Everybody post your tips/experience here, this way people don't need to read through a hundred threads to find the juice

 

The big take away is just do it. Yes you. You've been thinking about it for a while, nervous to wreck your reel. Just get an old one and do it. Don't have an old one? Okay fine, grab one at a flea market or FB market place for relatively cheap.

 

My first time reel breakdown ended like this

 

I had a few reels that have been sitting for a few years because they were my first. You know how you're first never really leaves you, always kinda there in the back of your mind like the 10#er you lost 25 years ago. 

 

Old Kastking and Piscifun reels, like 10 years old each. Crazy thing is they both looked pretty good inside considering. I only cleaned the main gear and pinion gear+housing.

 

What did I learn?

 

You can take some things apart as a group, hold upside and take off the drag star to catch all washers etc together in order... you can't put them back together as one stack. They don't line up perfectly and something will slip and lose its place!

 

Then you're questioning everything

Once I did one, I was ready to do 3 more over the next few days. Did a 13 fishing concept z from 5/6 years ago and another Kastking even older. A 10 year old Speed Demon.

 

The big take away was just do it

 

Way scarier on paper, just do it

 

Here's a question, can I just add grease without cleaning? Aside from the main gear and pinion, ehat are the other critical parts to clean before lubing?

 

Just lay everything out as you take it off, it's actually pretty simple in practice. That's all it takes. It's not as intimidating as it seems on the surface. 

 

Just go slow

Lay it all out as you peel it off piece by piece

Go slow

 

Then do it backwards

No, really it's that simple. Seriously 

 

To all the reel freaks 

To all the pros

What are your tips, tricks, and advice for anybody dipping their toes into reel maintenance 

 

How do I know when it's enough grease?

 

Anybody who's done it for the first time, what are your thoughts on your experience?

After my first i did 3 more over the next few nights

Kastking royal legend 

Psicfun torrent

Kastking speed demon 

13 fishing concept z

 

I think it was the royal legend had a smallnpin in the drag star that was rhe clicker, very small spring and pin inside to make the noise. Most of the 4 of them were close to the same, certainly similar enough, aside from that weird drag star pin thing. 

 

Is that enough grease in the main gear/pinion gear in this pic?

I'll add thatvu did take off the main gear and pinion to scrub with a toothbrush in some simple green cleaner. 

 

I have a couple of sets of drag clicker that I nabbed before the tariffs forced us to either pay way too much for stuff or made things unavailable. Got drag clicker set for my Tatula Elite and my 20 Tat sv 103. 

 

I'll post here about that too

Did the Abu Garcia Ultra Max tonight

 

Something I didn't even think about was putting back the circled piece in a very particular way. The other reels, at least without thinking, fit into the main shaft snug and just sat on their own flush.

 

In the Abu it was a bite wobbly, but I didn't realize this until the spool wouldn't engage after I put it all back together. 

 

I thought I put it in backwards, which really messed with my head because I was very careful about keeping things in their exact orientation from on to off and back. But I was right, I had placed it correctly. 

 

It just didn't sit in It's subtle indentation to catch correctly, which was easy to spot once I took a closer look. 

 

I'll go back through them all and take closer pics to show some of the differences in detail.

 

You can see here that the Abu is super basic. There's a couple small washers inside the drag star instead of layed out next to it, but you can still see compared to the other pics above the Abu is rather bare. 

 

Also this one kept some dark spots on the gear after scrubbing with simple green and a toothbrush while the others scrubbed clean. Not sure what exactly the discoloration is, but I couldn't pick it out with a fingernail either. Don't think it makes a functional difference, just wanted to mention it since I noticed it.

 

Also it's the only reel that didn't have a carbon fiber drag, what is that? Kinda just feels like a piece of plastic.

 

Should I be soaking and cleaning and greasing these washers?

I just wanted to say I have those same plates for feeding the kid…

 

He’s driving now so I can probably use them for other things…

This is what happens when I cook dinner haha

Your grease may come with a lid and brush, but I find using a Q-tip does a superior job in greasing evenly without applying too much or too little grease. 

13 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

Your grease may come with a lid and brush, but I find using a Q-tip does a superior job in greasing evenly without applying too much or too little grease. 

I actually prefer Acid Brushes....nice, short, fairly stiff bristles that let me apply the grease exactly where I want it.

37 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Acid Brushes

Reuse or trash after?

 

52 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

Q-tip

Much grab some that leave no little fuzzies

5 minutes ago, Banned User said:

Reuse or trash after?

Trash after each session - you can get a few reels done with each brush and at $0.16 each, it's a no brainer.

