifieds from member here and reel was in great shape as advertised. Slingah, I wished I had done it sooner......

Ross i had been thinkin the spool capacity was a little low on the 200
and thought the 250 was more preferable.

what's your "take" on that?

Never been taken down to test capacity yet. But I primarily fish on the barren north shore. Fishing with braid and given a beefy drag on the reel, I can horse a fish if I have to. I haven't fished the 250, but would lean to the lighter weight of the 200 since capacity has not been an issue to date.

"nother though for you shimano guys, over on Noreast.com they have a shimano support section where the factory techs answer the questions.

Ross i had been thinkin the spool capacity was a little low on the 200
and thought the 250 was more preferable.

what's your "take" on that?

What was the quote on here from a few years back? I think it was, "if you have more than 200 yds. out you're not fishing, you're praying"

I choose the sized based on how it balances each rod.

I never had the knob freeze up.
Did it freeze up while in use because the knob is always spinning ?
Washing the reel is great but you need to oil the spinning parts.
This reminds me I need to go oil the external parts on my reels before I forget.
PS I've had WD-40 disolve the lettering on the baitrunner series.

Anyone who owns one of these ever have the knob on the handle seize up??? Always cleaned well after use....it seized up???

Opinions on these reels??


those reels need to be lubricated with SEAL oil :D did you do that before using it?

I never had the knob freeze up.
Did it freeze up while in use because the knob is always spinning ?
Washing the reel is great but you need to oil the spinning parts.
This reminds me I need to go oil the external parts on my reels before I forget.
PS I've had WD-40 disolve the lettering on the baitrunner series.

Don't use WD-40 on your reels, it leaves a sticky residue that builds up over time. Use "Corrosion Block" or "Corrosion X" and you'll be much better off in the long run.

i have two broken stradics...the anti-reverse went on both of them after minimal use

Easy fix. Did you lubricate the anti-reverse?

T-9 , I HAVE 6 STRADICS NEVER HAD A PROBLEM..

Anyone who owns one of these ever have the knob on the handle seize up??? Always cleaned well after use....it seized up???

Opinions on these reels??
No prob with the handle. BUT
After two seasons, the line roller bearing rusted to crap and was making a lot of noise. The new bearing was 15 bucks !!!!! OUCH !!!

Other than that I not had any issues, and I do like the smoothness of it. I guess they need some periodic maintenance.

I now own 2.

I fixed it.....soaked the bejesus out of it a couple days in WD-40!

Ripstik, I thought I was the only one that had the corrosion issue on the 8000 spool I've sent 3 or 4 back to Shimano some so corroded after just a few months use that the line was catching on the blistered spot. They replaced them but I'm sure the new ones will go too. And yes they get rinsed off after every use, I think it must be that I usually drift out most of the line off the spool and this deposits salt deep in the spool where most people never go.
Also I have an old Stradic from '99 and I have caught an awful lot of fish on it and not had any real problems with it. I do however use grease in the handle knob that I force into the bushing under pressure. This has kept the handle turning nicely w/o any problems.
BTW I am over Shimano and have given Daiwa a shot. So far so good. But my next reel will be a Zeebas or however you spell it. All I can say is wow, makes a VS feel like a coffee grinder.

I bet if you get on their website and contact customer service they will give you a new handle for free.