Shimano Calcutta 400BSV - Quality issue ???

Member Joined: May 19, 2011 Posts: 59

Hi again,

I've just purchased my first Shimano reel, the Calcutta 400BSV multiplier. Nice & solid feeling, seems to be of high quality and it was a great price too.

On closer inspection yesterday I notice that the forged frame has a lot of manual re-working, prior to anodising ? It looks as if the crossbar (from the 400B level wind version) had been cut off and cleaned up with a file before it was anodised ?

I wrote to Shimano UK for a definitive answer as to "normal" or "unusual" and unfortunately they told me to take it back to the shop. (oh dear.........full circle pass the buck attitude again - why is British industry plagued with this non committed attitude to "support")

Anyway - I'm hoping other 400BSV owners will be willing to look at their frames and advise if they too have the same rough filing marks on either side of the frame, where the crossbar would normally be on the level-wind version.

I'm only writing as this re-work seems so rough, I can't see how Shimano would ever allow it pass QC - it's so obvious it really detracts from the overall quality of the reel.

I'll post some photos later today

Thanks for your help

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:56 am

Not really what you'd expect from a Shimano but it does back up what many people have noticed of them of late ... a definate slipping of standards. I have to say that my own couple of experience with Shimano UK have been pretty awful but in fairness the policy to direct you to the retailer will have come from much higher up and is standard fare nowadays ... its also the approach you should take if you have a complaint on the quality from a legal perspective.

To be honest the chopping of the frame doesn't surprise me and makes very good sence (rather than a whole new mould) but you would think they would do a good job of it at least. Any chance of some pictures here as it would give people something to compare against.

Member Joined: May 19, 2011 Posts: 59

Hi Wizard,

Nice to receive your input as I've read a number of your posts and gleaned a lot of useful information from them regarding looking after & maintaining reels - pefect for me as I've recently acquired 4 new items (ssshhhh....)

I'll get some photos up later tonight - just charging the camera battery. I wrote back to Shimano today advisng them that, as they wern't prepared to comment then I'd write to HQ and start posting on forums, looking for an answer - now they've advised me that HQ will only re-direct my enquiry back to them, so I should return to the UK service centre, with the receipt, for investigation ? Surely a good picture would suffice ??......and what difference does the receipt make ???? Is this yet another standard reply ? I was only after a simple comment as to "Yes, that's normal" or "no, that one shouldn't have got past QC"

Anyway, the quality of machining/finish will not affect operation, I was just curious, so I won't be returning it. This is My first Shimano, not the best intro into customer service as I note Mr. Yozo Shimano's (President) message on the Website " Closer to Nature, Closer to People.....We want the Shimano brand name to be an expression of the conscience of our company" and on a similar theme, Shimano's Business Policy as "We strive to provide quality products and services that are reliable and trustworthy.".......mmmm, seems Yuzo may need an insight into the way his UK operation interprets his wishes. I've been a technical support engineer for 25 years and we support our products, globally, to whoever needs assistance - if I was to tell an end user to "return the equipment to whoever you bought it from" ......well, it's just not cricket is it. They've paid good money for a product, marketed as supreme quality, I'm prepared to write them a tutorial on how to best look after it if they want.

On the subject of reel maintenance, I note your posts on gear grease with interest. I'm currently using a number of Shield Technolgy products, predominantly for workshop tool corrosion prevention, but lately I've been using them on everything that has the slightest chance of corroding. Not sure if your aware of VCI technology, but basically the grease, or wax, or oil emits a vapour barrier that provides a molecular coating on all metallic surfaces within the vacinity and prevents the occurance of corrosion from everday natural effects.