@MN Fisher I’ve used acid brushes in aviation for years, but reels have much smaller areas to grease lol. They are great for cleaning, especially if you trim the bristles shorter to make them stiffer. Really good for cleaning off encrusted algae from reels and rod guides. 

3 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

 I’ve used acid brushes in aviation for years, but reels have much smaller areas to grease lol.

I have no issues getting into even the small spaces on 80 size BCs or 1000 size spinners with the 3/8" brushes to place grease. What ever works for you, man.

The first one I did was pretty scary. I use a silicone mat that I got off Amazon, . I take pictures of each step of disassembly. Bottom line is take your time, cover the reel with hand when removing springs,etc.. Use the right tools and lubricants. Take your time.

6 minutes ago, ike8120 said:

Take your time.

Cannnot

Emphasize

This

Enough

I use these brushes for applying grease, comes out to 8 cents each.  https://www.amazon.com/Brushes-Classroom-Acrylic-Watercolor-Supplies/dp/B09LH2QL51/

 

For greasing gears, I trim them down to stiffen the bristles and they do just fine.  I get no stray bristles either.  I used to use acid brushes but no matter what, I'd get a stray bristle or two at times.

 

For cleaning, I do mineral spirits and an extra firm toothbrush, goes faster than waiting on an ultrasonic cleaner to finish.  Plus firmly embedded grime sometimes doesn't not come off with the ultrasonic and I have to scrub them anyway.  Bearings get hit with Brakleen.  

2 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

these brushes

I literally put those exact ones in my cart last night. Now they're on their way haha

 

How do you know when it's enough grease?

8 minutes ago, Banned User said:

How do you know when it's enough grease?

 When it's got a bit of a sheen ("Shiny")

 

At the rate I'm going through it - my 1oz tin of Cals would probably last till the mid 2030's....gears and drags both get it....so I'm not using much at all for a single reel.

For me, taking pics didn't really help much. What worked for me is the exploded view and repetition. 

 

Watched a couple of vids just to see what I was getting into. The first few reels I broke down were so over-greased I felt I had to do a deep clean and start from scratch. 

 

Don't be surprised if you like your reels better after you have tuned them , I do. This year I took down my Curado BFS. I didn't like this reel much. I don't really like aluminum main gears. This was my first reel with an aluminum main gear. After tuning it, I like it more now. 

 

What is a deep cleaning?

How often do you remove and soak the worm gear?

How often do you pull the spool bearings?

 

How do you know if it's enough grease? Enough to barely make a fingerprint. Maybe slightly less. I do know that this is way too much. Below is the body of my Pfleuger Supreme XT spinning reel. 

 

I've been doing it religiously for years but slacked on it this past winter and one of my reels the levelwind bearings corroded and froze up the whole assembly. 

 

My main tips are to take a picture of everything as you do it if you don't have experience. At this point I could strip a reel to the frame, mix all the parts in a box, and confidently put it  back together but that took a while. 

 

Buy a small cheap jewelry ultrasonic cleaner online. Some Simple Green diluted in water is my main cleaner (I use the "aircraft" grade one that is safer on aluminum). 

 

For bearings I use Acetone in small jars that I then put in the ultrasonic bath. Be careful to make sure your bearings are steel and do not have nylon cages or you'll be buying new bearings. DO NOT PUT ANTI-REVERSE BEARINGS IN ACETONE! lol. 

 

I like microfiber cloths to do most of the cleaning. Not every piece needs to get deep cleaned and dried off. A quick wipe on most components is fine. The clean/rinse/dry portion is the real time sink. If I'm just wiping off old grease/grime and the part is otherwise not corroded or very dirty I'm not wasting the time to soak it in cleaner. 

 

Get a decent set of screwdrivers. Nothing sucks more than a stripped screw head and a reel that is out of commission for two weeks because you're waiting on a part, so use the right sizes. The tiny flatheads are also great for removing those C-clips. 

 

For the re-lube/re-grease at the end. Less is more. Too much oil in your bearings will slow them down considerably, and too much grease on your gears will just end up sprayed everywhere inside the reel and make things feel slower. If you're fishing salt that's a different story. On your dragstack I cannot emphasize enough LESS LESS LESS. Some guys run them dry, which I don't like to, but you don't need a lot. 

 

 

@MassYak85 I appreciate the write up brother

 

I'll look into cheap ultrasonic cleaner.

 

Why do you dilute your simple green and what makes that one safer for aluminum? 

 

So obviously I haven't been doing total tear downs, just the basics. Which I feel is sufficient most of the time, but I plan to keep going and making myself familiar with more of the guts. 

 

I added the drag clicker to my tat sv tw103, and 

 

I did mess around with how the clicker arm was bent/angled a few times to tweak the sound to just how I wanted it. Not too stiff and clacky, but not too soft and or springy. Tried to post a video so yall could hear it, but can't. 

