Hello Fellow Fishing Freaksters!! Quick question... would like to attempt to clean/oil/grease my baitcasters for the first time, and am wondering what 'kit', or brand, of supplies be the best in your opinion? Also, best place for the info on the how-to, besides YouTube? My reels are Daiwa and Abu Garcia. Thanks, and Tight Lines!!

Use full synthetics!

 

There are numerous synthetic oils you can choose from, but the primary grease used by professional shops and one that is brand approved across many brands of reels and allowed for use under warranty contracts is super lube.

 

One of the best synthetic oils out there is made by corrosion X called ReelX. Great lubricant and corrosion inhibitor. Shops tend to use straight up silicone oil, or reel brand recommended oils for their reels.

 

Without specific model numbers for your reels finding correct videos is not possible with what you posted.

 

And if you get into trouble this forum recommends Delaware Valley Tackle for all rod and reel and tackle repairs.

The simple rule, grease is for contact stress like gear teeth and thrust.  

Oil is for rotation and light sliding, bushings/spindles and bearings.  

I only use Lucas products. They make reel oil and grease. Hopefully you have the schematics for your reels, just in case.

I started to use ReelX grease and lube only. Been working out well for me. You can get from Amazon or direct from   https://www.corrosionx.com/collections/lubricants/products/fishin-kit

I use Cals for my grease - and believe it or not, I've had very good luck using this as my oil

Howdy.

 

I use Lews Speed oil made by Lucas, in a needle applicator bottle I got from Academy.

 

You don't have to do a complete disassembly in order to oil and grease your reels. 

 

Remove the side plate, if it's dry you can just put a tiny drop on each bearing. If it's wet with oil, especially if its dirty oil, wipe it clean and then reoil.

 

There will be a bearing inside the sideplate, and one under the spool tension knob. Plus there is normally one on the spool shaft that stays with the spool.
 

Some reels have an access point to grease the gears, some do not. The ones with an access point is easy enough, remove the cover for it and use a small screwdriver or a toothpick to put some grease on the gear.

 

Those that don't have an access, such as my Abu Black Max, I remove the screws on the gear side, which allows the side to have about an 1/8" gap, which allows you to dab in some grease.

 

I've been using some gun grease I had, but I do have some synthetic I'll try next time I need to grease.

 

Once it's back together, put a couple drops on the worm gear that drives the line guide. I put a drop on either end, and one in the center.

Your reel came with light oil that works good.

Grease only a small amount goes on the drive gears,Cals is good.

Th level wind worm gear and spool shaft and bearings I use Break free CLP oil in the 2 oz bottle.

There is all types of light reel oils available but I suggest have a pro super tune your reeks!

Tom 

Mobil #6 spindle oil for bearings, honorable mention to Rem Oil and 3 in 1. Shimano drag grease for drags that require grease, or Cal's. Any calcium sulfonate based grease for gears and threads. Blaster, Lucas, TSC traveller, etc. all sell it.

SuperLube for gears and sewing machine oil for bearings.

 

I'm using TSI 321 and Super Lube Synthetic Grease, plenty of choices out there to try.

You’re 90% of the way there just by doing some level of maintenance. You’ll be just fine with whatever you have around the house/garage or readily available locally. Superlube is in all the parts stores. I use marine grease for gears and cals for drags. If you’re going to special order cals use it for both if you want. Gear oils anti corrosion and high viscosity make it my choice for worm gears, frame bearings and sliding parts. Any light hydraulic oil is good for spool bearings. Sewing machine oil, 3in1or as suggested air tool oil work well. Nothing wrong with the specialized products but they’re totally unnecessary and in most cases just repackaged products. Don’t stress over what to use. Just be satisfied that you’re using something. 

To me, there are 2 kinds of services, well 3 I guess technically.  

1)Preventative Maintenance-Light oiling/greasing, cleaning. Lightly oiling bearings, contact points(like bail arms and a minute amount of oil between the reel handle and knob) and applying very light grease if needed to metal on metal contacts surfaces and cleaning debris out of the level wind, line guide and frame, without digging deep into the reel. 

2) Would be a "deep clean-" Complete tear down, cleaning debris and components/purging old grease, replacing any bearings or parts that aren't working properly.  Checking drag and gears for normal wear.  Reoiling and greasing parts/components and reassembling.  A lot of my reels see heavy saltwater use.  Heavily used reels should be deep cleaned at least 1 time every 12-24 months, or after submersion. 

3) Trouble shooting/repair- Reels will have problems from time to time, weather warranted or not.  When the reel isn't functioning properly, its best to stop using it and try to figure what's wrong if you don't already know.  If you're not confident in stripping the reel or trouble shooting, I cant implore you enough to take it to a reputable certified tech.  Repair by guess and test can get expensive quick and losing parts or failing to reassemble properly can make things much worse.  I cant tell you how many times someone came in with a bag of parts and asked me to fix it.  Trying to reassemble the reel with missing or incorrect parts can significantly increase the price for service and time it takes to get the reel back.  If a tech has a bunch of reels to service, they usually take care of the quick jobs first.

 

You dont really need to buy top quality or specialized oil/grease for your average baitcaster.  Thers a lot of good grease and oil that is inexpensive and or comes in kits.  I like Penn blue grease for corrosion resistance in heavier/bigger reels.  Ive found the Ardent kits that include their grease (reel butter), oil, cleaning solution/degreaser (reel kleen) and it may have a brush and or rag, while coming with a case to keep everything in.     \

As far as what to use where, grease is for metal to metal, protecting metal from corrosion and or using it to span small gaps to discourage water intrusion, i.e. spool shafts, AR switches and auxiliary ports/bearing covers.

I do discourage the use of WD 40 and many silicone/protection sprays in reels or firearms.  WD 40 and quite a few silicone solutions do have lubricants, but contain solvents as well.  Solvents have a detrimental effect on grease and oil.

Good Luck   

Good call.

 

In the central Florida rod and reel repair shop WD40 was not even allowed in the door. Banned.

 

Its not really a lubricant. Its a solvent more than anything else and dries up quickly. Best to avoid.

 

Works OK for a penetrating oil temporarily just to remove rusted bolts and such, but I would never use WD40 on any reels. Won't even buy that stuff any longer. No reason to. Far better products out there for same price. Buy one that sticks around longer.

My turn... TSI321 lightly in spool bearings.  80/90 wt. lower unit oil in frame bearings of casting reels and all bearings of spinning reels.  Cal's drag grease on all drag discs, gears, and every tiny screw I remove gets very lightly dipped into this grease before I thread them back in.

 

oe