30lb braid breaking at 8lb

I recently purchased some 2nd reels and wanted to know for sure what their line strengths were, some had mono and others with braid. I first measured the line and compared those measurements with online charts, I also decide to check lines from new pre-spooled reels. Then I rigged a strength tester using a small chain block hang from the garage roof, large fish scales attached to the bottom of the chain block and a 20kg weight to hold the line test pieces in place. The mono lines on all the 2nd hand reels broke more or less at the strengths the online charts stated. The reels with braid however broke far below the rated strength, according to the charts. What I believed to be 30 and 20lb braid broke around 8lb, some of the braid look a little old but one reel had brand new braid which had never been used. Is it normal for braid to break that far below what it should?

Some of the new reels I tested were three new Okuma Revenger reels, the RV30 with advertised 12lb mono, RV55 with 20lb and RV80 with 30lb. No, the 12lb line broke at 8lb, the 20lb broke at 16 and the 30lb broke at 22lb. These results were quite disappointing.

The lines on the new Shimano IX and Fishtech reels I have broke at their advertised strength. Good.

Braid normally breaks at higher breaking strains than advertised. What knots are you using?

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Originally Posted by MB

Braid normally breaks at higher breaking strains than advertised. What knots are you using?

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I was tying surgeons knots at both end but the lines were breaking between the knots. I tested each line three times and only one test broke at the knot.

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Originally Posted by Three O'Three

I was tying surgeons knots at both end but the lines were breaking between the knots. I tested each line three times and only one test broke at the knot.

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If the braid is breaking predictably and you can live with a reduced breaking strain, then OK, otherwise bin it.

Braid does decay over time had it happen a few times, how old is it

Is it definitely braid and not dacron?
Dacron deteriorates.

Maybe it was UV damaged. You could try half unspooling it and trying some that hasn't been exposed to light but then I don't suppose you only want half a reel of braid :) I would chuck it all and respool everything. Last thing you need is to be unsure on the line as you are trying to land a good fish

just a thought is it the test you are giving it- to much to soon instead of a steady increased loading but I suspect deterioration to be one factor

My understanding is that braid doesn't degrade. I can't find a single reference that says it does and this reflects my experience. I have braid on reels that I don't use from one year to the next and it's in top condition. That said, braid is easily damaged by rocks and shitty rod guides.

okay MB you could well be right I do know mono does but braid is a very different beast -- would not hurt to have a look at the guides though - with kids I run a 1/2 in piece of jandal on line ( just drill a hole thru ) above swivel - stops them cranking the swivel into top guide -

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Originally Posted by MB

My understanding is that braid doesn't degrade. I can't find a single reference that says it does and this reflects my experience. I have braid on reels that I don't use from one year to the next and it's in top condition. That said, braid is easily damaged by rocks and shitty rod guides.

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I have had seen rotten braid, could snap it by hand piece of piece, was on my mates bait runner

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Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

okay MB you could well be right I do know mono does but braid is a very different beast -- would not hurt to have a look at the guides though - with kids I run a 1/2 in piece of jandal on line ( just drill a hole thru ) above swivel - stops them cranking the swivel into top guide -

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I do the same with a soft rubber bead.

https://i.ibb.co/hXRh0md/IMG-8920-4.jpg

Yeah I'm sure its all braid, not dacron, The braid on two of the reels looks a little faded, the other two the braid is brand new, never used, could be cheap braid. I might just cut my loses and get them respooled with top quality braid.

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Originally Posted by Three O'Three

Yeah I'm sure its all braid, not dacron, The braid on two of the reels looks a little faded, the other two the braid is brand new, never used, could be cheap braid. I might just cut my loses and get them respooled with top quality braid.

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Probably for the best. Short story. A mate bought a secondhand rod and reel and was told to change the line. He didn't. I was teaching him to softbait and he hooked a kingfish. This is a guy who has fished all his life and never landed a kingfish. He really wanted that fish. Anyway, we were fishing over sand, so no drama, the fish ran and ran. Spool was emptying fast and it became apparent that the braid had some shitty old mono underneath it as backing. Guess what happened as soon as the backing knot came off the spool? He was gutted.

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Originally Posted by MB

Probably for the best. Short story. A mate bought a secondhand rod and reel and was told to change the line. He didn't. I was teaching him to softbait and he hooked a kingfish. This is a guy who has fished all his life and never landed a kingfish. He really wanted that fish. Anyway, we were fishing over sand, so no drama, the fish ran and ran. Spool was emptying fast and it became apparent that the braid had some shitty old mono underneath it as backing. Guess what happened as soon as the backing knot came off the spool? He was gutted.

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Poor bugger. Thanks for that story, yeah I'm definitely gonna get these reels respooled, not gonna take any chances. Do tackle shops do it for you? The only ones close to me are Smartmarine and Burnsco. Doubt Burnsco will?

