Shakespeare Powerplay Multiplier Reel

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:29 pm

Cheers Keith, so you rate the idea ????? more than mags or on a par ??

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:54 pm

It was in my opinion and it is only my opinion, one of the best reels ever brought out on the market for both the novice and the seasoned fisher person nowt could go wrong with the braking system and it was virtually impossible to birdy. I am referring to the Intrepid Seastreak.

A great reel o anyone to learn on a muliplyer, why these great innovations disappear I don't know.
Cheers
keith big grin

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:19 pm

Cheers Keith thanks for your help and the photographs of the intrepid, quite suprised 'Reel wizard' didn't offer up any help,thought this would be right up his street..........hope that there are no hard feelings.

JOLI

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:52 pm

A good secondhand one can be picked up from a car boot sale for about £10 to £20
Cheers
keith big grin

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:30 pm

I was elsewhere .... and no no hard feelings - life is way too short already winking

Seastreak was good in its day (and yes I had one). The problem with the system though was that it can't be adjusted to the degree that magnets can. If you want a modern reel that you can't birdy then simply fill the seven slots available in a 6500 rack with 1mm thicker magnets (the std ones are smaller) and that will give you the same effect, if not better. The obvious advantage is that as your casting improves and the brakes begin to hold you back its simplicity itself to just take a magnet out at a time - it takes seconds and can be done in gradual stages to maintain user confidence.

Actually if you fill all seven slots with std abu magnets (6x2 I think?) you get a real pussycat of a reel that most users bore of quite quickly (hence abu generally only send them out with 5 magnets in the rack) - if you birdy on those brakes you've done something really stupid (watching a bikini on the beach instead of paying attention was my last example) that no braking system in the world would have saved you from.

As a cheap reel for a beginner the Seastreak is fine (I started with much worse), though if you need spares you could end up with a collection of them, but it does have to be said that they aren't the nicest reels in the world to use, noisy, bad spool balance and they do feel clunky on a light rod, give me a 5500 or 6500 with mags any day.

Mind you if you get a usable reel for a tenner thats less than two packs of fags and will last a lot longer - I just think the world has moved on a bit.

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:55 pm

Well done good man, no hard feelings on my part either and thanks for the info as usual very concise and in depth.

Cheers JOLI

Member Joined: Dec 06, 2009 Posts: 41 Location: kent

when i had my powerplay , i use to run it with the brakes right off,you would really have to try hard to blow it up.It never casted as far as 7hts go.But it did have a levelwind,so taking that into consideration they are very good for their money.Good,if your starting out trying multis.They are very forgiving............init!

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:03 pm

Bought one finally this morning @ Southend Angling centre for £34.99 quite a good deal methinks !!!!!!!!!! watch this space for verdict.

JOLI

Member Joined: Dec 06, 2009 Posts: 41 Location: kent

look forward to it joli cool

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:59 pm

Best of luck with he new rel Jolli mate keep us posted on performance.
cheers
keith big grin

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:00 pm

Cheers i will..............dont know when though due to xmas and this terrible weather but most of all the dreaded SPRAT !!!!!!!!! angry

JOLI

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 5:59 pm

Okay i know that it is BBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! cold but I got a bit bored and so took the 'Powerplay' out on my local field and decided to put it to the test,.........I defy anyone to achieve a 'birdsnest' with it !!!!!!! in the end I was actuallly trying to cause one.........didn't happen...........GREAT !!!!!!, yeah only trouble is even with the clutch wide open can't get a great distance,it probably would make a reasonable Pier,uptide reel but as a beach / surf distance reel it struggles a bit, that is unless someone has any advice as to improve it........remembering there are no adjustments re magnets confused

JOLI

Member Joined: Dec 06, 2009 Posts: 41 Location: kent

WHERE ARE REEL WIZARD ! ! the man needs fuel injection!...........lol

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:07 pm

joliroger wrote:

Okay i know that it is BBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! cold but I got a bit bored and so took the 'Powerplay' out on my local field and decided to put it to the test,.........I defy anyone to achieve a 'birdsnest' with it !!!!!!! in the end I was actuallly trying to cause one.........didn't happen...........GREAT !!!!!!, yeah only trouble is even with the clutch wide open can't get a great distance,it probably would make a reasonable Pier,uptide reel but as a beach / surf distance reel it struggles a bit, that is unless someone has any advice as to improve it........remembering there are no adjustments re magnets confused

JOLI

It might be partly because its a new reel. I've always reckoned that the old ABUs and Millionaires needed "running in" before you got the best of them, maybe because they used finer tolerances on the older models. It might also need a proper service, by that I don't mean its not oiled and greased but its likely to be greased with a mind to storage, which doesn't generally mean its good for useage.

Things you might want to try ....

Play about with the brake blocks, try smaller ones or a combination or maybe just one block, which was always my favourite setting on the very old ABUs.

I'll take a stab that they have solid bushes rather than bearings in each end for the spindle to run on (though I've not looked inside one or seen a schematic). You can polish the centre hole and outside of these with brasso which gives a smoother surface and makes them run a bit faster - clean off all residue of brasso afterwards with lighter fuel or acetone. If you want to really help things along, swap the bushes for bearings if the bushes are removable. You don't have to go mad with expensive ceramics, a set of cheap chinese ABEC3 would do fine and would speed it up no end.

To get the best out of the old ABUs and Millionaires I used to polish the spool spindles with brasso as well, where they locate in the bearings or bushes. Don't go mad and get all residue off - it can noticeably speed a reel up. Incidentially it also works on ultracast type spindles where the spool bearings and spindle touch but be careful as it can really speed up the initial acceleration of the cast winking

.

As I said before I also wonder if it could do with having a clean and some decent light oil put in the right places as it might come out the box with heavyish oil in. Pay attention the contact points between the spool spindle and the rest of the reel (end tension cap, bushes etc) and the level wind, which is probably a major part of the reel being slow.

Last thing to try would be getting rid of the level wind - doesn't have to be permenant removal, just take it off, along with the idler cog that sits in the left side endplate, that should speed things up a bit. So long a sthe top bar is in place the reel will be fine, you'll just have to guide the line with your thumb.

What you really need though is a big hacksaw devil

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:19 pm

I'll take a look at the lubrication situation........not sure that it has brake blocks as such but will check it out.

cheers JOLI