# Reel Maintenance / Winterization



## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

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## Marshall (Apr 11, 2004)

I clean and lube my reels once a year. I do it all myself. To make life easier, i use all shimano reels because thats what i know from years of servicing them. Internally not much has changed over the years. Occasionally on a reel that gets a lot of use, i will add a drop of oil to a bearing if needed. Make sure u have the reel schematic handy when tearing a reel down. It will show where the part goes if you cannot remember. Just remember, oil on bearings and grease on gears. No oil or grease on anti reverse bearings. Go light on oil on your spool bearings for best performance. A new reel will come with all the bearings packed with grease. They probably do this because a lot of people do not maintain their reels.

Another thing i do is clean the rods. Alcohol on the cork wiped with a rag will make it look new. Take a Q tip and wipe out the guides. Make sure the guide does not catch any cotton off the swab. This indicates a bad guide and possible line breaking on a fish. 

Keep oil and grease off your rubber handle knobs. It makes them get sticky.


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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

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## DL07 (Jul 21, 2011)

I don't do many spinning reels, mostly baitcasters. But general rule of thumb is 1 drop of oil on bearings, a very small amount of grease on gears, Drag washers are wiped clean with a dry clean rag and left alone. The most important part of cleaning is just that. I make sure everything is clean and working properly. I clean all of my reels every winter. Occasionally some may need an addition cleaning throughout the year. So for me I don't like to add much oil or grease as they can hold dirt and I don't think it's necessary as long as you pay attention to your equipment.


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## Marshall (Apr 11, 2004)

if it were me, i would stay away from using oil ports. You will probably end up getting oil on things that you do not want. I would study the schematics of your reel and get comfortable taking it apart. This way you can oil or grease what is supposed to be done. I have not watched the video you posted yet but im sure its better than doing nothing. Grease always goes on gears. Just as DLO7 mentioned he is spot on.

Ok i looked at the shimano link. To me that is very basic maintenance. You need to take the side plates off. Take out the bearing soak in lighter fluid in a container. Put the bearing on a pencil or pen and spin it. If it spins easy let it dry. If not soak the bearing longer. Once the bearing is dry spin it on a pencil and ad one drop of oil to the bearing. It will slow the bearing down a bit when spinning it. Now take a Q tip and wipe away all the grease from the gears and apply new. Or better yet take out the gears and clean them up real good then add grease to the teeth. 

I use more baitcasters than spinning reels but im sitting here trying to picture the insides of a spinning reel. You will get much better performance taking the reel apart than just using a side port. All the other stuff in the shimano maintenance link is good. The bearings and gears are what makes your reel smooth. I would spend more time taking care of them than oiling the bail. Hope this helps.


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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

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## fvogel67 (Nov 15, 2010)

I use the maintenance ports on my Shimano Fj and Saros.A drop or two of oil as recommended by Shimano won't cause any problems and will extend the life of your reel.Posting that you should not use the maintenance port is bad advice.


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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

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## Marshall (Apr 11, 2004)

fvogel67 said:


> I use the maintenance ports on my Shimano Fj and Saros.A drop or two of oil as recommended by Shimano won't cause any problems and will extend the life of your reel.Posting that you should not use the maintenance port is bad advice.


What ever works for you. A guy asked a question and i gave him an answer. If you send a reel in for professional service, they will tear the reel down properly. They put those ports on there so its quick and easy since most people do not maintain their reels properly. Take your car for example, nobody just keeps dumping in oil with out draining out the old. Its the same with bearings. Dirt gets in them and can create problems. The grease will collect dirt too. Also its not rocket science, many people don't think they are crafty enough to service a reel, i used to feel that way, then one day i gave it a try. Now i enjoy spending the winter servicing my reels. I have reels that are 20 years old and still perform like new. Reels are expensive but will last a long time if taken care of. I did not mean to never use the oil ports but there is a better way to service the gears and bearings. For the record, i did say using the ports is better than nothing.


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## leeabu (Apr 10, 2004)

I service a lot of reels. I see too main problems when they arrive at my bench.
1. Never been cleaned and oiled. The grease hardens over time and dirt gets between moving parts. 
2. Over lubricated. 
_*(ONE) *_drop of oil in a lubrication port once a year is fine, Most people think if a little oil is good then a lot is better. Three symptoms of too much oil are:
1. Anti reverse clutch bearing slipping due to oil contamination. This needs to be oil and grease free as it works on friction. 
2. Not sufficient drag due to drag washers saturated with oil.
3.Spinning reel rotor binding or bail tripping when casting due to oil deteriorating the rotor friction ring. 
Three tips.
1. Paint grease into the teeth of gears with a small brush. Don't just squirt it on the tops of the teeth and hope it goes to the right place.
2. Use grease and oil made for fishing reels. This is not a good place for WD-40 as it is too thin and contains solvents. 
3. Use an oiler with a needle tip so you can put one drop of oil where you need it. May come with a rounded plastic tip which is impossible to put the oil where you want it.


