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Cold And Reels

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Can the cold affect your reels? i keep my rods and reels on the indoor porch and it gets as cold as -9 degrees out there at night this time of year. today i went and messed with one of my spin reels and the anti reverse wasnt working :/ flicked the switch a few times and still nothing. could the cold be to blame? I'm thinking of taking all of my reels and stowing them out of the cold somewhere.

 I'm thinking of taking all of my reels and stowing them out of the cold somewhere.

Good idea! LOL

  • Super User

In the cold the viscosity of oils and grease increases.  Anti-reverse bearings do not work well with high viscosity lubricants.

  • Author

In the cold the viscosity of oils and grease increases.  Anti-reverse bearings do not work well with high viscosity lubricants.

do you think when they warm up it will work again?

I have no doubt that things will be back to normal when they warm up. Try not to worry and don't play with it too much until your reel has a chance to "thaw out" (not that it would really be hurting anything if you did). I think that Aavery2 is absolutely right and the same statement applies in reverse. The grease on the inside will thin down when it warms back up. There may be too much inside in the first place. Feel free to take your reel apart and clean it if you need a winter project.

In general, I don't think that cold has too much of an impact on reels you aren't using. Just make sure they are in an area that is dry and has plenty of airflow. Repeated freezing and thawing could trigger condensation and rust if they aren't given some breathing room.

Cold storage on fishing line, however, seems to have somewhat more of an impact. The combination of being tightly wound around a spool for extended periods along with the temperature ups and downs seem to give most lines a lot more loops/memory/coils the next time you take them out. This is a non-issue if you change your line at the start of the season.

  • Super User

Yup, ^^ more than likely, but do you fish in the very cold?

  • Author

I have no doubt that things will be back to normal when they warm up. Try not to worry and don't play with it too much until your reel has a chance to "thaw out" (not that it would really.be hitting anything if you did). I think that Aavey2 is absolutely right and the same statement applies in reverse. The grease on the inside will thin down when it warms back up. There may be too much inside in the first place. Feel free to take your reel apart and clean it if you need a winter project.

In general, I don't think that cold has too much of an impact on reels you arent using. Just make sure they are in an area that is dry and has plenty of airflow. Repeated freezing and thawing could trigger condensation and rust if they aren't given some breathing room.

Cold storage on fishing line, however, seems to have somewhat more of an impact. The combination of being tightly wound around a spool for extended periods along with the temperature ups and downs seem to give most lines a lot more loops/memory/coils the next time you take them out. This is a non-issue if you change your line at the start of the season.

thanks man and yes! the line on all them bad boys is trash haha. thats why i ordered line for next season.

  • Author

Yup, ^^ more than likely, but do you fish in the very cold?

I fished until the water froze and the water froze 20 days before the season ended. lol didn't catch a thing either just needed to be fishing. needed that fix and it wasn't even worth casting in 18 degrees for a half hour haha.

  • Super User

If the anti-reverse is skipping, it's not just because it's cold. It probably needs cleaned, because it shouldn't have a bunch of grease in it.

  • Super User

Uhh, I dunno, =)(&%! cold for me is in the 50°s

This year i was fishing in negative temps (under 32F I think) and anti reverse stopped working.  Working fine when thawed though.

  • Author

This year i was fishing in negative temps (under 32F I think) and anti reverse stopped working.  Working fine when thawed though.

i hope were in the same boat on that one.

  • Author

yes! haha it's working now after warming up! works perfect!

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