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Cracks in fles coat

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FrankS

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Al-- What would be the main cause for the flexcoat to crack at the base of the guides, after one season of fishing with the rod. All guides are wraped with D thread. I believe I put three coats of flexcoat on all the guides. Should I have wrapped the larger guides with a double wrap such as a number 50 on up. The rod is a 9'spinning rod and it is used for plugging. Thank you.

Frank

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Frank,

 

You are asking the $64K question. Cracking at the guide foot is a result of a number of factors. The main reason you get cracks is that the rod flexes more than the guides ability to bend resulting in the cracking.

 

Cracking cannot be totally eliminated but you can really slow down the process. here are the steps I use. It's an entire finish system.

 

Taper grind and polish the ends of the guide feet so you will get a smooth wrap up and onto the guide foot.

 

After tapering and polish the guide feet, clean them with alcohol.

 

Apply a thin coat of finish to your underwraps and allow them to dry for three days before wrapping on your guides.

 

Use the thinnest thread possible for your particular application. You can wrap saltwater guides with A thread if you taper and polish them properly.

 

Wrap the guides tightly, but with enough tension to allow you to adjust and align the guides.

 

Apply multiple thin coats of finish to your overwraps instead of fewer, heavier coats.

 

When the rod finish has dried to the touch, let it rest for at least a week to allow the finish to cure. Longer is better.

 

Al G.

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Al's comments are on the money. This is a $64K dollar question in need of a solution. This is a hard problem to remedy and is occurring more often in the modern highly flexible graphite composite rods currently on the market. Mr. Artie Hebert offered his solution to this problem in a video he produced and we now have available FREE on our web site. Go to www.mudhole.com then on the left menu click on Rod Building 101, than on the Artie Hebert Video link. It is divided into 4 sections and multiple download speeds for easier viewing. If anyone has some additional tricks they use, send it to us on a VHS tape and we'll put it up on the web as well.

 

Tom McNamara

Mud Hole Custom Tackle http://www.mudhole.com

 

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Al first off let me say , great job your doing here . really enjoy your expertise. question I have a Lami xra 1205 less than a year old,same problem , cracks around the guides, is this something to be concerned with as far as integrity of the rod or is it more of a cosmetic problem ? also is this something that should be covered under warranty ? thanks

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Cracking of the finish at the guide foot will eventually cause problems if not addressed. Eventually the crack with go completely throught the finish and allow saltwater to seep in resulting in the guide feet rusting and the thread wraps to rot.

 

The simplest way to prevent this from happening is to gently sand the guide wraps with 600 grit wet sandpaper, thoroughly clean the wraps and apply a thin coat of finish. Allow the finish to cure for at least two weeks before using the rod.

 

As far as returning the rod, cracking is normal wear on the rod and I do not think Lami can do much.

 

Al

 

 

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