Snowbee prestige XS line (treatment)

[nicholasfmoore]

A vibrator makes a good priest too.

Hahaha! is that from experience, Paul?

Thank you all, I went with the scientific anglers stuff and it has worked quite well (as expected) I still favour my SA ED line though!

All the best

Nick

[Mangrove Cuckoo]

Line treatment products...

Let me nerd on for bit... my undergraduate degree was Chemistry, and I still have to use it in my daily work life.

You can learn a lot about products by looking up their MSS (material safety sheet) previously called a MSDS. As there are thousands of products that contain compounds that cannot/should not be used above a wellfield that supplies water to a municiple water plant, I routinely look at MSS's. And I seem to do it for nonwork things too.

I believe is was the SA product that caught my eye as it contained a "silicone" that I was aware of from the chem lab. I will spare y'all with the chemical names as it gets confusing. (polydimethylsiloxane, anyone?)

What caught my eye was the exact same compound is used in "dielectric tune up grease" for sparkplug boots... in almost the pure form. So, if you wanted to make your own all you would need to do is dilute it with a nonaggressive "thinner".

And to that I would mention that if you do try some off label products for your lines, avoid anything that states "contains petroleum distillates" on the label. A product with such chemicals will likely reduce the life of a PVC flyline. That might be what the problem was with Armorall.

It appears most fly line products are "silicone" based. But there are newer products available that are PU (poly urethane) based that I have found to be slightly better as they bond with rather than just coat the lines.

Nerd out.

[Paul Arden]

Absolutely agree with Gary. I’ve spent the last two years playing around with silicone oil in various guises. We were selling Shoot which was an silicone compound less viscous than water. Pure silicone liquid is more viscous (ie less runny than water). Finding the right mixer is important because you don’t want your line to fuck up.

Buying industrial sizes quantities from China looked like an interesting option. It would bring down prices AND give a greater margin - enough to make wholesaling a possibility. However it also means that I have to buy industrial sized quantities (200KG!) which makes wholesaling not only and option but also a necessity!

That’s not really where I want to be

So we will go back to the original product with small quantities and smaller margins. The only drawback with this stuff by the way is that if you need to change rings for rod repairs then your rod builder will have a hell of a time cleaning the blank. Otherwise the rings will slip again and again. But it’s a small price to pay for longer casts; unless you are the rod builder of course!

Incidentally line slick is very similar to fly floatant. It’s just differences in viscosity. In my research I have discovered everything from thick fly floatant suitable for the tropics to ultra thin shooting line silicone for the Arctic. I’ve also killed a few lines.

Something like this could/should revolutionise fly fishing but the general market is very traditional. Squirting silicone Shoot onto your line every hour or so is really Sexyloopers domain.

Cheers, Paul

[daniel]

As an amateur rod builder, the issue I'd have with silicon residue on the blank is it plays havoc with the epoxy as it cures. Seems to make the epoxy 'fish eye'.

[bartdezwaan]

The only drawback with this stuff by the way is that if you need to change rings for rod repairs then your rod builder will have a hell of a time cleaning the blank. Otherwise the rings will slip again and again. But it’s a small price to pay for longer casts; unless you are the rod builder of course!

Good luck to Lee then. My rod is on it’s way
It’s a small price to pay.

Cheers, Bart

[Graeme H]

What caught my eye was the exact same compound is used in "dielectric tune up grease" for sparkplug boots... in almost the pure form. So, if you wanted to make your own all you would need to do is dilute it with a nonaggressive "thinner".

Awesome! That means I can now stop buying "Payette Paste" and just refill my little tub by squeezing a tube of the grease into it.

Can you give us a clue about a benign thinner to look for?

Cheers,
Graeme

[Boisker]

Hey mangrove..
My chemistry was a long, long time ago...
After reading this thread I was looking at silicone spray.. but to be honest I can’t pick out if there is anything to immediately raise concern, is there anything that stands out on this product list as being a problem?
https://hycote.co.uk/wp-content/uploads ... -spray.pdf
If not I thought I might try it on an older practice line... dump the whole line in a clean bucket, spray well, leave for a while and then pull through a clean cloth...

[Mangrove Cuckoo]

Graeme,
To be honest I never tried it. I still have a bottle of the SA product somewhere as i moved on to PU stuff. I would suspect that the grease is already thinner than the paste you mentioned. Wipe some on then wipe off the excess?

Boisker,
I would be suspicious of the napthas... those are good old fashion lighter fluid and as a solvent it might be bad for the PVC coating. It should evaporate quickly though. But FFS be careful with that spray around any type of flame or spark! The lighter fluid part is less flammable than the other carriers!

[Boisker]

Mmm... I may give it a try on an old line, but definitely not whilst smoking

In reality I’ll probably never get around to it, I’ve got 2 bottles of SA to work through first

What’s the PU product you refer to?

[Mangrove Cuckoo]

The polyurethane product I use is called "303 Marine protectant". They used to sell it in fly shops as wipes in small packets, but I now buy it in a spray bottle.

Be aware of a few things: the company was bought out and now makes a bunch of different flavors. I can only speak to the original marine one that is touted as "space-age sunscreen for your boat". It works very well for me on flylines, but I also use it to wipe down my rods and also on the hulls of my canoes.

I almost hesitate to mention this but it seems to not only coat, but soak into PVC flylines. It acts as a cleaner, floatant, a friction reducer and a protectant, although it probably does not reduce friction as well as a super thin silicone product like Shoot. I have had many comments over the years about my flylines when people cast my rods. They commonly ask what line it is and if it is brand new. They are usually surprised when I say that some of the lines are many years old.

I hesitate because it seems the lines really do soak it up as they feel like they get heavier, although I have never checked it on a balance. It is water based so it doesn't evaporate quickly, yet it goes somewhere. It might disqualify someones record if it were used in a tournament and the line weight later checked?

But... if it is OK to use a 10wt rod, and a 65' head on a line labeled a 5 wt, it probably doesn't matter if the line is a tad extra heavy? Or not?