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Your Town, USA -Having your graphite spools wound for you could lead to tragedy.  Many of us opt to save some money by having your local discount store or bait shop replace our line with a machine.  Be careful if you take in graphite spinning spools. 

It's a good idea to ask the person doing the work to lessen the line tension for your spool.  Normal to higher tension can result in a spool that has been cracked in half under the line.  If the clerk appears to be new or unfamiliar with the machine, you might want to come back when someone more experienced is on duty. 

Picture yourself on a fishing trip in Canada.  You decide to switch spools from 6 lb. test monofilament to 10 lb. backup spool in your tackle box.  Confident that you're ready for something a little bigger, you feel a little more at ease when that big strike hits.  That is, you're fine right up until the front half of the spool cracks off when you try to set the hook.  You watch helplessly as it drops in front of you in the boat.  Your line is everywhere and you end up pulling it in by hand without your shore lunch entree on the other end.

This can and did happen to me after having the line "professionally" machine wound at local sports show.  You can save a ton of money this way when a store is having a special on bulk line installation.  In some cases, clubs and non-profit organizations do this as a fund-raising event.  Whatever money that I saved was lost when I had to buy a new replacement spool.  Replacements, if they can be found, can be costly depending on the size and manufacturer.

If you're not sure if the line is too tight or not, simply let it all out behind your boat or across backyards if on land.  Reel it back in with a minimum resistance.  I like the behind-the-boat method as it also serves to take out any line curl and stretches the line if needed. 

I might also mention that if you have a model that spins in the opposite direction, you would be advised to remind them of that as well.  There's nothing like having a spool that lets out line when you try to retrieve.  Yes, that was me again when I conducted my very first line-winding clinic for a client store.  - Jim@ussfn