I'm pretty much a shimano fanboy, all of my baitcasters are shimano curado or scorpion rewls and I feel like they are made really well and never had an issue. Spinning reels I have a mix of Okuma avenger and couple years ago I picked up a couple shimano Nexave spinning reels for shore fishing. I know yhey are a cheap reel but normal price they sell for as much as the Okuma's. Third time this has happend and after yesterday the light bulb went off. I have been caught in a couple of downpours, just typical stuff and I find some cover but not totally out of the rain and when it passes I continue to fish. What I have found is if the shimano Nexave reel gets wet it will start binding up, more you use it the more it starts to bind. When it happened the forst time I didnt put the rain and getting wet to be the issue, took it apart, cleaned it up and had plenty of grease but re-greased it etc and appeared to be fine. Yesterday got caught out in the rain and the reel starts doing the same thing. Go out today and it rains on me and same thing starts to get tight. It's not like I am dunking it wtc just getting wet in the rain and I guess water makes it to the pinon gear and binds it up.

Anyone seen this issue or is it just me? I think I am going to part ways with the reels, I have 2 of them jut it was the only rod I had with me and had to stop fishing, never had a reel do that before and thought I would ask.

Thanks

Haven’t seen this issue come up in a while. Years ago, this was a common thread on fishing forums. People called the reels Shimbindo’s due to this exact problem.

20 minutes ago, Scott F said:

Haven’t seen this issue come up in a while. Years ago, this was a common thread on fishing forums. People called the reels Shimbindo’s due to this exact problem.

Yeah that was an old issue with the friction ring...ita happened to me now three times. Kind of disappointing and not surebwhat cause it. I read that the felt drag washers could also cause the issue but i replaced mine with carbontex so not sure where moisture gets to bind it up...guess I will start to figure out what to replace them with...

If the drive is binding, the drag has nothing to do with it - the drag is totally contained in the spool, and doesn't affect anything about the drive.

What makes sense is a worn bushing in p/n 15467 crossbar, or water in the main bearing, p/n 8553.

Since the handle is fast water ingress, main bearing may be more likely than worn crossbar.

p/n 8554 appears to be A/R roller bearing, and water ingress down the spindle is another route. Most reels do a good job of water-proofing A/R bearing, and there doesn't appear to be a replaceable seal in the rotor.

If you see anything like rust, always remove the part from the reel, because acid from the rust is highlty corrosive to the rest of the drive.

FWIW, Shimano X-protect are labyrinth seals that, the more you use it when wet, the more it slings water outward and away from ingress into the drive. Another reason you can't go wrong with Stradic.

9 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

If the drive is binding, the drag has nothing to do with it - the drag is totally contained in the spool, and doesn't affect anything about the drive.

What makes sense is a worn bushing in p/n 15467 crossbar, or water in the main bearing, p/n 8553.

Since the handle is fast water ingress, main bearing may be more likely than worn crossbar.

p/n 8554 appears to be A/R roller bearing, and water ingress down the spindle is another route. Most reels do a good job of water-proofing A/R bearing, and there doesn't appear to be a replaceable seal in the rotor.

If you see anything like rust, always remove the part from the reel, because acid from the rust is highlty corrosive to the rest of the drive.

FWIW, Shimano X-protect are labyrinth seals that, the more you use it when wet, the more it slings water outward and away from ingress into the drive. Another reason you can't go wrong with Stradic.

Honestly I have no idea where the water is causing the issue. I have taken it apart and looks clean, no rust etc, grease where its supposed to be...let it dry and magically works again. Just disappointing, going to move on from them and go with a different mfg. Again big shimano guy but this shouldn't happen imho even on a inexpensive reel.

An interesting thread to read. So its a mystery to solve if possible. And a Shimano mystery at that.

How many of us prevented "binding" in older stradics by using Shimano's friction ring grease to keep every reel in optimal condition? Ha! Heck I don't even do it. I just remove the friction rings and forget about them. Shimano did for the nexave line as well. Not one single nexave reel even has a friction ring. So I think this one can be eliminated as a possibility.

Digging in, the first thing I have to ask about is what is the precise model of reel being discussed in this thread? I have re-read it several times and still have no idea which reel. Its important because this line of reels has gone through various mechanical changes directly related to this thread's primary issue mentioned- binding- and at a particular point in time related to water- which I'll get into later on.

A binding issue directly related to this line of reels pertains to specific models with gears that must be perfectly aligned in order to work correctly.

The OP said this in his OP:

"took it apart, cleaned it up and had plenty of grease but re-greased it etc and appeared to be fine."