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## papaperch (Apr 12, 2004)

With over 60 years of reel maintenance. I agree 100% with Leeabu. 

As a side note my reel repair began at an early age. I took apart my father's treasured Pflueger Akron reel out of curiosity. When he got home and seen his favorite reel all in parts. He suggested unless that reel performed perfectly a trip to the woodshed was in the very near future. With no more reward that saving my butt from a good tanning. His reel was returned to him in perfect condition. Took several attempts but everything fell into place finally much to my relief.


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## DL07 (Jul 21, 2011)

Marshall,Leeabu,Papaperch. Have all said it perfectly in my opinion. If a reel isnt performing properly or just needs a yearly cleaning, dropping some oil in a port isn't getting the job done properly. Your just adding clean oil to a dirty reel. And more than likely adding to much oil where it isn't needed. 
Most of us spend a lot of money and time on the water. I believe it's worth taking an extra few minutes once or twice a year to properly maintenance our equipment. There's a lot of good info out there. Check youtube there's a bunch of videos on how to maintenence reels properly. 
1 easy tip: get an old white towel and lay it out on a table before you even start. When you start disassembly lay the parts out just as they come off. Once everything is out/off start cleaning with parts that go back on 1st. Clean and put on until your finished.


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## leeabu (Apr 10, 2004)

I use a large box with low sides to do all the work. When you drop a part it is easier to find if it doesn't bounce to the floor. Also back off all the drags when the reel is not in use long term.


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## poncho 79 (May 12, 2012)

I've never seen a published hour requirement for service. General rule is yearly but be reasonable. If you only used your reel a few times then no but if you've used it every weekend then yes. Other factors come into play like was it used in salt or a very dirty environment. Key is REGULAR maintenance. As far as the maintainence ports, imho they're only there for touch up and not to replace regular service, dl07 and Marshall are right on. As to what I'd put in the port, grease. Adding oil would wash out or dilute the grease placed by manufacturer which could cause faster wear. Unfortunately reels still fail even with proper regular service. Cars wear out, fail and break down with regular service. Reels are no different. Parts eventually wear and fail, so I don't know if considerable compensation is realistic or fair to the manufacturer. Factory defects usually show up fairly quickly so the reason for the year warranty. Most if not all manufacturers recommend yearly service, more in salt or extremely dirty conditions or extreme use. But Rr, you are right Shimano is not going to tell you to do something that is going to harm your reel.


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## fvogel67 (Nov 15, 2010)




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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

How important is it to open up the side plate and address the drive gear on a spinning reel? As mentioned above, I performed all the steps described in the video. The video did not include opening the side plate. All it said was a drop of oil in the oiling port. The reel spins great, but it felt good beforehand too.


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## poncho 79 (May 12, 2012)

RiparianRanger said:


> How important is it to open up the side plate and address the drive gear on a spinning reel? As mentioned above, I performed all the steps described in the video. The video did not include opening the side plate. All it said was a drop of oil in the oiling port. The reel spins great, but it felt good beforehand too.


Like I said above, I feel that port is only for "touch ups". A complete tear down clean and lube, which I call a service is generally done once a year depending on how much it is used and conditions used in. If you want to keep it feeling good then have it serviced regularly. If you wait till it feels bad or is noisy and grinds then you've waited too long and will probably need to replace some parts which could be expensive and depending on year,make,and model parts could no longer be available. Why wait till something breaks or wears out when regular service would have prevented a failure? So yes it is important


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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

Finally got around to opening up the guts of my primary spinning reel. Have a new found appreciation for the precision involved in these things. Lots of little pins and washers all over the place. Meticulously cleaned everything out and judiciously applied Ardent Reel Butter to the gears. Went a little light on the oil and can tell it doesn't feel quite as free and loose as before but not the slightest hint of grinding or gnashing. Will give it a few outings and see if it feels like it could use a drop in the oiling port.


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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

Oil on bearings, grease on gears. Simple enough. But what about parts that are neither gears nor bearings? For instance, the oscillating guides shown in the photos below and the anti-reverse cam, what do you guys say, light coat of oil or grease 'em? Hard to tell based on the pre-clean images below. Looks to me as though grease just got on everything.


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## Marshall (Apr 11, 2004)

Reels leave the factory over greased since not many people maintain them. From your pics with oil and grease everywhere, thats why i am not a fan of the oil port. Wipe all that extra oil and grease out of there. Take that bearing and soak it in lighter fluid or acetone then dry it out and add a drop of oil to it. Add a bit of grease to the gears with teeth. Add a light coat of grease to the worm gear. Wipe clean all the rods that move back and forth. No oil or grease on them. And please do not oil or grease any anti reverse beaing on a spinning or baitcast reel or it will fail.


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## jmpmstr1998 (Jun 19, 2009)

I rip mine apart and clean them every fall. If I'm using one and it gets too dirty I don't wait. Bad thing is I have approximately 30 rod/reel combo's.


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