# Maintaining the inside of reels



## JT (May 25, 2006)

Could someone please point me in the right direction or give me some advice on cleaning reels and in particular sourcing the right grease to pack into them. I have a Shimano 1500 that I am very fond of but the little bugger is definately in need of a internal clean and some grease. I can feel definate resistance when I wind in those collosal 6 cm pinkies etc that seem to represent my average catch :shock:

I am a little hesitant about opening the reel up and putting it back together but I reckon one has to man-up and just do it (I have a small reel graveyard with dismantled reels littering the landscape). Any tips are much appreciated.

Thanks in advance AKFFers.

JT


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

You can get reel lube from a local tackle store. The are small tubes of general purpose grease or Shimano has small tubs of greases for various purposes. Some reels also have a port that can be opened to facilitate oiling.

Kayaking is tough on reels. I clean all of mine myself


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## Garfish (Jun 2, 2006)

My rod rests almost ensure that my reels sit in the bloody salt water half the time (with a bit of chop) so I'm getting used to servicing mine every couple of trips.

I'm with Gatesy... taking everything apart is reel suicide for me. Simply take handle off, and take the shelving off the other side, and spray liberally with some reel lubricant. I've used WD40 in the past (which is apparently a big no no) and have now moved on to Inox. Then tighten things up, turn the handle quickly for a while, relax the drag... and store for your next trip.

Going through this process has always refreshed the reel to how it felt the day I bought it.

Hope this helps.


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## Clarkos (Oct 11, 2006)

The only problem with using spray lubricants is that it will disolve the grease in the reel, which is not really what you want. It's better than doing nothing, as long as it's pretty regular. But opening the side panel, and liberally applying grease is a much better way if you want to keep them running smoothly.

The side panels are pretty simple to take on and off, so you shouldn't get into too much trouble if that's all you do.

Cheers, Steve.


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

> The only problem with using spray lubricants is that it will disolve the grease in the reel


Gday Steve i have been told and it is only hearsay that wd40 will do exactly what you said but inox won't.
Don't know if anyone out there has some hard facts on this.

Personally i spray the outside of the reel with liberal doses of inox and every couple of months put some reel oil throught the holes Peril mentioned and on the shaft gatesy style (oh that sounds bad doesn't it) let me rephrase put oil on the shaft and wind it in like gatesy does (oh that doesn't sound any better) oh bugger it you know what i mean. :lol:

Cheers Dave


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

justcrusin32 said:


> Gday Steve i have been told and it is only hearsay that wd40 will do exactly what you said but inox won't.


Believe thats the case also Dave, the smell of Lanox and Inox are also totally different to other brands...one time I degreased my diesel engine in the old boat with either WD40 or RP7 because of the solvent properties.

I've now used Inox exclusively for many years but will change to Lanox next buy

akffer Jake told me they were converting to Lanox both as protectant and lubricant because it was so good on the supply ships he was driving


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## Billybob (Aug 29, 2005)

Lanox is also excellent for stainless steel. Stops it gettin that oxidised brown staining. Good for zips as well.

You can get a big tub of Inox reel grease quite cheaply from any good tackle store.

What I do, as preventative maintenance, is remove the handle and bearing cap on the reel and pack out the bearing wells with Inox reel grease. I also pack out the space around the anti-reverse switch with grease and run a line of grease around the reel body join line.

This keeps 98% of the salt water out of the reel in the first place and minimises servicing.


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## Guest (Sep 14, 2007)

Like everyone else I have been using Inox lately for maintaining the reels.

Last trip I completely dunked one, when I came home I did up the drag tight and gave it I good flush of fresh water, towel dried it and sprayed Inox in all the accessible spots. It's like new now. 

I once attemped to take the inner works apart from a reel, came apart easy but a nightmare getting it back together, ultimately it ended up in the reel graveyard as I was unable to return it to working condition. 

A couple of weeks ago I had my Daiwa Castor 1500 reel serviced by a mechanic as it was stuffed. 45 bucks later with new bearings it's it better working condition.

Just go to your local most have mechanics that can help you at a reasonable price, that is if its in such a state it needs it.

