Super User king fisher Posted September 11 Super User Share Posted September 11 I completely submerged a couple of my Diawa costal reels in salt water. I decided to take them to a local guy that does all my saltwater big game reel work for a full service. He has done excellent work for many years. He had never worked on a small bait caster before and was surprised at how well they were made. He said there wasn't enough grease in the reels, and told me he had cleaned and properly lubed them. Both the reels worked well, were quiet and smooth. They just seemed to be slow. I couldn't cast them as far, and had to use far less break than I had used before. After a few trips they started working like they were new again. The only thing I could figure out was he used to much grease, and they needed some time to break in. My advice if you live near saltwater to make sure who ever works on your reels has experience with the type of baitcasters used for bass fishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User PhishLI Posted September 11 Super User Share Posted September 11 5 hours ago, new2BC4bass said: I programmed, set-up and ran lathes for almost 38 years. If a reel part could be made on a lathe, then I probably could make it even if live tooling was involved. Loved that type of work. However, I have absolutely no desire to tear my reels apart for maintenance. Apparently there's a spot in my brain that is dead. You're not alone. The most talented, multi-discipline machinist I've ever come across was in the same boat. He was also a master fixture designer and could conceive and fabricate them too. But get him out of the shop and his mind turned off it seems. Having to assemble a barbeque would turn his brain to goo. Hands shaking and sweat dripping. It was mystifying. 26 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said: I prefer that, but hard to find a local guy that I would trust. And there lies the problem. Two local shops close to me have good reps according the normies, but I've had a clear line of sight to their practices. Your prized reel gets tossed naked other than a tag into a large box with many others. Shots of WD-40 sprayed in before they closed them up. Never. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delaware Valley Tackle Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 Thank you for the compliments. I really strive to give value for my services. For the OP, value or “is it worth it” depends on your personal perspective. No, it’s not brain surgery but there are pit falls, and it takes time. Currently, I get $26.95 for a deep cleaning which is anywhere from an hr to 90min of work. I also now offer an Econo-clean service for lighter used reels and the budget minded for $18. I offer a reservation service to meet hard deadlines with quick turnaround, primarily for trips, tournaments etc but also for people in warmer climates that fish year round. I post tips here and take lots of calls with diy questions if someone needs help. There are lots of videos and pages online. Some are good, some not so much, and others just plain terrible. Hopefully, in the future I’ll have more formal DIY support offerings but there just enough hrs in the day right now. If you’re reading this and have questions or need help/advice let me know and do my best for you. 15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GReb Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 It’s not overly hard to do but takes patience. My advice is to learn on an old or cheap reel you don’t care about. Take it apart and put it back together over and over until you get comfortable. You will make mistakes and troubleshooting will help you learn. You’ll also lose small parts from time to time it’s just part of it. Also buy a good set of precision screwdrivers from Wiha or Wera. It makes life so much simpler. With that being said if you have really nice, expensive reels sending them off for a $20 clean is well worth it in my opinion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sota Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 Bear with me and my little pea brained Polish math. Delaware Tackle charges 26 to deep clean a reel. Let’s say you need 5 reels cleaned. That’s 130. Now figure shipping and insurance 50ish “ Polish mathing it”. Now we at 180 ish. Going by his time allotment of 1-1.5 hours. For the 5 reels we are looking at 5-7.5 hours. That’s the timing of someone that knows what they are doing. For those of us that have never deep cleaned a reel. There’s going to be added time. Not to mention the flurry of curse words. That make it seem I have Tourettes. Cause now I can’t find that ball bearing that was JUST here. Not to mention what is your time worth? To me it’s worth paying the 180ish “ Polish math again “ to get the 5 reels done right 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Mobasser Posted September 11 Super User Share Posted September 11 Lots of times, depending on your fishing conditions, you may not need to completely disassemble your reels. If it feels smooth, oil all the visible moving parts and call it good. I've done this many times with spinning reels, and they work fine. At some point, you'll need a tear down and deep clean. When you do this is based on how much you use a reel, and your fishing conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted September 11 Global Moderator Share Posted September 11 Baitcasters are easier than spinning reels. If you fish out of canoes and kayaks and wade fish like me, there’s a lot of gunk in there haha. I’ve even found some tiny rocks inside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAM3139 Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 Like others have said, "worth it" depends on the individual person. I'm pretty mechanically inclined and have done full tear-downs on most of my reels. That said, I've gotten into the routine of doing a quick clean/lube on them once during the season and once in the winter, then every couple/few years sending them to DVT for a deep clean. They come back feeling better than new, and many are over 15 years old and still going strong. Obviously it also depends on the value of the reel, and your mindset of "replace when it wears out" vs "keep it going for as long as possible". I like having equipment and tools with a long history, but YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishhugger Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 you can photograph each step, which is easy with a digital camera. work in a clean area so you don't lose parts. i like disassembling it 'just enough.' meaning, some reels you may not have to completely disassemble, and are able to get to most of the parts. that might be enough to get the reel running fine. for reels that need more work than you feel comfortable doing - i guess send it to a shop. but then other guys are just super obsessive and need to take their reels apart and be really thorough. i guess that's the almost-love-your-reel-to-death club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User F14A-B Posted September 11 Super User Share Posted September 11 1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said: Baitcasters are easier than spinning reels. If you fish out of canoes and kayaks and wade fish like me, there’s a lot of gunk in there haha. I’ve even found some tiny rocks inside Baitcast reels are a breeze, with the exception of the conquest. Spinning reels, I’m out on those dudes. In the older days Shimano had a little plastic plug where you could remove it and do a quick grease job on the main gear/pinion.. (spinning reels) seems the spinning reels are more complicated than ever.. DVT prices are very fair and does represent a very good value imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted September 11 Global Moderator Share Posted September 11 I can do a spinning reel but it takes a full evening and 2 glasses of scotch mixed with some trial and error ”what’s this doodad for?” 2 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Catt Posted September 11 Super User Share Posted September 11 I'm very capable, just prefer not to. I do routine maintenance but once a year I send them out for a deep cleaning. From the week of Thanksgiving until Christmas I don't fish alot so I send they out 2×2. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Mobasser Posted September 11 Super User Share Posted September 11 If your servicing a reel, and you hear a tiny part hit the floor, then have to crawl around for an hour trying to find it, servicing reels may not be your thing. I know from experience. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sota Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 Question for those that know more than I. Ok that’s pretty much everyone. If you’re not doing a deep cleaning/ complete tear down. How do you clean the internals? In the firearms industry years ago. There was a company that said to use lighter fluid to clean the internals on their triggers. I’m thinking that could be used to clean the internals in a reel. Then when it’s dried you can use a graphite oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sota Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said: Baitcasters are easier than spinning reels. If you fish out of canoes and kayaks and wade fish like me, there’s a lot of gunk in there haha. I’ve even found some tiny rocks inside Rocks in your reel? Are you spelunking or checking on your still? It’s Tn so ya never know. lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Maestro Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 20 hours ago, MediumMouthBass said: Im going to have an opinion that 99% of you will either be against or just shocked. I dont clean my reels much, if at all. I will either just wipe the spindle on the spool and add a drop of oil every 4 years, or i just wont clean or oil them at all for their whole lives. I know some people clean theirs religiously, but in all my years/entire life of fishing i havent had 1 single reel go bad from not cleaning them or even heard of one in real life aside from here or youtube. And ive put my reels through quite alot. Ive got reels from $30-400 and all but the defective ones from the factory work, and all but the Black Maxes are flawless still. I have done a few quick 2 minute cleanings on my nicer ones, but its uncommon that i will. Because all the experiences ive had so far give me no reason to do so, others may vary and be the opposite. What i will add is this, if you dont think you can do it, theres probably 50 videos on youtube that can and will teach you. If you focus, make a plan, and take notes you can probably do it without issue. Just get a clean/neat area, have a few trays to separate each category and area of parts. I personally dont think paying someone to clean a reel is worth it, especially a deep clean. Most reels that are commonly bought are between $75-150, most cleanings/deep cleanings cost about $25-50, and then add $25 for insured shipping. So after tax you are either paying half or full cost for what your reels worth. However if you really want to have it done try finding someone reliable thats much more cost effective, and if its a antique reel, or something handed down from a family member then maybe it would be worth it. I had a deep clean and fix done to an old Ambassadeur before i became more mechanically inclined. The cost i paid for it to be done just to sit on a shelf as a nice decoration was twice the price of the new C5 i got on a great sale a bit later... Now that im more mechanically inclined from different work and projects ive done lately i probably couldve spent 1/8th of the cost and did it myself. I've been leaning more this way the last few years. There's guys who will completely break a reel down to its component parts. Seems pretty pointless and likely to cause more problems than it solves. Most of those little parts don't even move/wear or get dirty so why go through the trouble of doing all that work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Bankc Posted September 11 Super User Share Posted September 11 42 minutes ago, The Maestro said: I've been leaning more this way the last few years. There's guys who will completely break a reel down to its component parts. Seems pretty pointless and likely to cause more problems than it solves. Most of those little parts don't even move/wear or get dirty so why go through the trouble of doing all that work? There's certainly an argument to be made here. But part of the reason why reels can last so long under so much abuse is because they often get packed with insane amounts of grease at the factory. This limits their performance and masks most wear issues until they become serious enough problems that they require replacement parts. Now, if you don't need maximum performance from your reel and you're probably going to be replacing that reel with something newer and better in the next 10ish years anyway, then it might be a worthwhile gamble for you. Especially if it's a relatively well made reel to begin with. The costs of reel maintenance might outweigh the benefits in your case. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted September 11 Global Moderator Share Posted September 11 1 hour ago, Sota said: Rocks in your reel? Are you spelunking or checking on your still? It’s Tn so ya never know. lol Little bit of both……. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Tennessee Boy Posted September 11 Super User Share Posted September 11 I service them myself. I keep all of the parts I have left over after I reassemble them. I hope to make a new reel from these parts someday. 😆 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Bankbeater Posted September 11 Super User Share Posted September 11 I cleaned my round reels some years ago. I started taking the reels to a local baitshop after I bought some new low profile reels. I started cleaning them again when the shop started charging $40 per baitcaster and $30 per spinning reel. One thing that I did was to take an old Revo apart and mess around with it to get familiar with how the parts fit together. Also, the forums here on BR were a source of assistance when I had a problem a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev-mo Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 6 hours ago, TnRiver46 said: I can do a spinning reel but it takes a full evening and 2 glasses of scotch mixed with some trial and error ”what’s this doodad for?” One glass for you and and one glass for cleaning the bearings, gears, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolleyfooley Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 21 hours ago, MN Fisher said: Having worked with small mechanical items for years, I have no issues tearing down and doing maintenance on my own reels. Just curious, is that a lews tournament pro? Looks familiar. 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User MN Fisher Posted September 11 Super User Share Posted September 11 Just now, woolleyfooley said: Just curious, is that a lews tournament pro? Looks familiar. 😁 The spinning reel is a Pflueger Supreme, the casting reel is a Tatula 100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Maestro Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 What qualifies as "deep cleaning" a reel anyway? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolleyfooley Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 10 minutes ago, MN Fisher said: The spinning reel is a Pflueger Supreme, the casting reel is a Tatula 100. Dang. I wasn’t even close. 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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