This is a curious statement to me.

An issue I can't get past to get to the water- and grease- issues are the rebuilds of this reel. Without knowing what specific model, none of us can know for sure if the required to-the-tooth precise gear alignment is necessary for this reel or not. If it is such a reel then binding is all but guaranteed if gears not properly aligned. Its a mathematical certainty that all hinges around the number of gear teeth on pinion gear, main gear, and oscillation gear and how many times a reel must rotate to bring the gear combination around in sequence to gradually or more rapidly bind depending on how far out of alignment the gears are.

Some reels do not require perfectly dialed in alignment while others do. So after reading this thread, and not knowing what reel we are dealing with, I did a schematic search and came up with like 70 to 80 different schematics to choose from so I randomly chose a model, and then also opened up a schematic for the Nexave reel I just rebuilt for my teenage son to use in saltwater mostly. He now has two.

The reels my son are using are newer 2500HGFI reels. When I rebuilt his latest reel I did not pull the schematic, but I looked at the gears and did not see any alignment marks so I put it back together and it works fine. No alignment necessary. The schematic confirms it for this model:

But if your reel is a different model requiring precise gear alignment perfectly done each time- no room for error here- in each rebuild, then this is an issue needing addressed first before water and grease can even be brought in.

The random reel I clicked on showed this "box" below on the schematic- minus the oooops of my volume control at max volume being in there:

In the box it clearly shows how to precisely align the two gears. This must be done right and without error in each rebuild. If not, it is a mathematical certaintly that when reel is spun around enough times that all 3 gears may work fine for a short time, but somewhere in the math of all 3 gears working around and around will come to a point where it binds up and reel slows to a halt. Not a grinding halt. But simply a calculated gradual to halt bind.

Only when the gears are properly aligned precisely as shown in the box, will the reel work smoothly over long term.

If the gears are really off in their alignment, then binding can be instant or close. But if the gears are say only one gear tooth off in either direction, then the binding may take longer to show up and be less noticeable going into the bind. It might be more gradual than say 2 teeth off to either side or 3 or 4 teeth off. The greater the misalignment the faster it should bind and more severe is my point.

So its important to this thread to know which model reel we are dealing with to be able go around this designed-in gear binding issue that could be related to any recent rebuilds of the reel this thread is about.

I love good reel mysteries. And the Agatha Shimano mysteries are the best! So what is the model number of this particular reel?

6 hours ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

An interesting thread to read. So its a mystery to solve if possible. And a Shimano mystery at that.

How many of us prevented "binding" in older stradics by using Shimano's friction ring grease to keep every reel in optimal condition? Ha! Heck I don't even do it. I just remove the friction rings and forget about them. Shimano did for the nexave line as well. Not one single nexave reel even has a friction ring. So I think this one can be eliminated as a possibility.

Digging in, the first thing I have to ask about is what is the precise model of reel being discussed in this thread? I have re-read it several times and still have no idea which reel. Its important because this line of reels has gone through various mechanical changes directly related to this thread's primary issue mentioned- binding- and at a particular point in time related to water- which I'll get into later on.

A binding issue directly related to this line of reels pertains to specific models with gears that must be perfectly aligned in order to work correctly.

The OP said this in his OP:

"took it apart, cleaned it up and had plenty of grease but re-greased it etc and appeared to be fine."

This is a curious statement to me.

An issue I can't get past to get to the water- and grease- issues are the rebuilds of this reel. Without knowing what specific model, none of us can know for sure if the required to-the-tooth precise gear alignment is necessary for this reel or not. If it is such a reel then binding is all but guaranteed if gears not properly aligned. Its a mathematical certainty that all hinges around the number of gear teeth on pinion gear, main gear, and oscillation gear and how many times a reel must rotate to bring the gear combination around in sequence to gradually or more rapidly bind depending on how far out of alignment the gears are.

Some reels do not require perfectly dialed in alignment while others do. So after reading this thread, and not knowing what reel we are dealing with, I did a schematic search and came up with like 70 to 80 different schematics to choose from so I randomly chose a model, and then also opened up a schematic for the Nexave reel I just rebuilt for my teenage son to use in saltwater mostly. He now has two.

The reels my son are using are newer 2500HGFI reels. When I rebuilt his latest reel I did not pull the schematic, but I looked at the gears and did not see any alignment marks so I put it back together and it works fine. No alignment necessary. The schematic confirms it for this model:

But if your reel is a different model requiring precise gear alignment perfectly done each time- no room for error here- in each rebuild, then this is an issue needing addressed first before water and grease can even be brought in.

