Maybe a bit of an odd question, but does anyone every clean/degrease a brand new reel out of the box? I know sometimes manufacturers will pack reels with way too much grease in the factory and was wondering if anybody actually tore down new reels and cleaned/greased them properly before fishing them? Or do you guys just fish them and do the maintenance when you feel it is needed?

 

Thanks

I usually fish them at least once to get a baseline, but baitcasters get tore down and cleaned relubed pretty quick. I'm a shimano baitcaster guy for the most part and know not to judge them out of the box due to their heavy-handed lubrication. I like a reel thats more "free" feeling.   

 

I'm getting to the point I do it more with spinning reels also. Its a minor pet peeve the way some reels take a bit more effort to get the handle moving. A little less grease, even if just carefully using a tooth pick removing some of the factory stuff off the drive gear/pinion often helps.

I’ll remove the sideplate to see if it’s dry or overdone. If it’s dry then I take care of that by doing a full breakdown. If overdone then I remove what I can with q-tips and go fish it a few time to see how I like it. Also depends on time of year. If it’s winter when I tend to purchase then I tear them down right away. 

If it's a reel sent to me for review, I doing absolutely nothing.  If it's one I bought for myself, I tear apart, clean, upgrade drags, sometimes change handle or knobs, etc.  Review reels should mimic a typical user experience, and I owe to member to just fish it out of the box, and report back my findings.  Stuff I buy for myself are my toys.

The particular reel i just purchased is a fuego ct. This is my first daiwa so i'm not sure how they generally come from the factory. I recently tore down a revo baitcaster I purchased last year and I cleaned up quite a bit of excess grease in it and it seems to be more smooth now. Maybe i'm just being to obsessive/particular about it lol.

Fish it like you stole it.  Send it to DVT for a deep clean next winter.

Generally I fish mine for a year out of the box and then clean them annually after that. That being said I have cleaned a couple out of the box and did feel it helped. Both were a little overloaded with grease from the factory. 

I fish them out of the box and then do a thorough clean/lube over the winter.  They usually come with more lube applied than I prefer, but I don't think I've ever had a new reel that was so over-greased it affected operation or performance.

 

Tight lines,

Bob

Out of the box I clean and lube the spool bearings only, make sure the spool shafts are clean and shiny and run a pipe cleaner through the pinion gear to remove any grease/oil which may exist.  The rest of the reel goes on the annual teardown and lube schedule.