Designing the KOBO Power Reel
During development we saw a few typical electric reel issues - robustness, lack of digital features, and sexy yet versatile product. A robust reel that can fish day in and day out with no issues needed to be tested in the same manner. All reels generate heat from their drags and with electric reels their motors create a second source. Thermal management for high performance reels is critical. Using an electrical reel you can lose "feel" so we wanted to have hard metrics - speed, distance, and drag. Our goal is for these metrics to improve the catching experience. We addressed these items through testing and inovative design features.
Solving the problem
As we entered development our goal was to make our equipment fail. If we could make it fail in the lab, you could make it fail in the field - that was our thought process. To test the robustness of our hardware we design our own test equipment. Our fatigue test rig continually runs every day to find our failure points, then we iterate, and lastly we repeat. Over 1000 hours has been put on this rig. We even find failure points in this rig and have to redesign it. Once our design became more robust we worked on improving the drag performance.
Robust design
A robust product needs to be tested thoroughly so we developed tools do so. We designed our own test rig to continuously run the reel and test our different iterations to failure. This let us find our weak points, improve the design, and set electrical safeties.
Smooth Drag
Drags and motors generate heat, we wanted to keep the system as cool and efficient as possible. During development we found heat causes drags to change so a cool drag is a smooth drag. For this we created our Smart Motor feature. If your drag is slipping the motor will either slow to its minimum speed or try to match the speed of the line coming in. This helps to automate the speed control feature.
Digital Metrics
Reel performance is always changing - set speeds, drags, and distance. We wanted to have hard metrics that can used to talk between the crews and help improve your catch success. With nearly 2000' of line out, know how much pressure you're applying with confidence.
Testing Catagories
During development we put our KOBO Power Reel through a gauntlet of tests over and over again. We wanted to build a robust product we could be proud of and you would have no doubts in. There are 3 main categories we grouped testing into - catastrophic, lifetime, and environmental. Catastrophic: Single failure in lost fish or unusable reel. Lifetime: Component fatigue leading to loss of performance. Environmental: Saltwater corrosion, water intrusion, and field durability.
Catastrophic Failure Testing
Similar to our Lifetime Test rig we tested the reel for a catastrophic failure. This is overloading the reel at max drag and speed - cycle after cycle. The reel is run to thermal saturation and then the reel would be set to 90+ lbs and run at full speed creating what some call a "burnout" condition. Here we push our board, motor, drag, and system components to the highest temperatures and loads. The goal here is to cause electrical failure and drag failure. Drags could melt, fracture, sticking/lock and result in a lost fish or railed hardware. We aimed to resolve these as failure modes. Our latest system has withstood our best efforts of catastrophic failure.
Lifetime Durability Testing
Our durability test rig runs typically for 10+hrs each day for months. The drag is set to 50+ pounds and constantly start/stops. This creates a fatigue condition on our mechanical and electrical system. A solenoid actuates the motor while stepper motor disengages the drag - this engages the full system. To date we believe this is over 10+ years of operating lifetime and over triple the average loads we're seeing in field during the entire test.
Field-Tested Durability
We have units in the field and have been getting great feedback from our customers. We don't believe any product is perfect and always listen to their feedback. We stive to continually improve our products and support. While we are a new company we believe we took sound design practices in development, testing, and now deployment in the field. We share our testing methods to help our customers build confidence in the products we deliver and are always open to discuss this in further detail.
If you don't see an answer to your question, please reach out
Frequently Asked Design Questions
How should we operate speed vs drag?
Our easiest way to think about this is - speed is to come tight on a fish and drag is to apply pressure. Once you are tight applying more speed is not bring the fish in faster IF the drag is slipping. That is like driving down the highway with your foot on the gas and brake. Cool is smooth on your drags, lets achieve this.
Is the drag actually electronic?
No. The drag works like any conventional reel, the drag lever applies pressure to a clutch that creates friction. When the motor is running we display how much tension is in the line based on the work being done by the motor and how much line is on the spool.
How fast should we run the reel?
When fishing you should try and match the speed of which the fish is coming up. We have found the 150-200 FPM is fairly effective for this. A fish at 1500' would take 10 minutes to get to the surface, that’s how we like to think about it.
Is the reel electrically protected?
The reel has built in safety features to protect itself if it has a poor power source. There is a low voltage and high voltage limit that will keep the reel from operating. Further, there are peak current protections that stop the motor if the max loads are met. A resettable breaker should still be used to further isolate the reel and protect the power system.
How often should we service the reel?
Rinsing the reel with fresh water and thoroughly drying while caring for the reel like any high end marine product will insure years of reliable use. Inspect the moving parts for any foreign objects - level wind, spool hub, and frame locking pin. Check the plug for corrosion to ensure a strong electrical connection.
Why does the drag change?
There are several factors that impact drag performance - speed, pressure, and temperatures are the biggest culprits we have found. In our own testing most drags reduce as the reels warm up but some will increase. This goes for conventional and electric reels. Again, keeping a cool/consistent control helps to reduce variability. Seeing real time drag metrics changes your perspective but don't overcomplicate it.
What if your power source fails?
We wanted to develop a reel purely for electric fishing. Having a handle we felt would complicate the design and take away from its primary design purpose. If the power source fails then unfortunately the reel will not operate.
Does the reel overheat and fail?
During development we tested the KOBO Power Reel without electrical limits - more speed, torque, and power than a 24V system can produce. We pushed iterations to board failures, drag failures, and the list goes on. Throughout all our designs we never saw a catastrophic field failure and our latest design does not fail in the lab.
What if the reel did get too hot?
If the reel did hit its thermal limit the system will stop until the temperature cools to an appropriate operating condition. We have not seen anything close to this from field use but have tested to this limit rigorously. If you are concerned, the reel needs to do less "work" to stay cool and a slower set speed is the easiest place to start. The KOBO Power Reel is fast and we've found fighting fish at the 100 - 200 FPM to be a sweet spot.
How did you estimate 10+ years of service from testing?
As we get field data back from customers we collect how many times the motor has started, what the average motor RPM is, how long the motor has been running, and various metrics. We then compare that information to our test data. Our test conditions, outside of being in a marine environment, are also more extreme than our field units operating conditions.
How should we use the Smart Motor feature?
The Smart Motor feature does not replace good manual motor control practice. Big fish, high drags, and long fights should still be considered as manual motor operations. Using the Auto Retrieve/Smart Motor while the fish is rising is a great place, if a fish is holding at 30+lbs at the thermocline that could be a good spot to use manual motor. Every fish is different and the skill to read these situations come with time. Our goal is to provide improved features over the market standards to improve your success.