# Nautilus Out of Warranty



## brokeoff (Sep 2, 2016)

I have Everglades and Riptides on my rods but have started to pick up a few lighter rods. Now I'm looking at Nautilus because they are lighter.

I like the idea that I can pick up a used Tibor in great condition without a warranty card and work on them myself if something goes wrong. Complete failure isn't going to happen.

What happens if the drag fails on a Nautilus and its not under warranty? Anyone have experience with this?


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## Whiskey Angler (Mar 20, 2015)

What failed? Is there a roller clutch bearing in there that is no longer catching? If so, you can order a generic copy of almost any bearing on the interweb.


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## damthemainstream (Apr 11, 2017)

I'm fairly sure that they'll still repair it for you, you'll just have to pay for it.


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## brokeoff (Sep 2, 2016)

Sorry, I don't own one yet. I was just saying that I can order all the parts from Tibor and they are simple reels.

I wouldn't know where to start with a sealed drag. So I am wondering, do I buy new or used.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

Pretty sure they will warranty the reel, regardless of who has it at the time of failure, as long as the failure was not from abuse or normal wear and tear. It's hard to imagine a major manufacturer denying someone warranty service for something that's clearly a manufacturing defect. 



brokeoff said:


> I wouldn't know where to start with a sealed drag.


The drag stack in these reels is not that crazy once you get it apart, the issue is getting the thing apart. Something that separates a Tibor from a sealed drag is the ease of service and lack of parts. I guess in theory if you have some extra clutch dogs in your pocket you could change a broken one on the water if you were using a Tibor vs trying to keep up with all those little pieces parts from the Nautilus if the bearing fails. 

Anyway, get which ever reel you like the best and don't worry about it. Just make sure whichever reel you get is a Tibor


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

@brokeoff - why would it be out of warranty? I've sent one of mine back and they turned it around without any issue.

Tibor and Nautilus are two different beasts. Ted from Tibor designed his non-sealed drags to be as simple as possible with parts that can be replaced on the water if needed. I carry spare parts for them while on remote trips. They are a bit heavier, but I have 100% confidence that the drag will not fail on me during a fight. Tibor only designed their sealed drag version because their are people who are scared to dunk their reel in water. That's it - to give them piece of mind and to sell more reels. There is nothing wrong with getting a normal Tibor wet in fresh or salt. Just give it a good wash at the end of the day.

Nautilus is sealed and if something goes wrong with the drag, opening up and trying to repair it yourself will void the warranty. I would not attempt to do this myself.

The difference between the two is weight and durability. Nautilus is a light reel, but that comes with a price - the frame and spool are also very light and the metal is thinner compared to the Tibor. Drop a Nautilus and you'll bend it if hits an edge. It can be machined out if not severe, but that requires sending it back. The drag is ultra smooth with low start up inertia. Drag adjustment though can go from wide to precise quickly, meaning the first 80% of the adjustment doesn't have a large amount of change, but the last 20% does. Why does that matter? When fighting a strong fish, the drag adjustment becomes single and double clicks. That takes getting used to.

Tibor are ultra durable and the drag adjustment is consistent across the entire range. I've dropped Tibors and couldn't find any damage to them. Shoot, I think you could shoot them with a 45 and the bullet would bounce off! They may be a bit heavier, but they are the most bullet proof reels on the market. For 10 wt and above they are my reel of choice. I use Nautilus on my 9 wt and down since that usually requires much more casts over the entire day, so I go light as possible.

Long post, but hope that helps from my POV fishing both for years.


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## brokeoff (Sep 2, 2016)

I just assumed that is I buy a used Nautilus without the warranty card then it wouldn't be covered by the regular warranty.

I'm mainly looking for a reel that will match well with an 8 wt Exocett which would be my lightest rod.

Fatigue doesn't seem like a huge issue yet. I'm a fatty but I feel comfortable casting a 9 wt with a Riptide for 8 hours while albie fishing. I can manage two days of that.

When choosing a reel I figured it was cork or sealed. I just picked Tibor since a lot of guys liked them up here. Now that I'm looking at a lighter sealed drag reel Nautilus seems to be the obvious choice. Now I want to know if I should buy new or used.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Quick... let's hear from Nautilus reel owners for real world stories about those
sealed drags. How are they holding up?

I have five of them in very hard commercial service - and haven't had a single problem in the last ten years.


