Hey guys, just started cleaning my rods.. (Starting to feel lost without a rod to build, hoping this will help give me a fix with the new "addiction" lol)

I noticed i have some cracking starting on one of my fenwick spinning rod.. The large guide has more of a seperation issue then a cracking i guess.. Looks like due to stress.. That rods been used verry hard..

It looks like on the side of the foot the epoxy has lifted off the thread.. Its about a 1/4 inch.. It looks like the larger 3 on the upper half are just starting to do the same as well..

Im not crazy worried about it yet, they seem like they are stable yet.. Just wondering is there a way to repair without stripping down to bare blank and rewrapping? If thats the only real option, ill wait until its a problem rather then possibly damaging a perfectly good rod..

I figured i would come to you guys first.. So far its proved to be the right decision on everything else.. Thank you all in advance for any advice, comments, or suggestions..

When you describe the rod as older, how old is older? Any idea if the wraps are silk or nylon? Any idea if the wraps were treated with color preserver? Do the problem areas have a milky white appearance? Posting up close up pictures would be helpful.

My guess, and it's only a guess, is the wrap edges or "tunnels" were not well sealed or, as you suggest, stress caused the finish to fail, water has thus gained entry, and things will only get worse.

If you're emotionally attached to the rod then making it a wall hanger in an attractive display is an option. The alternative is, as you guessed, removing the guide and other wraps and rebuild the rod. It's not so difficult, but does take full measures of time and patience to avoid damaging the blank.

Not that old.. Like 2010.. Its probably nylon.. Its a fenwick.. If you have seen my other posts, its my 6'9" fenwick EliteTech Smallmouth.. I really do love the rod.. And honestly will end up rewrapping everything.. Eventually... Im honestly a little scared to attack something like that.. I cant get pictures online right now, i dont have any social media accounts.. When i do get a pic online, ill post a link, but im fairly sure its due to stress

If any guide is cracked at all it is time to R&R the guide , You can make it simple as measure the guide inside hole ,an order one from a local parts supplier on the left this web site , apply heat to old epoxy an
scrape the old off, heat gun will work to soften so you can scrape it . use a popsicle stick , then wrap with a thread close the color , or strip it down [ every thing off an redo it all together , your choice
if you want to know anything else just post here there will be lots of people a lot better than I , this is just my 2 CTS

William Sidney
AK

Im going to wait a bit on the repair.. I still want to mimic the rod the best i can.. Once i have a build im fully satisfied with, ill do the repairs.. Dont worry.. You guys will be the first to know lol

If the thread's intact, peel away as much of the old finish as you can, scuff the remaining finish and re-coat with new finish. Light coats

That, i would be more comfortable with.. Its really just a stress crack... Threads fine.. Is there anything that breaks down thread epoxy? Just to help with the removal? Im not talking full removal here.. Just incase.. And for further reference



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2018 09:30PM by Anthony Unger.

This is normal with a factory rod. I'd strip it and re-wrap. Tomorrow. Fenwick used a lot of standard colors so should be easy to match, but even if not, just get close and no one will notice. You could strip and re-wrap in 30 minutes, then it's just epoxy time. It's just a fishing rod and even if the color was completely wrong, it's still going to catch a fish just fine. But broken epoxy means water is getting on the foot of the guide, and that's all bad. And since you're now able to fix it, you should. Do not try and save the wrap. It won't look good and it's already contaminated.

When I started building rods, I re-wrapped the crappy 1st few guides on a couple Cabelas rods I had, and replaced with Fuji guides. No one noticed, those rods are still in the rotation, and I got the experience, and a better rod. This is not difficult, and when you strip and re-wrap, you're actually improving things. Don't hesitate.

Nothing to soften the epoxy but some low heat. Peel off what you can, then apply some new epoxy to get you bye until you decide to rewrap it.

Realized i can upload from one drive.. [1drv.ms]
Maybe.. Not sure if you guys are going to be able to see these...
[1drv.ms]

Anthony,
You were looking for something to do.

Any guide that is showing signs of cracking, remove it, rewrap , recoat the rod and you will be good to go.

Not terribly unusual to have cracks on older rod thread finish around the guides.

Enjoy.

Alright.. Ill re-wrap the guides.. I only have shades of dark red and greys.. Silver and red metallic.. No CP, so the wraps will be dark no matter what i do, grey with red metallic should work ok.. You guys are right though.. If i really do love the rod, i need to take care of it..

Are you guys able to see those pictures? Want to make sure that option for uploading will work for future reference



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2018 10:54AM by Anthony Unger.

Try what I said first (if it's not too late), You can re-wrap later if you don't like the result and all you lose is a little finish.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2018 01:49PM by Lynn Behler.

I dont have the time today, so ill end up probably doing it next weekend.. Ill try to do as you said... But if i damage the thread, then obviously ill rewrap