The random reel I clicked on showed this "box" below on the schematic- minus the oooops of my volume control at max volume being in there:

In the box it clearly shows how to precisely align the two gears. This must be done right and without error in each rebuild. If not, it is a mathematical certaintly that when reel is spun around enough times that all 3 gears may work fine for a short time, but somewhere in the math of all 3 gears working around and around will come to a point where it binds up and reel slows to a halt. Not a grinding halt. But simply a calculated gradual to halt bind.

Only when the gears are properly aligned precisely as shown in the box, will the reel work smoothly over long term.

If the gears are really off in their alignment, then binding can be instant or close. But if the gears are say only one gear tooth off in either direction, then the binding may take longer to show up and be less noticeable going into the bind. It might be more gradual than say 2 teeth off to either side or 3 or 4 teeth off. The greater the misalignment the faster it should bind and more severe is my point.

So its important to this thread to know which model reel we are dealing with to be able go around this designed-in gear binding issue that could be related to any recent rebuilds of the reel this thread is about.

I love good reel mysteries. And the Agatha Shimano mysteries are the best! So what is the model number of this particular reel?

Its a pretty simple reel, see attached pictures for the actual reel. It does have timing marks and that is not the issue. Let me be clear, from factory when it rained it started to bind, that time to the point you could not reel it. So I took it apart to see what in the world could the issue be, i tear down and clean and service all my reels but these were new from Shimano and I had never seeviced them. I cleaned and re-lubed the reel noting the timing marks and it works fine, not the smoothest reel since it has few bearings but it worked fine for weeks no binding UNTIL I got caught in a rain shower in friday, it poured and I waited it out and wanted to continue to fish and guess what the dang reel started to bind again only after it gets wet. Dry it out the next day I gonagain and its fine UNTIL I got caught in the rain again, almost the exact same circumstance and again after the rain it started to bind yet again to the point I had to stop fishing. Went out this morning and that reel was one that I used, it had dried out and was fine not an issue.

From the factory something is going on at least with this one reel when it gets wet, not submerged just wet from rain. My other spinning reels are Okuma Avengers or dsg stratus reels that have seen many years of service, lots more bearings and not a hint of trouble. The Nexave's I picked up on clearance and was using them as my shore/bank walking outfits. For me its not worth the trouble trying to figure it out, they work fine until they get wet...Ive already purchased replacement reels and will just sell these and move along...its something inherent in the design since it happened to the reel from the factory.

29 minutes ago, bishoptf said:

For me its not worth the trouble trying to figure it out, they work fine until they get wet...Ive already purchased replacement reels and will just sell these and move along...its something inherent in the design since it happened to the reel from the factory.

I'm just replying to your thread request. And that reel you have is the same model as the ones I have and these do not require gear alignment. But this had to be eliminated first.

If what you are saying is happening, then I can see only one thing even remotely being possible for why you experience a difference.

We have to ask ourselves where is water getting in? And to what can water get to that could affect the reel's ability to spin freely?

And with these nexave reels there is only one choice and that has to be the AR bearing. It is the only possible part water can reasonably reach -without dunking- and possibly cause some type of issue that could change reel behavior:

"Anti-Reverse Bearing: If your reel turns backwards or feels locked up at specific points, the "Super Stopper" anti-reverse roller clutch has likely failed or become contaminated with water and dirt. These bearings are designed to work dry or with only the lightest possible reel oil."

And now this gets into those rebuilds and your grease applications might fall into this situation.

The AR bearings should not have any grease on them and only use a very lightweight oil instead. Grease can act like a glue preventing normal movement and normal operation.

Water can also possibly cause an AR to malfunction. On the nexave reels line, this is about the only thing on those reels that could be so affected by minor water intrusion.

Just my opinion and a search seems to support this same conclusion.

I will be keeping an eye on my sons reels since they are identical models to your reels. So far he has had no problems with his. I treat the AR bearings in our spinning reels with corrosion X, a full synthetic lubricant that never changes viscosity even with temperature changes, and it stays in place and protects the metal from rust and corrosion which is most important to me here in Florida, but it also rejects water intrusion and keeps water from even reaching the metal parts. Water does not displace corrosion X. Corrosion X displaces water which is what I want in those AR bearings.

Out of curiosity what did you purchase to these nexave's with?

The nexave is a $69 reel brand new retail price. I purchased a couple of $39 Shimano Sienna 4000 spinning reels, and with some prep work ahead of use with corrosion X and other good synthetic lubricants, my son actually likes using his Sienna reels in saltwater. He has had no problems with those either.

