Avet Bmx Upgrade Questions

[woodch0p]

Hey everyone,

After reading alantani's post on wet vs dry drag washers, there was one question left in my mind. Can you change a dry drag into a wet drag, simply by purchasing a new drag washer (carbonex) or is there other upgrades need like the stainless steel drag washer brake disc etc.

I want to find out before I jump the gun and by a carbonex drag for nothing.

Also after reading his other post on open bearings, (great posts aren't they!) would there be any issue converting from sealed bearings to open bearings?

Thanks guys

Daniel

[slinkymalinky]

G'day Daniel,

More than likely, your Black Magic (Avet) BMX already has a carbon drag washer (never pulled one down so not sure) so a new one won't be necessary. There's no conversion as such when switching from a wet to dry drag, as long as the drag washers are suitable. With a carbontex washer, all you need do is grease it appropriately and reinstall it. Nothing else needed.

Thanks to Alan's generosity, here's an extract from an Avet SX rebuild showing the treatment of the drag washer. Hope it helps...

Cheers, Slinky

Extract from Avet SX reproduced with the kind permission of Alan Tani

now, on to the drag washer. this one's clean as a whistle, front ....

.... and back.

i've applied a thick coat of shimano drag grease to the inside of the spool and to both sides of the drag washer. the purpose is to protect these surfaces from salt water intrusion. apply enough grease to prevent water from getting in between the drag washer and the spool.

now wipe all the excess grease. and i mean all of it! when you're done, you should be able to look at a greased washer and a dry washer and not be able to tell the difference.

[woodch0p]

Thanks slinky for the speedy response. I thought it might be the case but in the strip down instruction manual it says do not apply grease to the drag washer at all. It is a carbon fibre drag washer but was unsure if there was different grades, ie greased and non greased applications. I will post a full strip down report soon with pics, don't know if it will be useful to anyone as I don't know how many people use them on the forum.

Do you have any information about swapping from sealed to open bearings?

Thanks again

Daniel

[slinkymalinky]

Thanks slinky for the speedy response. I thought it might be the case but in the strip down instruction manual it says do not apply grease to the drag washer at all. It is a carbon fibre drag washer but was unsure if there was different grades, ie greased and non greased applications. I will post a full strip down report soon with pics, don't know if it will be useful to anyone as I don't know how many people use them on the forum.

Do you have any information about swapping from sealed to open bearings?

Thanks again

Daniel

No worries, Daniel. The argument for greased vs non-greased drags has been going on for years. All the major manufacturers now install greased carbon fibre drags in at least a few of their reels... except Avet. I've sent you a PM with some more information.

In relation to bearings, those that come shielded can have the shields removed. Some are easy to do, some are hard, depending on the style of shield. There are good reasons to open bearings... and likewise, there are some bearings where it makes sense to keep the shields. Every decision has pluses and minuses and should be made based on what you're wanting to achieve.

PM sent mate.

Cheers, Slinky

[Evets]

Woodch0p,

If your reel is relatively new you will find that Avet has glued the carbon fibre drag washer to the spool to stop water intrusion behind it (a bugbear of Alan Tani).

The pics that skinky has posted are for the older Avets.

No problem in changing from a dry to wet drag but make sure that you carefully wipe the grease off it (as per the last pic in slinkys post.)

No need to bother with upgrading the drag plates as they are pretty good from the factory. However, I lapped my drag plate with some wet and dry sandpaper to ensure that it was perfectly flat and smooth.

The drag is now super smooooth

Evets

[woodch0p]

Thanks slinky and evets for the replys.

I might have a tinker with it over the next couple of weeks and test out some combinations.

Evets - the bmx is an older model avet, 4.5ratio and no magicast system. The bmx supposedly has a few upgrades compared to the standard avets, but I can't really tell besides the black magic insignia on the side.

[Evets]

Wood

My Avet is a couple of years old and doesn't have any casting control on it either.

I just did a little research and saw that Alan Tani first saw that Avet started gluing the drag washers from the beginning of 2007.

So, when I say "relatively new" I actually mean made from 2007 onwards.

Evets

[woodch0p]

Ahh I thought you were talking about newer models, but I have stripped my reel down before and wasn't glued in so no concerns!

Cheers

Daniel