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## IRLyRiser (Feb 14, 2007)

I had a nautilus ccf 10 that had some pretty bad frame flex that allowed the spool to rub on the frame. I sent it in to get looked at and was charged $75 for it to be cleaned and serviced. That didn’t fix the problem. When I contacted them again I was told that was a known problem with that reel and I could just go to my local dealer and pay full price for a new nv. I sold all my nautilus reels and replaced them with tibors. Nautilus are fine reels, just sharing my experience with them.


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## backbone (Jan 4, 2016)

Voids Warranty if you open up a Nautilus.


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## redjim (Oct 16, 2012)

lemaymiami said:


> Quick... let's hear from Nautilus reel owners for real world stories about those
> sealed drags. How are they holding up?
> 
> I have five of them in very hard commercial service - and haven't had a single problem in the last ten years.


Good point Capt Bob! I have four and never a problem.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

The few times I'be heard of problems with Nautilus reels were when someone used one of their lighter weight reels when an Nv or other stouter models
would have been more appropriate.... All the Nautilus reels I have have very stout frames.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

backbone said:


> Voids Warranty if you open up a Nautilus.


The factory seal they claim you can damage is little more than a rubber o-ring, at least on the two reels I've handled. If you're somewhere and have a problem, you should not be punished for getting your gear back on the water. I've never looked into Nautilus warranty but I've fixed two for friends when sending the reel back was not an immediate option. Hopefully it's just a cover your own ass policy and not how they actually treat customers. 

I've taken an x frame apart and FWX apart. There is nothing about those reels to suggest that anyone would know if you had to take them apart for service.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

lemaymiami said:


> Quick... let's hear from Nautilus reel owners for real world stories about those
> sealed drags. How are they holding up?
> 
> I have five of them in very hard commercial service - and haven't had a single problem in the last ten years.


Bob, which ones do you have?


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Mine are mostly older reels since I was lucky enough to be with Old Florida before it became Nautilus (and they're only 30 minutes from my house...).

These are the reels I currently have in service. Since I'm a guide I've made some effort to have two reels for each rod (a left and a right hand model for each rod size...). Not all of my reels are Nautilus, the ones that aren't will be listed as well...

LEFT HAND WIND 
NV 8-9 (8wt)
No. TEN (10wt) 
Old Florida #4 (9wt) 
Old Florida #55 (12wt)

RIGHT HAND WIND
No. EIGHT (8wt)
No. TEN (10wt)
No. TWELVE (12wt)
Billy Pate Bonefish (9wt)
Billy Pate Tarpon (12-13wt)
Lamson 3.0 (old model) (7wt) 

I've listed the Nautilus reels exactly as they're marked (hence the capital letters)
and then listed the lines actually on each reel at present... I only need something left handed for a 7wt to have each size doubled (left/right). Hope this helps. I must admit that I'm nowhere up to speed on current Nautilus models. What I have works so well I may never need to upgrade any of them....

When I learned to fly fish (all those years ago) we were told to wind with our strong hands - so my personal gear has always been right hand wind. These days quite a few of my anglers show up only used to using their left hands - that's why the additional reels.... Hope this helps, all of my Nautilus reels are every bit as strong as current Tibor models in comparable sizes. My old Billy Pates work so well that they'll probably be in good working condition long after I'm not...


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## brokeoff (Sep 2, 2016)

In the end I'm just looking for a light reel. I really like my Tibors but they are a bit heavy for these lighter rods.

After looking at the NV-G now I'm also looking at the Super 7/8.

It could be that an open drag is better for me. I am super irresponsible with my fishing gear. When I forget to rinse, which I am getting better about not doing, I can open the whole thing up, break it down, clean and grease it.


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## mcraft173 (Apr 21, 2014)

I have an exocett with a CCFX and I'm happy with the balance of the set up. I've had my CCFX for about 3 years - no issues. Drag was fine when fishing for bonefish in the bahamas. 99% of my fishing redfish and I have had no problems there. As mentioned above about the CCF - I had some wobble in the spool when the drag was set lightly. I never bothered to turn in my warranty card - but I sent the reel back and they corrected it for 50 bucks. In all reality - it was a design/manufacturing defect and if I had more time and energy I would have argued about the $50 bucks. That said - most things in life need maintenance or repairs from time to time and it was easier to spend 50 bucks to fix my reel, than it was to buy a new one. The CCF has since been discontinued.