Shimano AR bearings can be finnicky. I wind up having to disassemble them these days and try and restore them as much as possible since they are hard to come by once no longer made.

Some need to be cleaned out on the insides and remove collected dirt and debris, and carefully sand down corrosion roughness on each needle bearing to remove rust and smooth them out again, and take each spring out and maybe increase tension on each one a little bit to try and keep these touchy AR bearings going for more years of good fishing.

Using corrosion X or Reel X on these bearings ahead of water intrusion can head off problems down the road like the rust seen here, and water reaching these parts inside preventing normal movement within that can cause some binding issues. Properly cleaned and lubricated these should work fine for years to come.

If the reel does not have good seals to keep water out, then we have to adjust what we do with the reels on the insides to prevent the water from having as much of a negative effect on our reels. We can reduce and minimize and mitigate it to some degree.

1 hour ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

I'm just replying to your thread request. And that reel you have is the same model as the ones I have and these do not require gear alignment. But this had to be eliminated first.

If what you are saying is happening, then I can see only one thing even remotely being possible for why you experience a difference.

We have to ask ourselves where is water getting in? And to what can water get to that could affect the reel's ability to spin freely?

And with these nexave reels there is only one choice and that has to be the AR bearing. It is the only possible part water can reasonably reach -without dunking- and possibly cause some type of issue that could change reel behavior:

"Anti-Reverse Bearing: If your reel turns backwards or feels locked up at specific points, the "Super Stopper" anti-reverse roller clutch has likely failed or become contaminated with water and dirt. These bearings are designed to work dry or with only the lightest possible reel oil."

And now this gets into those rebuilds and your grease applications might fall into this situation.

The AR bearings should not have any grease on them and only use a very lightweight oil instead. Grease can act like a glue preventing normal movement and normal operation.

Water can also possibly cause an AR to malfunction. On the nexave reels line, this is about the only thing on those reels that could be so affected by minor water intrusion.

Just my opinion and a search seems to support this same conclusion.

I will be keeping an eye on my sons reels since they are identical models to your reels. So far he has had no problems with his. I treat the AR bearings in our spinning reels with corrosion X, a full synthetic lubricant that never changes viscosity even with temperature changes, and it stays in place and protects the metal from rust and corrosion which is most important to me here in Florida, but it also rejects water intrusion and keeps water from even reaching the metal parts. Water does not displace corrosion X. Corrosion X displaces water which is what I want in those AR bearings.

Out of curiosity what did you purchase to these nexave's with?

The nexave is a $69 reel brand new retail price. I purchased a couple of $39 Shimano Sienna 4000 spinning reels, and with some prep work ahead of use with corrosion X and other good synthetic lubricants, my son actually likes using his Sienna reels in saltwater. He has had no problems with those either.

Shimano AR bearings can be finnicky. I wind up having to disassemble them these days and try and restore them as much as possible since they are hard to come by once no longer made.

Some need to be cleaned out on the insides and remove collected dirt and debris, and carefully sand down corrosion roughness on each needle bearing to remove rust and smooth them out again, and take each spring out and maybe increase tension on each one a little bit to try and keep these touchy AR bearings going for more years of good fishing.

Using corrosion X or Reel X on these bearings ahead of water intrusion can head off problems down the road like the rust seen here, and water reaching these parts inside preventing normal movement within that can cause some binding issues. Properly cleaned and lubricated these should work fine for years to come.

If the reel does not have good seals to keep water out, then we have to adjust what we do with the reels on the insides to prevent the water from having as much of a negative effect on our reels. We can reduce and minimize and mitigate it to some degree.

Maybe it is the arb but just decided to move on. I picked 2 of these on clearance and paid around $30ea for them. The other spinnjng reels I have are Okuma, mixture of stratus (dicks sporting house brand made by okuma), avengers and the new ones I purchased are Ceymars. All have more bearings than the shimano for less and at least for me I have been using the okumas for 5 years and never had an issue with any of them and smoother. The only upgrade I donis I swap the oil felt drag washers with carbontex and just fish. I don't fish saltwater all freshwater but again I have some over 5 years old and still working fine sonwent with the ceymar which is a step up from the avenger but same price range as the nexave. There is a guy on ebay that has a boat load of the last generation ceymar and selling the for $40ea.

Thanks for hour thoughts on what may be the issue, I will say each time it happened it was a downpour but i need to be able to use reels that get wet, never had it happen before and was surprised it was with my shimano....