 

@bulldog1935 I also put in those Si3n4 hybrid bearings, you were definitely right about how much quiter these are compared to zirconia hybrid, this is incredible. 

 

I wish I had spent a little more time with this reel before changing everything so I could have a fresh comparison, but I'll report back with the results. I did get a chance to do like 10/15 casts with a 1/8oz jig and trailer, total was 7g. Again, I can't compare it to before, especially because I've never casted a 1/8 oz jig before, so I don't know if this was an improvement or not but I was able to cast it well enough away from myself. 

 

I'll have to bring a spinning rod to switch lures with to do a comparison. I was using 6# yozuri hybrid. I've also never thrown straight mono or fluoro that light before, so no idea how it compares. I do plan to throw some 20# or 30# braid on their and see what happens.

 

Anybody have any pics of their own reel maintenance set up?

 

Pics to highlight areas to be careful or to make sure to check/clean?

 

learned a new tip, watch out for your sticky fingers! You go to put something down but when you release and move your hand it sticks and then drops.

 

Also, remove washers and put them back in singles, not in stacks. And always look under something you lift up, just might be a washer under there. 

most useful tool for me is Ott lamp and magnifier.  

 

 

Amazon sells $10 ultrasonic jewelry cleaners that work for reel parts and bearings.  

Also a good idea to buy cheap beaker + watch glass - helps keep solvent fumes down.  

 

@Choporoz - don't feel bad, there's an innate ability required to begin honing the skills - not everybody has it, and not everybody has the interest.  If it's not your idea of fun, definitely give it to the pro.  

First time a couple years ago.  Lews Speed Spool, several years old.  Needed a good cleaning, but still functioned ok.  When I was done, it did not work.  At all.  Sent it off to DVT with a few others.  Told him to keep it for parts....and it came back as good as new.  Opened a couple others since...but if they work when I am done, they aren't any better.   I'm done.

I know my limitations.  Extremely limited dexterity and zero patience. 

30 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

First time a couple years ago.  Lews Speed Spool, several years old.  Needed a good cleaning, but still functioned ok.  When I was done, it did not work.  At all.  Sent it off to DVT with a few others.  Told him to keep it for parts....and it came back as good as new.  Opened a couple others since...but if they work when I am done, they aren't any better.   I'm done.

I know my limitations.  Extremely limited dexterity and zero patience. 

At my age my fingers aren't as coordinated as 50 years ago.  Never have been one that likes to tinker except back in the day when I did my own reloading.  Patience is a virtue.  I have no virtue anymore. 

 

1 hour ago, bulldog1935 said:

most useful tool for me is Ott lamp and magnifier

Ya - I got an older style, but I've upgraded the Incandescent bulb to LED...I hate getting older.

@MN Fisher

I have a mylar sailcloth sail bag that I pack gear (kayak shoes, fillet knife roll, leader kit w/ spare spools), and my Ott lamp and magnifier goes in there for any extended trip.  It's also handy for tying leader knots at the camp table.  

On a week-long trip, the sail bag also receives my salty clothes.  

8 hours ago, Banned User said:

@MassYak85 I appreciate the write up brother

 

I'll look into cheap ultrasonic cleaner.

 

Why do you dilute your simple green and what makes that one safer for aluminum? 

 

So obviously I haven't been doing total tear downs, just the basics. Which I feel is sufficient most of the time, but I plan to keep going and making myself familiar with more of the guts. 

 

I'm not sure the actual differences but I had one reel with a thick aluminum washer in the drag stack and after several years it started pitting and corroding kind of bad. This is what I use, someone on a different forum recommended it. I dilute it just to save money and don't feel you need the full strength to cut through standard grease. 

 

 

 

Another thing I'd recommend since it seems like you've started to tinker and upgrade, is to buy quality bearings if your replacing them or upgrading them. Some reels have plastic bushings to support the levelwind or the handle knobs. You can upgrade them to bearings to get some extra smoothness. But any time you do that you're introducing one more component that can rust and fail. I thought I was being slick by buying super cheap RC bearings in bulk and swapped all my reels and I've slowly swapped back to the plastic because for workhorse reels I want them to be as pain-free and worry-free as possible. If you fish in the rain at all or get the reel wet those levelwind bearings will be the first ones to corrode if you aren't careful. Those levelwinds a lot of times are aluminum to save weight, and when you have dissimilar metals and moisture thrown into the mix they do NOT play nice. It is very difficult to separate them when that happens and you will most likely end up buying a new worm gar after prying on them. If you know the gear is steel you can play around with it but otherwise I would not do it.