Why does shimano lie so much about line capacity?

[Bob9863]

I've been re-spooling my Stella's and thunnus reels and the actual line capasity compared to what's written on the reel is massively smaller.

Why do they BS so much about their capasity, when they could just make the spools deeper and store what they claim?

Here's my examples.

Shimano Stella SW 4000xg, claimed spool capacity 180m of .30mm, actual capacity 180m of .23mm

Shimano Stella C5000XG , claimed spool capacity 175m of  35mm, actual capasity 180m of .23mm, 135m of .27mm

Shimano Thunnus 8000 Ci4, claimed capasity 340m of .35mm, actual capacity 285m of. 28mm

That's a massive massive difference in line capasity, there's no way on earth to put the line on the spool that they claim, so why do they false advertise and more importantly why do they get away with it?

It's not like I guess the capacity either, I actually made up a yard stick of sorts to check my measurements. It's bases on the bank stick principle that carp anglers use. I took a plank of wood, glued two pop rivets exactly 50cm apart and after completely filling the spool as tight as I could, I would tie a small loop and then wrap the line around the two prongs, so each wrap is exactly 1m.

is it just Shimano or do other manufacturers BS about there capasity that much as well, i can except maybe a 10% difference in marked Vs actual capacity, but this is just complete fantasy on Shimano's behalf.

[Rebel]

I gave up on Shimano reels about seven years ago. The quality dropped off & the price went up.

There are better reals around, with 10 year warranties & cheaper.

Having a big name brand doesn't mean it is ok.

Cheers.

[Huxstang]

Interesting Bob - just did a Curado DC 200 and it took 150m of 30lb Sunline Cast Way - thing is Sunline dont quote the thickness and the new DC 200 doesnt quote capacity in thickness only x amount of mono.

With a new FM Stradic 5000 it easily took 300m of PE1.2 Varivas and I think it could have taken maybe 300m of 1.5 (only wanted to load it with 1.2 so its a moot consideration).  However the specs say 300m of PE2 which I would say it has no chance.

Thing is maybe their is fault on both sides - are the line thicknesses as quoted?

I am not addicted to any one brand of PE but for same PE rating they breaking stains vary remarkably and the thickness for breaking stains are all over the shop.  

I guess the question is - how important to you is line capacity beyond the annoyance factor?

[Bob9863]

I used shimano Grappler and kairiki braid for my testing, so the fault is 100% with shimano.

Now I only need 150m of of the .23 59.5lb Grapler on my reels for what I want them for so it's not a problem for me, but it's still BS. There's no legitimate reason to have 27% less line capasity then advertised. Now I absolutely love my Stella reels, and for finesse fishing there's not many that compare with the Stella, but I should be able to fit around 230m of line on that reel, not 180m.

50m of line can make a huge difference when fishing light tackle on big fish.

[Neil Stratford]

Hi Bob , It would be interesting to try spooling up using Shimano’s own  Kairiki braid , you’d have to expect that it would match their various reel specifications. These days competition is intense , and  I think most company’s do “stretch  “ their specs to the absolute limit to gain market advantage. In saying this they still must be truthful in what they claim. Presume your reels are laying the braid evenly across the spools?.

Neil

[Neil Stratford]

Sorry I see you’ve tried the shimano brand , maybe send them a letter asking what the problem is ….?

Might have to spool up using the  maximum drag ratings on the reels , you’ll definitely get more braid on them then .

[Bob9863]

24 minutes ago, Neil Stratford said:

Sorry I see you’ve tried the shimano brand , maybe send them a letter asking what the problem is ….?

Might have to spool up using the  maximum drag ratings on the reels , you’ll definitely get more braid on them then .

I've tried spooling dry, and in a tub of water, I crank the drag up, with the reel on the heaviest rod I have, hold the line with a glove on my hand and hold it so tight I can only crank a half turn at a time.

You can't put it on tighter without breaking the rod or the reel, it feels like a solid section of pvc pipe is on the spool when I'm done.

So that's definitely not the issue.

I really don't think you should have to spend $560 on a machine like this just to spool your own reels at home.

https://www.ottostackleworld.com.au/busted-fishing-line-winder-bf-216-for-overhead-fis?gad_source=4&gclid=CjwKCAjw48-vBhBbEiwAzqrZVO1DqhejsZtRomizIh3OX9Mrzne84F0ZKdQBYozaw9AYgzVQn73KAxoCFZsQAvD_BwE

[Neil Stratford]

I do a fair bit of pelagic type fishing and I  absolutely understand the usefulness of that extra 50 m or so of line on those  smaller 4000 and 5000 spinning reels , larger Spanish and Long Tail Tuna will spool them  bare very quickly and that extra 50 m  often gives you time to give chase in the boat.
I have a solution for you ! 
Post me the 4 and 5000 Stella’s and buy a  6000 and 8000 .lol. Or fish in dams less than 150 m long lol 

I use one of these to re spool at home. $7 from Temu.

The local tackle shop, where I now always purchase my braid from , actually has  a re spooling machine similar to the one you’ve sent the link to. They supply the necessary mono backing so your spools are filled evenly to the brim if you ask .You buy their braid , and the rest is  free of charge !

They’ll also sell bulk braid by the meter so you can minimise the amount of  thicker mono backing down  to just a meter  or so to stop slippage ,this means you can maximise the length of the thinner braid on your spools .

Still doesn’t address the fact that spool size doesn’t meet spec though  , if you need more meters of  line , you can only go for a less diameter line. 

regards

neil
 

 

[Ed.]

Most of the manufacturers claims of the capacity of reels and also line in my opinion are bogus, not just Shimano as there doesn't seems to be a legalized standard method of enforcing measurement. Some measure using mono or braid capacity/strength/length however there are huge variations in the actual line strengths for their given diameter, so one mono line might have a diameter of 0.78mm for 80lb line(Platypus Platinum) and another brand will have the 80lb line in 0.92mm(Stren). Then there is the issue of Pretest/IGFA line or general line with the former supposed to break less than but close to the rated strength but no more than, as against the general purpose line which means squat.

Which is where the advertising line comes from ie: "ours is the strongest 20lb line", which generally means it is much thicker than the competition and is mislabeled as 20lb instead of 30  or 40lb line which it should be! The amount of tension when laying the line also effects how much line goes on as the tension thins the line diameter and stretches the line more.

I have a spool of braid which says it is 67kg and a diameter of 0.39mm but when I tested it several times with a micrometer it measured close to 0.5mm and broke at half the stated strength on the spool. Also with braid it depends on the amount of strands and the amount of strand twists per given length in the line, high strands count usually means that the line is rounder and it sometimes means that other lines may flatten out more, so the width is more than its height,  ect. then you have the issue of how you lay the line, if you manage to get the line to lay right next to the line coil that you just laid and move across to edge of the spool and then repeat to the other side, then you will or should have more line as there will be less air gaps between the coils and less cross over in the layers. However in real life how often does that happen when you spool a reel for the first time or especially when you have hooked up a fish and are winding it in.

So when buying a reel assume you will have less capacity then stated and buy the next size up if capacity is important. So its a bit complicated but in the end it's all marketing crap. Just my opinion!

 

[Rebel]

I use a Ecooda Spooler. Never had a problem.