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Originally Posted by Three O'Three

Poor bugger. Thanks for that story, yeah I'm definitely gonna get these reels respooled, not gonna take any chances. Do tackle shops do it for you? The only ones close to me are Smartmarine and Burnsco. Doubt Burnsco will?

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My local Burnsco does it. It's not hard to do yourself, easier than setting up a scope :)

fishing storys and snapping lines was fishing down the Rangaaunu harbour Kaitaia with my mate - he kept getting snapped off - we found the reason - his cheap warehouse fixed spool had the roller seized for so long the line had worn a groove in it - and as soon as he loaded up the tension - ping bugger me again

The reels I want to put new braid on are 4000 size reels. Any advice on what diameter weight rating I should use? FYI will be using braid on 6' jigging and spin rods using 6kg fluorocarbon leaders

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Originally Posted by Three O'Three

The reels I want to put new braid on are 4000 size reels. Any advice on what diameter weight rating I should use? FYI will be using braid on 6' jigging and spin rods using 6kg fluorocarbon leaders

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That's pretty light leader, but doable. Based on the leader, braid in the 6-10kg range.

How thick was the braid, was it mislabelled?

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Originally Posted by inglishill

How thick was the braid, was it mislabelled?

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.30 and .33mm. Just checked some more fishing ling diameter charts and its more around the 30 to 40lb mark, not 20 to 30lb.

Honestly if it’s rated 30 lb and you breaking it at 8 lb bin the lot and start fresh , yip it’s a pain in the arse , but buyer beware etc ..better to have gear you can trust and enjoy your fishing , than worry every time your hooked up.

For the price of burley , bait , time and hooks and sinkers ,weather and enjoyment for me next payday a fresh spool is money in the bank!

Some of the sunscreens and tackle spray products can be a little hard on braid as well - also the baseline quality of the spectra (or chinese fiber of the day) has a huge bearing on how well the braid lasts as does it's construction (fused vs weaved etc).

If in doubt, bin it.

As far as spooling up, the only thing you have to be careful with is twisting the line as you reel it onto the spool. If you get a pot and lid from the second hand shop and take the center handle off the lid, usually there is a nice smooth grommet thing there that the bolt in the handle locks onto. Make sure it's got a smooth grommet, fill the pot with water and make sure the spool doesn't have any sharp plastic dags sticking up. Pull the line through the hole in the lid, making sure that it unwinds the same way off the spool as the winder on the reel goes and bob's your uncle's cousins sister or something.

the other way is to spool it on and this really only applies to fixed spool ( egg beaters ) turn the spool of nylon every few minutes so you are not twisting the line to much - the line will be coming of the spool clock wise or anti clockwise - turn the spool so that an equal amount comes of both anti clockwise and clockwise - left hand right hand kind of thing - free spools are easy put a screw dirver thru spool - get some one to feed it out under a little pressure and wind it on -what I do periodically if I think my nylon is twisted up on reel when slowly steaming out on boat pay out line say 300 meters and let it troll for awhile with nothing on line and then wind it back with minimal loading - twists gone

There are some shit cheap braid brands out there.

Scrap the lot and get Tasline....job done. I also reverse the spool before replacing as the bottom of the spool is hardly used so swapping it to the top is like respooling ;)

just a wee aside .if any of you blokes do a bit of diy repairs to leather canvas or suchlike .braid makes a bloody decent alternative to other synthetic threads . ive used it in assorted sheaths etc ,though it can be a proverbial to thread on needle it locks me up bloody good .son whose done tons of shoe repairs etc reckons its shoul d hold up .

My local tackle shop respool reels for free if you buy their lines, so I'm gonna wait until they have the braid I want on sale then take the reels in.

Smart Marine in Hamilton will spool your reels for you so I would Imagine Tauranga will as well.

Someone made a point about suddenly loading up braid versus gradually loading it, they are right.

One day I was trying to stop Kingfish that were miraculously taking cut baits with little room to play them. My mates insisted all I needed to do was to tighten up the drag.

Eventually I tightened up the drag just to shut them up. Next fish swam under the boat, swallowed my chunk of bait.. felt the hook and hit the gas.

I was holding the braid in my finger and could feel it happen, flicked the bail arm and bang! braid parted right on the bail arm. (80lb braid)

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Originally Posted by Gibo

There are some shit cheap braid brands out there.

Scrap the lot and get Tasline....job done. I also reverse the spool before replacing as the bottom of the spool is hardly used so swapping it to the top is like respooling ;)

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Do you start sweating when a good fish takes you back to the old stuff that you thought you wouldn't use?
Regarding good brands, J Braid is alright, as is Cortland Black Spot.

I have found Berkley Fire Line (especially the Fusion) to be very good.