I use the ProtecTool Wax & Metalguard/Vanguard oils on all my hand tools, saws, planes etc and they're all like new as a result - not a spot of corrosion. I've started using the ProtecTool wax on the outside of my reels, it goes on sticky & buffs off smooth so you don't know it's there - it's a joy to watch salt spray bead up and roll away during use and I can give them a good rinse afterwards under the tap, set them aside and again watch water bead up & roll away. They dry in minutes and are as polished as when I first applied the wax. I sparingly "paint" the internal surfaces with Metalguard and/or Vanguard oil and have just started using the GreaseXtra on the gears etc. "highly water repellant, does not emulsify" is what is says on the pot. The grease and wax comes in 125g & 250g pots at around £9/£17 respectively - the small pots are going to last me a very long time. I now give anything "metallic" a lick of one or more of these VCI products as I've been keeping a close eye on all my previously problematic tools & equipment and the corrosion issues I've had for years have completely dissapeared - believe me, they really do work.

Anyway - photos of the Shimano to follow later - thanks again for your input, nice to hear from you and thanks for sharing your experience with people like myself.

Member Joined: May 19, 2011 Posts: 59

trying to add .jpg attachments but keep on getting

"Upload Error: Could not upload Attachment to ./modules/Forums/files/pic_0574b_158.jpg."

the images are well under the 250kb upload limit - any help on getting my photos into this thread ??

Thanks

Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:23 pm

sparkyman wrote:

trying to add .jpg attachments but keep on getting

"Upload Error: Could not upload Attachment to ./modules/Forums/files/pic_0574b_158.jpg."

the images are well under the 250kb upload limit - any help on getting my photos into this thread ??

Thanks

Not a clue to be honest ... I generally upload to photobucket or similar and then link to them.

On the customer service you won't get an argument from me .... in general reel manufacturers (and pretty much everybody else) seems to be losing the art of customer service these days. Spares backup for a lot of makes isn't up to much with a lot of famous names either ... I look back to the days of "Tight Line Services" and wish they were still the ABU spares centre ... any ABU could be fixed, comparable replacements found to replace discontinued parts and they could even get spools with re-machined spindles to fit some obscure model that was never common when it came out ... nowadays it can be a pain just to get hold of an anti-reverse pawl and the best support for a lot of the famous reels comes from a few small independents who provide much better service than the companies themselves!

The anti corrosion stuff you are using sounds interesting ... I've been following a similar strategy for over 30 years with reels. Everything gets a light coating of grease and a simple wipe with a 3 in 1 soaked rag on a regular basis can add years to a chrome cage - not quite so 21st century but the same logic.

There used to be a sticky somewhere about uploading pictures but I can't find it now, sorry.

Member Joined: May 19, 2011 Posts: 59

...not sure if I've worked this our as yet - testing, testing.....

Member Joined: May 19, 2011 Posts: 59

...looks like it worked, many thanks to FlattieFanatic for the "How to..." post.

These photos are of both sides of the frame - note how the spool shoulder thins out in places. When you ahve the reel in your hand it looks wafer thin (these shots are quite close up).

Anybody else with a Calcutta, please feel free to commenton your own observations in these areas of the frame.

While I'm on a roll (ReelWizard), heres the GreaseXtra & ProtecTool I use on all my reels

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:13 pm

The Sticky you refer to is http://www.sea-fishing.org/ftopict-8805.html
Cheers
keith big grin

Member Joined: May 19, 2011 Posts: 59

Hi Keith,

Thats an extra one I hadn't seen - since looking I found 2 more similar "How to's..." relating to photo uploads

http://sea-fishing.org/ftopict-13984.html

http://www.sea-fishing.org/ftopict-2136.html

They were here all the time - I was just being lazy and gave up searching after the first page of results !

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:41 pm

I certainly see what you mean about the cage. In fairness its probably quite a difficult job to get tidy in a production environment (similar to an ABU Black Max cage which are torturous) but you think they would find a better way to do that produced better results or just plain get a different cage moulded. Knowing the cost of a Shimano I don't think I would be happy personally. it will be interesting to see if yours is a one off or if there are others like it out there.