So I've been cleaning my reels the past couple years with pretty good success, but this year I want to try and get the bearings a little cleaner. So far I've just been giving them a short soak in Simple Green and I'm not convinced that's doing the best job by itself. I've heard a lot of people like Acetone to soak their bearings but I've also heard it can eat away plastic. Is this true about ceramic hybrid bearings? Which raises my real question, are there many reels that come stock with ceramic hybrid bearings? I assume all my reels have stainless steel ones but again, I'm not sure, and that's something I want to know, not assume, before I start dipping them in chemicals. I know some of my reels have corrosion resistant bearings but I'm not really sure what makes them corrosion resistant vs other types of bearings, are they simply treated stainless steel bearings or do they contain any plastic components? 

Corrosion resistance in reels refers to salt water.  Most all reels we use are fitted with stainless bearings.  Personally,  anything over ABEC 5's is a waste.  Acetone is fine for almost all stock bearings.

Buy a cheap ultra sonic cleaner online and use it in combination with simple green, or another solution of your choice. I stick mine in a baby food jar with about 1" of brake cleaner in it. Then just add a little water to the ultra sonic and turn it on with the jar in it. Before the ultra sonic I used the baby food jar and brake clean for a good while without issue. Just not on anything plastic. 

I have used a bunch of stuff from carb to break cleaner.  I tend to like either now as it does not leave anything behind and dries very fast.  The simple green route is a lot cheaper and safer for other parts.  I read a lot of guys like 50/50 green and hot water in a small ultrasonic.  I have not gone this route yet due to the small volume i deal with but may get one.

Another thought.  I spray my bearings with CRC Electric Cleaner by placing the bearings in a tiny food strainer (step outdoors).  This stuff will eliminate grease/oil in a heartbeat, dries fast and leaves no residue and is pretty odor free.  Follow with a 5minute bath in lighter fluid, blow dry, lube and ready to go and the whole process is finished in 10 minutes.  I don't pack my pinion bearings in grease anymore and now dip them is TSI301 after making sure the initial grease is well removed.  Two years now on the pinion bearings and it works great.  I got this from the salt water anglers.   I am a do it yourself reel maintenance fanatic for 15 years now and have used everything under the sun to hasten the cleaning time with good results.

electric contact cleaner spray works very well

Listen

 

A small glass jar + brake cleaner + a little shimy shake + a few minutes to soak then dry = perfection.

 

Dont complicate things unless you are routinely dropping your reels into muck and saltwater

I degrease with Simple Solution, and clean with pure acetone from a beauty supply store. Small glass jars work fine.  I keep changing out the acetone until it runs clear.

Several ways to properly clean bearings, all the above are great recommendations. If in a hurry, I put a bearing on the business end of a pencil, spray it with Berrymans B12 with the nozzle, spin on pencil, and repeat till smooth. I use compressed air to completely dry the bearings, then dip in TSI 301. *Warning* B12 is pretty harsh and very flammable, you don't want to get it on your skin, use with caution.

Thanks for the replies guys! 

 

18 hours ago, rippin-lips said:

Buy a cheap ultra sonic cleaner online and use it in combination with simple green, or another solution of your choice. I stick mine in a baby food jar with about 1" of brake cleaner in it. Then just add a little water to the ultra sonic and turn it on with the jar in it. Before the ultra sonic I used the baby food jar and brake clean for a good while without issue. Just not on anything plastic. 

This is what I was thinking of doing, except with acetone. I guess my only remaining question is what do you guys do for the anti-reverse clutch bearing? Doesn't that have a plastic retainer to hold the rollers? I imagine that will not mix well with some degreasers. Although it also has more spacing to let gunk out than the smaller bearings so maybe some simple green and the ultrasonic would work for that. 

13 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

Thanks for the replies guys! 

 

This is what I was thinking of doing, except with acetone. I guess my only remaining question is what do you guys do for the anti-reverse clutch bearing? Doesn't that have a plastic retainer to hold the rollers? I imagine that will not mix well with some degreasers. Although it also has more spacing to let gunk out than the smaller bearings so maybe some simple green and the ultrasonic would work for that. 

That'll work. I just use brake clean since there's always a case of it in my garage. 

Warm water and simple green works fine for the AR. Add 1 drop of oil to a q-tip and go around the inside to lube it. 

Acetone won't hurt the AR but isn't mandatory. 

Acetone or lighter fluid in a GLASS container. Agree with the above of soaking a time or two and then putting them on a pencil and hitting with keyboard cleaner or even throttle bottle cleaner with the little straw attached. Had two spool bearings recently where one was just much more free than it's brother after multiple soaks.  Making it spin with Throttle body cleaner did the trick.