Reel problem

[devcon]

Hi all,

Just got my Mag TS and Graphite Plus rods today (amazingly light!) but my Quantum Accurist and BPS Rick Clunn reels don't seem to fit the reel seats. Never had this problem on my Quantum or Shimano rods. I even dug out an old Daiwa I had laying around and it doesn't fit either. I can only sung it down maybe an 1/8th of an inch if that and there's a lot of play back and forth. Anybody else run into this? And electrical tape is not the answer for $180 rods (found others that had the same problem with Kistler's at other sites).

Thanks,

Bill

[BillyBass]

I've posted on other sites regarding that problem, but, believe it or not, I don't have any of the laminating plastic or the protective film that comes with some of the magnesium reels on any of my reels anymore, what one poster said is true, with a little use they break in, now all of mine fit snug, without doing anything to them, doesn't matter which reel I put on them either, for the feel and sensitivity of my Kistlers, I'm glad I had the patience to find that out, good luck.

[devcon]

Thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately I can't get the reels on the Mag TS rods tight enough to even work them in otherwise I'd go with your suggestion. I'm afraid if I crank much harder, I'm going to strip something. I tried my reels on a ( - - blocked - - ) Powell and Loomis rod and they fit just fine (as they do on my 12 Quantums and 4 Shimanos). At this point I'm ready to send them back and cancel the other one (apparently the KCBS7 was out of stock when I ordered). I like the rods. They are light and I'm sure they are sensitive but I should be able to slap a reel on and go.

Maybe if Trey is checking the boards he has some input on this as I was planning on ordering some more to swap out my Quantums but at this point, I can't justify the expense for rods with oddball seats.

[creationfish]

Bill

I have three KCBS7 rods and have had none of the issues with the Quantum Accurist that you mention. I have not used the Mag series so I have no input on that. Kistler tries to make there customers happy. Hope you get your questions answered.

Mike

[devcon]

Hi Mike,

They seem to fit better on the KSBS69 that the Mag rods which doesn't make sense since the seats look the same. The feet on the Quantums are slightly thicker and wider than on my Rick Clunns and the Clunns fit better. I do like the rods. They feel great and I'm tempted to take them out tomorrow and see if I can break them in as suggested but the fact that some people have no problems while others do seems strange. Perhaps there's a quality control issue with the reel seat components? The Mag and Graphite series are made in China so that make me wonder. Anyone had these problems with the LTAs or LTXs? Of course I was also suprised to see $500+ worth of rods show up in a semi-crushed cardboard box wrapped in newspaper. Luckily they weren't damaged. Not sure what happened to the PVC tube and bubble wrap the site states they're shipped in.

Bill

[devcon]

Well, I may have found an answer to this issue. I sat down and looked long and hard at a standard Fuji ECS seat and the Kistler Smart Touch seat and found that the side pads that run along side the blank are almost even with the top of the blank while on the Fuji, the side pads are slightly lower. Being lower, it allows it to slide farther into the seat as it screws down (note the concave design of the feet on reels). We're only talking millimeters here but it's enough that it only allows a small portion of the reel feet to enagage the seat as it screws down. I'm not sure if this is a design flaw and maybe it varies from batch to batch. I know of the three rods I receieved, one has a rounded Kistler sticker covering the Smart Touch logo on the seat and the other two are missing it. That's rather inconsistant. I suppose I could carefully sand the side rails down but it would probably void the warranty and I'm not sure I could bring myself to do that anyway.

Any thoughts on this Trey?

Thanks,

Bill

[Tony Lain]

Loose reels can be a bummer, but I solved that issue really easy. I use a rubber strap wrench to carefully tighten the reels to the seats. I found that certain reels will fit the Kistler seat's differently and appear loose, but the rubber strap wrench solved the issue for me and won't damage or scratch anything.. I use alot of Daiwa Japan-only imported reels that have smaller feet, and they fit all my He2's, LTA's, and Mg's fine. Most bigger retail stores and hardware stores have rubber strap wrenches. Use one and you'll fall back in love with your Kistler rods. Over and out from Cali...

[Chicago_guy0070]

I had the same problem,, I own the crankbait Mag rod and used a Quantum energy pt reel, thing wouldnt sit tight, I wrapped the feet of the reel once around with black electrical tape snuged the reel seat down and had no problems, after about 3 maybe four times using this setup I took the tape off and never had a problem with the reel coming off.

[devcon]

First off, thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. This is a great forum.

I actually called Kistler today with the intention of returning the rods as it just seemed wrong that you should have to do all kinds of things just to get a reel mounted.

I spoke with Ryan and he explained it was the rubber coating on the seats that was the cause of the clearance problem. Apparently it won't be an issue with future rods but there are still some out there with the coating on it. He offered to take the rods back but explained that if I wanted to go ahead and take some time to break the seats in, the problem would clear up. So I'm going to head out to the lake this weekend and give it a shot. Hopefully they'll break in and I'll be back for more in the future if all goes well.

A big thanks to Ryan. He was more than willing to take the rods back and didn't try to force me to break them in. He also just simply stated it was a design issue. Far to many companies today will try and pass the blam e (usually back on the customer for not doing something right) so it was nice to hear that from him. In fact, that honesty is what changed my mind about giving them a shot. Now if it was only the weekend...should be just about spawn time!

I don't mind a bump in road as long as the customer service is there to back it up and Kistler Rods definetly has the customer service!

[Blister72]

Hello all,

I just ordered the Magnesium Chatterbait rod to add to my line up and will probably pair it up with the TD Zillion 7.1 for buzzbaits, swimming jigs, Chatterbait/ frogs, spinnerbaits, etc...

I have read about reel seat issues, and seen this same configuration on many other brands in stores, before choosing the Kistler.

I do fish tourneys with my brother-in-law, so I will certainly appreciate the weight & sensitivity of the rod, as I LOVE my Daiwa Light & Tough 6'6" Heavy as my go to rod for all purpose bass slaying.

I think I would be quite upset to lose a $249 reel, or any reel for that matter, because the screw down collar didn't cinch up.

I can't believe the coating or seat design is the issue, as my L&T has no rails or seat, just a wide open gap around the blank, with the reel foot sitting into the back like the Kistler, and the front cork wrenches down the screw to snug all reels in nicely.

I like the idea of a rubber wrench or rubber grip jar opener to snug it up, since the reel front holder on the Kistler's have no cork..VERY COOL!

We'll see how it works, when I get my hands on my new rod. Thanks all! Happy New Year.

[hooksetters 1]

I have had close to 40 Kistler rods over the past 3 years and have only had this problem on one rod. I simply took a small piece of surgical tubing and shimmed the reel feet and never had a problem again.

"Kistler" great rods and great customer support.