Rings should be replaced as soon as signs of wear on the coating appear on them. Of course, expensive professional and sports rods are best repaired in a workshop, but middle class rods are quite capable of restoring with your own hands.
Over time, even rings coated with titanium nitride wear out on the fishing rod. Replacing standard rings with more advanced ones will greatly increase the service life of the line and will allow you to use even a very thin "spider line" for fly fishing.
How to understand that the rings have exhausted their resource
The first sign of wear on the guide rings is a discoloration of the surface of the sliding pads. Very often, metallic streaks can be seen on the rings, indicating that the protective coating has partially rubbed off and the steel base is exposed.
If you carefully examine the line, which has been made 20-30 windings on the old rings, under a magnifying glass, you will notice burrs and scratches on it. This is especially noticeable on braided threads without Teflon impregnation. There is another way: with a cotton swab, you need to very carefully feel the inner surface of the rings. In those places where the protective shell is broken, the cotton fibers will stretch and spread apart.
If the listed phenomena have been noticed, the rings on the fishing rod should be urgently changed. Some models of guide rings provide for the possibility of replacing the linings, but these works are usually carried out in repair shops, and the result of modernization carried out in artisanal conditions does not always meet expectations. It is much easier to buy a set of guides that match your fishing rod model, which you can install yourself.
Replacing the extreme "tulip"
The old tulip needs to be warmed up with a lighter until the adhesive begins to foam at the joint. Then the tulip is carefully removed, and the remaining adhesive is removed from the end of the tip. On the cleaned part of the tulip, you need to try on and mark the planting depth. If there is a slight backlash, it is eliminated by winding a thin silk thread in several layers with a wide pitch between the turns.
First, the end of the tip is covered with a two-component glue based on epoxy resin, then the thread is wound, which is also abundantly covered with glue. The tulip should be installed carefully, twisting slightly so as not to snag the thread. After installation, the excess glue is removed, and the inner surface of the ring must be especially carefully cleaned.
Replacing the guide rings
In order not to violate the strength of the rod, the rings are attached to it only with overhead brackets or by winding. First you need to mark on the rod where the rings are installed. After that, the old rings are removed, preheating with a gas burner, and the remaining glue is removed.
To install the ring, you will need 0.1 mm thick smooth steel wire and a thin silk thread. The wire is folded in half and applied along the rod, pressing the tails with the palm of the hand and leaving the loop free. Hold the ring with your fingers and fix it with a thread tied in a "noose". The thread is wound from oneself and as tightly as possible, turn to turn, until it completely covers the leg of the ring. In this case, it is necessary to lay a short tail of a thread and a wire folded in half under the turns.
After winding, the end of the thread is passed into a wire loop and pulled to the opposite side. Now it is enough to pull firmly on the ends in different directions to check the quality of the winding. If the thread has been wound correctly, the turns will not move, and the band will be carefully fixed. The ends of the thread are cut and burned with a burner.
In the same way, the ring is wound on the other side. The thread is covered with a layer of two-component epoxy glue and allowed to dry. In order to give the rod a more aesthetic look, the places of the rings are covered with adhesive PVC tape or heat-shrinkable tube to match the color of the rod.
