I built 3 tuna rods with Aftco HD roller guides.

They all squeak at the guides when I bend the rods.

I stripped off 3 layers of thread over both ends of a guide, rewrapped much tighter than I usually do and there is less noise but it is still there.

More info:
-Layer 1: Thread with 1 coat of finish
-Layer 2&3: Two wraps of thread with 2 coats of finish.
-After stripping off the thread I found that the finish was through the guides and around the guide feet.
-Guides were prepped properly

I checked another rod (non tuna) that I just built and there is no noise like I expected.

All help will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Mike

Hi,

I have had this problem but wtth inshore salt water rods using Figi CULG guides. The charter boat captain that reported the problem to me said that after trolling the line for a couple of miles the noise was gone from all the rods involved.

I think Fugi makes guides that have feet that are too strong, do not flex enough. Thats different. How often do we complain that a product is made TOO GOOD.

Capt Neil

Hi Mike; I have built quite a few stand up rods, all with Aftco H.D.'s and have never experienced the problem you mention. It sounds like the only difference in our procedure is that I don't coat the underwrap as you mention you did. Can't swear that that is the problem, but it is different than the method I use.

Best regards, Pat Doyle

I think your squeaking is coming from a minute movement of the guides on the finished underwrap. But it is not being hurt structurally. I have run into this on some of the rods I have built but cannot duplicate it. Seems like it is an odd one out of a dozen for no particular reason.

I'd let it go. The ones I wrapped that did squeak, also stopped squeaking after a few hours of use.

What finish are you using? I had a problem with Classic Coat, found out it is brittle and eventually rods with this finish had feet that cracked. I switched to a more flexible finish, U40 LS, and alleviated at least the noise The feet cracked eventually. A fellow rod builder had much success with mixing Classic with U40 LS2000, not only was the finish flexible but did not crack. I tried it out, also with success then the LS Supreme came out and all my problems were solved.
In the case of AFTCO Rollers, the length and the width of the feet accentuate the problem, LS Supreme, again to the rescue because of the good penetration of this finish. Hope this is of some help. . .

Mike,

This is actually not uncommon. You don't mention what type of plating was on the HD Aftcos, but my bet is that they are silver chrome.

I've come across this many times with Aftcos, in HDs, WOs and SHD types. It's happened on stand-up rods and chair rods, with regular thread, NCP thread, filled underwraps and unfilled under and over wraps. The one common factor every time has been silver chrome finish.

I even had a customer call me thinking the blank was splitting! The first time it happened (nearly twenty years ago!) was on a 50lb chair rod and he demanded I did something about it. Of course there was nothing I could do, but once the rod is actually being used on the high seas either it can't be heard or the noise goes away.

The cause is the epoxy breaking away from the chrome plate and then vibrating against it as everything flexes, creating a creaking noise. As has been suggested, it generally goes away after use, probably because salt or similar has managed to break the contact between epoxy and plate.

I'm not saying that it won't happen with black chrome plate, but - well... it doesn't for me!

Barra

It is normal and does go away.

I have also had this happen and it always went away. I am not sure of the cause, but I got to the point where I actually felt the chrome plating against the guide frame material itself was where the problem originated. And as Ian pointed out, I only had this happen with chrome plated guides.

I once did some fooling around trying to determine the source of the noise. I clamped one end of a guide foot in a vise and used a clamp the other end and then flexed the guide. I got the "squeak" but no rod was involved. Just the guide. So I started to believe the problem lay in the plating itself.

Mike Ballard's idea sounds very good. But I never finished my underwraps prior to setting the guide and making my overwraps and yet I still got the noise on at least some rods.

I don't know enough about the actual cause of the noise to tell you for sure what it is or what to do about it. All I offer is the same everyone else here has - ignore it if you can, it will go away in due course.

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