Who is in charge of lubing these things up?? The spool shaft is COATED in a thin grease on both reels and turning the handles on both just don't have that same smoothness as my Chronarch Es do. I plan on cleaning some of this lube out, but my god...I've never seen a reel come this over lubed before and I've had some cheapos. But then I got to thinking, is the spool shaft on these new Curados supposed to HAVE lube on the spool shaft? And should I put a drop of oil on the brake pipe and bearing before I fish it? Oh, and one of my Curado Is had the seal on the box peeled up when I got it. The reel appears to be brand new and unused, but the extra brake blocks are missing. BPS said they didn't have any more leftys but that they would give me some brake blocks out of a righty so no big deal, but this isn't the first time I've bought Shimanos that had seals broken on the box and either oil or brake blocks missing. Shady.

Shimano over lubes there reels for two reasons. For saltwater fishing, and people that don't maintenance there reels regularly.

Get your qtips out and get to work !!

Get every bit of grease/oil off the spool shaft, and don't forget to clear out the inside of the pinion gear! Have fun cleaning it! (I enjoy cleaning reels; I'm not being sarcastic)

Should I oil the brake pipe and bearing before I fish them?

Reels are bought and returned ALOT.. Over greasing Is common.... Mine were too... Maybe make a hundred or so cast in a wide open area, then try and remove some of that excess grease.

I know many reels get opened up to see if everything is there or the customer wants to feel it before purchasing if they dont happen to have one on display

As for the brakes being missing...thats odd. Perhaps they got "given to someone" who lost thiers or something.

Reels are bought and returned ALOT.. Over greasing Is common.... Mine were too... Maybe make a hundred or so cast in a wide open area, then try and remove some of that excess grease.

0 Signs the reel in question was used, just that someone at the Warehouse had sticky fingers. Didn't know these brake blocks were in demand...

I know many reels get opened up to see if everything is there or the customer wants to feel it before purchasing if they dont happen to have one on display

As for the brakes being missing...thats odd. Perhaps they got "given to someone" who lost thiers or something.

Both of my reels were site to store purchases, and the box that both were shipped in was sealed up so I know it wasn't anyone at the store that nabbed them. Seems the warehouse guy was a clepto though.

My curado is still pretty greased up, I haven't done anything but swap out the handle. If I take the cc cap off there's grease all over the bearing and spring but it still casts like a beast. No need to oil the brake drum yet. Just go out and start casting.

My Ci4+ was way over grease. Was still smooth but extremely stiff. I cleaned it and flushed spools and side plate bearing. Relubed it with Alchemy oil and it's smooth and free. I understand they over lube it but man that only makes their reel seem not as refine as other brands from people that doesn't know about factory over lubing. My side plate bearing had a big chunk of lube on it.

They definitely don't feel as smooth as a Chronarch out of the box. I will fish the Curados tomorrow hopefully. Cleaned the spool shaft and added a dot of oil to the tension cap pad which was bone dry on both reels. My Chronarchs came with a blob of grease on the tension pads so not sure why these were dry. Seemed to smooth the reels out a bit but they will get a full tear down this weekend.

You will enjoy this reel trust me.. I love both of mine.. I want another one..

Bearings should each have a drop of oil, worm should have a thin coat of oil, gears should have grease throughout. I prefer spool shafts completely dry and any oil on them will be from some coming out of the bearings.

 

Don't mix the two up or itll feel terrible

 

Reels used in saltwater should follow a slighly more "overdone" approach

Bearings should each have a drop of oil, worm should have a thin coat of oil, gears should have grease throughout. I prefer spool shafts completely dry and any oil on them will be from some coming out of the bearings.

 

Don't mix the two up or itll feel terrible

 

Reels used in saltwater should follow a slighly more "overdone" approach

Thanks. As of now, the worm gear still has the factory grease on it until I tear it down.

Thanks. As of now, the worm gear still has the factory grease on it until I tear it down.

For general info for everyone, grease should be used in high wear areas which are also somewhat protected like gears, as it deals with the abuse much better, but it also attracts dirt, sand and other grit. Oil is better for "speed", it lubricates (although it is easy to overdo this) and helps keep an area clean but is easily pushed away during high stress events.

 

There is also heavy and light oil but thats another topic. Although many saltwater reel manf's use heavy oil on bearings and their freespools can go for upwards of 2 minutes, so "speedy light oil" isnt always necessary.

 

For the worm, completely clean it first, then put a small bead of lighter heavy oil along it and just spin it till it works in. Will last a long time and helps with the wear on the worm and the pawl and actually makes it run truer through the grooves