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What Type Of Oil Is Safe For Lubing Your Reel


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Safe? Sure. Ideal? Maybe, maybe not. If it's a very low viscosity and somewhat temperature stable it will work for bearings. Something a little heavier with corrosion resistance is better on sliding parts. Grease for gears. I opt for 80w-140 gear oil for levelwinds as a compromise between grease which will gum up and oil which will fling off.

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That oil will work but like DVT said its not optimal. You want something thin like that oil is. They have a Lucas Oil at Auto Zone or Advanced. It is a gun oil and I grabbed a bottle a long time ago to try on reels. I used it recently to test it out and it works pretty good. It is red and I guess they also make one specifically for reels and that is blue.

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The whole fishing reel oil debate reminds me so much of my former lives as a bicycle mechanic and a downhill longboarder and the staggering selection of lubricants on the market.

 

Obviously, there's some differences in applications, but I think all fundamentals of geartrain lubricants are similar.

 

Heavy lubes will stick better to gears, etc, and generally are good for overall water repellency. The downside though, especially in a bike chain application, is that while it'll stay on, it'll also pick up enough grime and grit to make a street sweeper jealous, which overall will increase wear. I don't know applicable the dirt-->wear issue would be for fishing reels though. The increased viscosity also may have noticeable effects on bearing freespin. Not a huge issue in longboard wheels, despite the notion that insane freespin = insane performance (I always opted for thicker stuff in my bearings in an attempt to keep water and grime out), but might show up in something like spinning reels if you like to give the handle a kick and let it spin itself out.

 

The way I look at it, in general, the more precise the operation, the finer the lubricant. On bikes with unsealed wheel hub bearings, we'd pack them with whatever can of grease was open in the back of the shop. Iron age technology = Iron age lubrication. I'll avoid using chain lube analogies as the applications are totally different. However, on "precision" gears, such as in shifters, etc, I liked to use light greases of unknown composition. For super-precision applications, such as cartridge bearings, cable housings, derailleur linkages, I liked to use the thinnest teflon-based, non-wax bearing lubricant I could get my hands on.

 

Whatever you do, don't use 3-in-1, I'm still not sure what it is other than a huge gunky mess that has no place outside industrial-type operation. And for the love of God, don't use WD-40 on anything that you ever care about being remotely clean. The bike business taught me that WD-40 is like a hammer: it's a repair tool, not something you'd use in regular maintenance. A classic example would be a squeaky door hinge. The hinge, under ideal circumstances, shouldn't squeak, but WD-40 is decent for fixing it.

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Its a 6600cb.. I got this reel at a yard sale and thought it would work well for striper or cats.. Someone here recommended an ugly stik catfish rod for it so i got that and spooled it with 80lb power pro braid... It was pretty dirty when i got it. So I cleaned the dirt off and it looks pretty good. Maybe used a couple times and left to lay around.... So I'm just concerned that it needs a little work done before taking it out..

Problem is I dont know much about servicing this type of reel...

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Brush off any debris as best as you can and put some gear oil on the worm. While cranking, put light finger pressure against the line guide carrier feeling for any rough spots, catches or hesitations. If there are any send it on in for service & repair. 

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