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

Have you looked at Galvan? Not that there is anything wrong with Nautilus. I'm sure you will be happy with any of the modern American built reels, regardless of which drag you choose.


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## brokeoff (Sep 2, 2016)

I have a Galvan for my G2 4 wt and love it. I like the look and the price. For some reason I never thought of them while looking at saltwater reels.


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

Abel Super 7/8 is my favorite reel in that class. Good balance between lighter weight yet study and cork drag.


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## Pierson (Mar 16, 2016)

brokeoff said:


> In the end I'm just looking for a light reel. I really like my Tibors but they are a bit heavy for these lighter rods.


Have you checked out the Tibor Back Country CL Wide? I have most of the other Tibor reels and absolutely love them. I use an Everglades on my 8 & 9 wt rods. My latest one is the Back Country CL Wide. I got it to go on my Sage One 6wt which I obviously wanted to keep very light. I am super impressed with this little reel! You get all the good dunk it, rinse it, unsealed simplicity of the Tibor in a lightweight package. I am contemplating getting another one for my 8 wt to use when wading/blind casting to lighten things up. It sounds crazy but you could use this reel effectively on anything from a 6wt to a 9wt and I think it would go great on a lightweight 8 wt. It has more backing capacity than the Everglades and while it doesn't quite have the top end of the everglades drag (nor the sexy sound), it has a super low startup inertia, fine tune drag adjustment, and is cheaper!


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## brokeoff (Sep 2, 2016)

Pierson said:


> Have you checked out the Tibor Back Country CL Wide? I have most of the other Tibor reels and absolutely love them. I use an Everglades on my 8 & 9 wt rods. My latest one is the Back Country CL Wide. I got it to go on my Sage One 6wt which I obviously wanted to keep very light. I am super impressed with this little reel! You get all the good dunk it, rinse it, unsealed simplicity of the Tibor in a lightweight package. I am contemplating getting another one for my 8 wt to use when wading/blind casting to lighten things up. It sounds crazy but you could use this reel effectively on anything from a 6wt to a 9wt and I think it would go great on a lightweight 8 wt. It has more backing capacity than the Everglades and while it doesn't quite have the top end of the everglades drag (nor the sexy sound), it has a super low startup inertia, fine tune drag adjustment, and is cheaper!


I just looked at these again. It's funny how first impressions are everything. I glanced at them a while ago when first buying a reel. They seemed like a great reel for smaller fish, just based on the name. Back then I would have questioned it's stopping power, but now I after owning other reels, I realize that I am more likely to break the drag before a fish does.

It's on the short list.


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## Pierson (Mar 16, 2016)

brokeoff said:


> It's on the short list.


Good to hear. I over looked it as well. Turns out, now I want another one!


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

I have both Tibor and Nautilus. I have never had a problem with either, ever.


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

I currently own:

Nautilus FWX 3/4 
Nautilus FWX 5/6 
Nautilus FWX 5/6
Nautilus FWX 7/8
Nautilus XM
Nautilus XL Max
Nautilus XL Max
Nautilus CCFx2 6/8
Nautilus CCFx2 8/10
Nautilus CCFx2 10/12
Nautilus NV-G 8/9

I only had issues with one FWX (the 7/8) which was one of the first FWX's that they sold through the Fly Shop of Miami many years ago. I had two issues, one was on the drag, and also I dropped the spool on the ground and it bent. They were able to straighten the spool, and replaced a small part on the drag, free of charge. 


I have also owned:

Nautilus NV-G 5
Nautilus CCFx2 6/8
Nautilus CCFx2 10/12
Nautilus FWX 7/8
Nautilus FWX 5/6
Nautilus FWX 5/6

Those were reels that I had and sold throughout the years to replace with new ones for no reason other than to have a new color combinations. 

Till this day, the only Nautilus I had issues with was the very first Nautilus I ever owned, and it was because I dropped the spool off of the frame onto the ground, and at the time, the drag used a single seal instead of two, as it was from the first batch of FWX's they ever made. 


The CCFx2 drag is their latest and greatest drag system. The drag system in the X-Series essentially is a smaller version of the same drag system, that still produces an incredible amount of drag.


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## brokeoff (Sep 2, 2016)

Ended up going with an unsealed drag.


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