I have been reading the forum for a while and finally decided to add something to this thread. The big problem with all of the machined aluminum reels on the market is they are all direct copies of islander reels. Therefore the exhibit almost all of the same problems as islander reels. The only exception to this is the RST reel which uses a different and much better drag material, woven carbon fiber. I have had the chance to use both the MR2 and MR3 for hundreds of days in the most extreme fishing situations possible, fishing deep and lots of springs. I have come to know their faults very well.
What I have noticed is that all of the islanders and knock off reels used deep groove radial bearings which are not designed to take axial load developed by the drag mechanism. This leads to chronic bearing failure in reels that are fished regularly with the drag tight such as in down rigging situations.
The second flaw is the cork drag surface which when lubricated properly works quite well. When even a small amount of water is introduced then you have inconsistent operation, i.e. drag slipping/locking up. This is more of a problem in the reels with a ported back, i.e. the MR3 and by the looks of it the new reel which DHA is testing. It is pretty simple, the more holes you add to a reel the more ways there are for water to get in.
Another problem is the surface which the cork slides against, an anodized aluminum surface. When lowered on the rigger even with a small amount of drag the hard finish can be removed. This takes many cycles and leads to a number of problems. Once the finish is removed the soft aluminum is exposed and vaunerable to corrosion. I have serviced my fair share of MR3’s and almost all have had this problem in varying stages. DHA, I am pretty sure if you were to take your MR3 apart this would be evident. This problem is less noticeable in the MR2 because it has the free spool lever which when used reduces the wearing period to only when a fish is taking line. I do have guide buddies who don’t use this function on their MR2’s and they have serious finish loss and some corrosion on the part of the spool which rests against the cork drag.
All of these design flaws which can be found in islanders show up in the knock off reels as they are just exact copies. The companies who are building these reels offshore need to actually do some engineering of their own instead of just copying the drag and bearing arrangement from an islander. The only reel which looks interesting is the RST as the manufacturer looks to have taken the time to fix some of the flaws found in all of the current production reels, i.e. carbon fiber drag material which will provide and much longer trouble free life than cork.
This subject is quite interesting to me as I am a mechanical engineering student and fishing guide in t he Hiada Gwaii who spends allot of time with islander products. I know this is one heck of a long post for my first but I figured I would share my thought on the subject.
