My reel fell in the water today and didn't work the same after,  not as smooth for a while.  The reel didn't come with any cleaning instructions, nor saw any on their site. 

 

To those who have this reel, how do you clean them? 

Get with @Delaware Valley Tackle and I'm sure he can point you in the right direction. 

I hope it wasn't salt water. I don't have that reel but I usually find the schematics, break down, clean and relube then put it back together. If your not comfortable get in touch with Abu or a reel service personnel.

Sometimes a quick dunk in relatively clear water won't require more that thorough drying and superficial lubrication. Doesn't sound like that's the case here since there are lingering symptoms. A full tear down is in order. If you don't feel comfortable tackling it, send it in at your convenience and I'll get it back asap. 

if you're like me and can't seem to put anything back together the way you took it apart, don't even start.  just send it over the DVT and let him do the grunt work for you.  and to me, a spinning reel is infinitely more complicated than a casting reel.  he's saved my hide on more than one occasion!

Spinning reels are another animal to begin with and the revo ones are different from most. 

Send it in to be cleaned. Spinning reels aren't fun to work on. 

If you're gonna service it yourself, I have several suggestions: 

1. Have the schematic so you don't mess things up

2. Take multiple pictures at different angles whenever you take something off (you'll thank yourself later)

3. Line the pieces up in the order you take them off so reassembly is much easier

4. Try to make your workspace as clean as possible so you don't lose track of any small parts 

I am surprised to hear that a reel can be damaged just by getting wet.  Where I am from most guys fish saltwater and give their rigs a rinse with a garden hose after every trip.  I am pretty bad about remembering to do that and while some of my reels clearly need some attention, a simple relube has kept them all chugging along. 

I would like to learn to work on my own reels, but I once decided to totally detail strip a double-action revolver and that thing took me weeks to correctly reassemble, I can only assume that a spinning reel has smaller and more delicate parts. 

Sometimes just pulling a few screws out, opening up side plates a bit, and then blowing a strong fan at it for a couple days will work wonders for drying out a briefly-submerged reel or one that was completely drenched in rain.

Put a couple drops of light oil where it needs to go before closing it back up, and you're set.

14 hours ago, PennBass said:

If you're gonna service it yourself, I have several suggestions: 

1. Have the schematic so you don't mess things up

2. Take multiple pictures at different angles whenever you take something off (you'll thank yourself later)

3. Line the pieces up in the order you take them off so reassembly is much easier

4. Try to make your workspace as clean as possible so you don't lose track of any small parts 

Also, using a muffin pan to keep pieces and accessories organized and in one place is very useful. 

Rain, rinsing or a quick dunk in clean water won't hurt. If the water is dirty with suspended debris or the reel lays on the bottom at all it's almost surely contaminated inside. It's not so much the water but the abrasives it can contain that are a problem. 

That makes a lot more sense, thanks for the info.  

I fish out of a kayak, so my reels get dunked a lot. Never had to clean it over freshwater outside of my yearly maintenance.