Islander MR3 bearings

[reelbender]

Hello just a quick question, was wondering if any of you MR3 owners upgrader their bearings to a ceramic or a stick with the stainless bearings that come stock on the reel . & what size are the bearings and a good place to order them online .
Cheers

 

[RiverBoy]

Hello just a quick question, was wondering if any of you MR3 owners upgrader their bearings to a ceramic or a stick with the stainless bearings that come stock on the reel . & what size are the bearings and a good place to order them online .
Cheers

Had to upgrade the bearing and the drag spring almost immediately. Because when you drop $600 on a reel, that's apparently what you need to do. Whatever. Works fine now. Any tackle shop can get you the parts. Drag washer was warranty, the bearing was on me for some reason.

 

[Dogbreath]

Had to upgrade the bearing and the drag spring almost immediately. Because when you drop $600 on a reel, that's apparently what you need to do. Whatever....

LOL!

People love to overpay.

Boca Bearings can sell you what you need but be aware that actual ceramic bearings are quite noisy.

http://www.bocabearings.com/

For drag washers call Dawn @ Smooth drag she sells to Canadians regularly shipping is fast easy & cheap

http://www.smoothdrag.com/

 

[RiverBoy]

LOL!

People love to overpay.

Boca Bearings can sell you what you need but be aware that actual ceramic bearings are quite noisy.

http://www.bocabearings.com/

For drag washers call Dawn @ Smooth drag she sells to Canadians regularly shipping is fast easy & cheap

http://www.smoothdrag.com/

Yah not my smartest move. I was watching a Canucks game a long time ago, and Trevor Linden was being presented with some gifts; I believe it was his retirement party. anyway he was presented with an Islamder Reel. I knew then I had to have one!
Mine came filled with about a million feet of Dacron and braid, and then a top shot of Berkely mono. Don't know what that would have cost to install. Like I said, works fine now.

 

[littlechucky]

Dusting off an old thread here.

Just pulled apart my MR3s for a good cleaning / servicing and found some bearings were pretty rough. They have been used for 5 seasons now, so not a huge surprise I guess.

Rather than just replace the rough ones, I pulled them all out and will replace them all.

(Red Loctite that islander uses is a pain btw...will be going with one of the weaker versions when I reassemble).

Has anyone gone with ceramic bearings on these reels before? Or just stick with the standard steel bearings?

 

[Rayvon]

The bearings are why I don't own an Islander any more.Had to change 2 in 2 years on my dime.Not big money but a pain in the butt after you pay big bucks for the reel.Seems crazy that you have to put away a $650 Islander reel with a growling bearing and use a $120 Shimano 4000 that's never given any trouble in many years.

 

[Dogbreath]

Because ceramic bearings are so noisy you'll constantly be wondering if something is wrong even if the racket doesn't bother you.

 

[littlechucky]

Because ceramic bearings are so noisy you'll constantly be wondering if something is wrong even if the racket doesn't bother you.

Louder than the reel / drag clicker?

 

[littlechucky]

I called Mike’s Reel Repair and they are sending me replacement bearings....they only stock ceramic and say their customers really like them.

I guess I’ll find out how they sound once I install them...

It was about $24 for the set of 3 for each reel. Pretty reasonable.

 

[RiverBoy]

My MR3 also puked our two pairs of bearings in a year. been good now for a few years however.
they just don’t like being cranked down super hard and dragged around. someone else on here aptly stated they were originally designed to be a mooching reel.
i routinely troll around in excess of 250-270 of wire. it’s dang hard on them.

 

[littlechucky]

My MR3 also puked our two pairs of bearings in a year. been good now for a few years however.
they just don’t like being cranked down super hard and dragged around. someone else on here aptly stated they were originally designed to be a mooching reel.
i routinely troll around in excess of 250-270 of wire. it’s dang hard on them.

I find you have to watch how much oil you have on the cork. Also take it apart and wipe the excess oil of the spool side which leaches out of the cork quite frequently (takes 1 minute). Doing this, I get no creep and don’t have to hammer down the drag even when trolling 250’+. Over oiling the cork is what causes the creep from my experience....not enough friction vs the back side of the spool.

We will see how the ceramics perform and hold up.

 

[Mausermike14]

I called Mike’s Reel Repair and they are sending me replacement bearings....they only stock ceramic and say their customers really like them.

I guess I’ll find out how they sound once I install them...

It was about $24 for the set of 3 for each reel. Pretty reasonable.

How did the ceramic bearings work out for you? I'm about to replace my bearings in my MR3.

 

[littlechucky]

How did the ceramic bearings work out for you? I'm about to replace my bearings in my MR3.

Haven’t put them in yet...hope to have some time over the holidays to reassemble them.

But time will tell how they perform and hold up.

 

[wolf]

I had some islander for 3 weeks once and that was it, I spray my reels everyday with fresh water and let them dry in rocket launchers was told thats what wreaked them??? been doing that for over 14 years now on a different brand last year was the first bearing that went id say not to bad....
for the price you pay not a fan but thats me..

 

[Mausermike14]

Always wanted an islander, think they look amazing and I love to support local. On the same note, I have been using my trophy tyee for some time now with absolutely no issues and its half the cost. I treat the reels the same, flush down with fresh water, back off the drags and let them dry. I've had the reels the same amount of time and already replacing the islander bearings... might be time for a new bearing supplier islander!!

 

[Rockfish]

Always wanted an islander, think they look amazing and I love to support local. On the same note, I have been using my trophy tyee for some time now with absolutely no issues and its half the cost. I treat the reels the same, flush down with fresh water, back off the drags and let them dry. I've had the reels the same amount of time and already replacing the islander bearings... might be time for a new bearing supplier islander!!

I like the MR3's. Something to be aware of when you flush the salt out of the reels is not to use water on the hotter side as it can remove the lubricant from the Islanders which will effect the operation of the wet clutch face and the longevity of certain wear components. I use cold to slightly warm water/room temp. at the most.