Cheers


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

JT - the Shimano reels are very easy to open up , lube and put back together again. I do it with all my shimanos (Siennas, Aernos XTs and Symetres) whenever they start to get harder to wind (about 3 or 4 times a year). I take off the sppol, handle and then talke out the 4 screws holding the side panel on the body. Take out the gearing and bearings and then I degrease the entire insides first. Spray degreaser will do the trick. Wash everything out thoroughly and then repack with grease (no particular brand). In between trips I give them a spray with Inox around the spindle and handle.

I've found that other brands of reels (Okuma/Pflueger) are a hell of a lot more difficult to easily relube and I too end up with lots of leftover 'bits.... :shock:


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## JT (May 25, 2006)

Davey G said:


> JT - the Shimano reels are very easy to open up , lube and put back together again. I do it with all my shimanos (Siennas, Aernos XTs and Symetres) whenever they start to get harder to wind (about 3 or 4 times a year). I take off the sppol, handle and then talke out the 4 screws holding the side panel on the body. Take out the gearing and bearings and then I degrease the entire insides first. Spray degreaser will do the trick. Wash everything out thoroughly and then repack with grease (no particular brand). In between trips I give them a spray with Inox around the spindle and handle.
> 
> I've found that other brands of reels (Okuma/Pflueger) are a hell of a lot more difficult to easily relube and I too end up with lots of leftover 'bits.... :shock:


Excellent advice from you all. Thank you. DaveyG that is precisely what I did although with a little bit of a twist. Having no grease I used vaseline lip balm which is essentially just vaseline. Flushed it out with hot water. It no runs beautifully although I did have a spare part left over. Huh? :?

JT


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

JT said:


> It no runs beautifully although I did have a spare part left over. Huh? :?
> 
> JT


that would be the 'widget'.. its not important, just chuck it away.....


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## Phoenix (Jan 12, 2006)

Look up that reel on the internet and you should be able to download a cut-away diagram with all parts shown.


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## DGax65 (Jun 7, 2006)

In addition to the information available on the manufacturer's website, you can also find some very good practical tips on various fishing and kayak forums.
Bloody Decks has some good reel maintenance tutorials.
Inside Sportfishing has a fantastic Shimano reel maintenance DVD. Don't know if it is available outside the US. If I can get another copy I'll add it to the AKFF Virtual Library.
Tackle Tour

As soon as I get my gear back to the truck I give all of the reels a light spray of Salt-X. When I get home they get rinsed off with fresh water, dried and then the exterior gets a spray of Boeshield T9 (similar to Inox). I generally take my reels apart and do a basic service on them after 4 or 5 runs through the surf. I'll usually pull them apart, inspect and lube everything if they get dunked in the surf.


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## Billybob (Aug 29, 2005)

Yeah, funny that.

The first time I dismantled, serviced and reassembled my Aernos I found two bits left over.

Considering it's not a terribly complicated reel it was a bit embarrassing.

The extra bits are like metal sleeves. One very small and one closer to bearing size.

They don't appear on the spare parts layout and the reel works fine without them, and this is three years down the track!


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## DGax65 (Jun 7, 2006)

Shimano Torium and Trinidad reels have a little spring-loaded pin(<2mm) that is held on the spindle by a small retaining washer. You'll never know that just by looking at the parts drawing. When you take the spacers off, the little pin shoots off the spindle and is immediately lost :evil: I was "fortunate" that the first time this happened to me it hit me in the face and bounced back onto the desk. I bet Shimano makes a tidy profit on those  When I went to the tackle shop to buy a few extra pins I wasn't surprised to find that they had dozens in stock. Evidently I'm not the only one.


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## hobieadelaide (Jan 20, 2007)

Just a word of caution on using vaseline/lip balm on the internals.Over a period of time products such as vaseline (petroleum jelly's and similar) will dry out and give the same problems they were used to solve.They are a short term solution only and should be cleaned out and replaced by a good reel grease ASAP.


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## JT (May 25, 2006)

hobieadelaide said:


> Just a word of caution on using vaseline/lip balm on the internals.Over a period of time products such as vaseline (petroleum jelly's and similar) will dry out and give the same problems they were used to solve.They are a short term solution only and should be cleaned out and replaced by a good reel grease ASAP.


Thanks HobieAdelaide. Any recommendation on brand or anything based on experience?

JT


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## hobieadelaide (Jan 20, 2007)

Sorry for the late reply,I have had a few days off and have not been near a keyboard.In my opinion go for a grease or oil that is branded or distributed by a recognised tackle company such as Abu,Shimano etc or the light reel grease from Inox/Lanox.


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