Daily Spinning Reel Maintenance

[slinkymalinky]

Whether you spend $50 or $1000 on a spinning reel, if you don't look after it well it will quickly turn into a useful paperweight.

Each reel can be a little different, with different manufacturers recommendations for maintenance... but in a general sense, here's what I do with every spinning reel after every fishing trip....

The first thing I do, particularly if I've been fishing in salt water, is to rinse the reel to remove salt and exterior dirt. First thing to do though is tighten up the drag... this reduces the chance of water penetrating.

It's also worth positioning the spool in it's lowest position (particularly if the spool is perforated) so water won't get under the spool.

NO

YES

Now you can rinse the reel BUT CAREFULLY. Don't go hitting it with a high pressure spray... all this will do is drive water, salt and grime inside your reel. A gentle spray, slow running water, or even just a wet cloth is better.

Don't forget to rinse the line on the spool... salt can crystalise inside braid as salt water evaporates and weaken your line.

Give the reel a shake and a quick wipe over with a dry cloth, then set it aside to dry thoroughly.

Once your reel is dry, it's worth giving it an all over protective coat. The simplest way is to give it a quick spray with Innox... it won't hurt your line... and wipe it over again with a soft cloth.

It's also preferable to remove reels from rods before putting them away. If you're going to leave reels on rods be particularly careful... salt can build up between the reel foot and seat. At the very least wash thoroughly and spray the join well with Innox. And periodically, you can't get away from removing the reel to check what's going on under there.

And finally... make sure you back your drag off. Leaving the drag done up for extended periods may compress the drag washers permanently.

Next, it's worth giving your reel a quick hit with some reel oil in important, accessible spots.

Remove the spool first and have a quick look at the drag washers to check for any water that might have gotten in there while fishing or rinsing. If any water is in there, I'll strip out the drag, clean and relube it... but that's not something to worry about in a basic maintenance post.

Put the spool aside and put a drop of oil on the main shaft, then give the reel a quick spin to distribute the oil along the shaft.

Remove the handle and the side plate bearing cap from the opposite side so you can add a drop of oil to the side bearings or bushings. A little note at this point... if your side plate bearings are packed with grease, this step is a little pointless as the oil won't penetrate. This little reel has oiled bearings.

I always give the line roller attention. Put a drop of oil on each side of the roller.

A good trick to distribute the oil is to take a short length of line (I use a section of Dacron), run it over the oiled roller and run it back and forth.

Put a drop of oil on the anti reverse lever.

A drop on the handle grip.

And finally, oil or grease the handle elbow if it's hinged.

Some spin reels, like this Stradic, have a lubricating port. Between major services this will let you add a drop of oil or liquid grease.

Now this is just a general guide remember. The most important thing to make your reels last is to make sure they start life well prepared and well lubed. Then it will stand up to a lot more abuse.

Get to know your reels and what is recommended or suitable for each of them but cleaning and lubing any reel after every trip is a habit you should develop.

Cheers, Slinky

[slinkymalinky]

G'day Browney,

I won't use WD40 simply because I don't know much about it. It's all a 'secret'... there's lots of myths about it... like it's made from fish oil... it isn't. I might be totally off base but I won't put something that smells like petroleum anywhere near my fishing gear. A lot of people swear by it though.

Innox is a food grade lubricant and to my mind, if it's ok to put it near stuff I'm going to eat, it's fine for my fishing gear too... that plus zillions of experienced fishos I know have used it for years and only have praise for it.

For greases and oils, there's lots of products on the market. I use TG's Rocket Fuel oil and liquid grease, Shimano Permalube grease and until recently Daiwa blue grease. For heavy grease I've switched from Daiwa to Evinrude outboard grease... it's made for marine environments and is far stickier than Daiwa grease... which is what I want when I'm using this kind of product.

Just make sure when you get any lubes that they're suitable for a marine environment. If you ever crack open a reel that's been lubed with something unsuitable, you'll often find a grey, sloppy, congealed mess from the lube emlusifying.

The main thing with lubes is if you're uncertain if it's suitable, don't use it.

Cheers, Slinky

[Hodgey]

Great post mate! Back-to-basics process that can assist in maintaining the performance and longevity of your gear. Easy to follow and understand :thumbup:

Cheers

Skip

[dogtooth]

Great Post Slinky ,

Makes me want to start lubricating all me reels . Now WD 40 in my opinion is safe to use , once on a charter trip i watched an older fella spray his baits while bottom fishing and he caught the most fish . . I even tried it once fishing the wide reefs of Gladstone on a long range trip , every bait i droped for 1 hour i sprayed and to be honest i caught red emperor, coral trout, and every other species not only that but they were big fish as for the other anglers fishing left and right of me, they all shook there heads . Even a few guys joined in on the wd 40 fishing . It sure was the talk of the night whilst eating at the anchorage with other guys still shaking there heads in disbelief . Now in saying that i have not sprayed my bait since but my rods and reels get sprayed after every use and i still catch fish .....

Cheers Dogtooth.... John...

Edited January 31, 2010 by dogtooth

[thomo]

awesome post slinky thanks heaps for the info and pics..

cheers

tom

[Ray R]

Great work Tony, very informative, hope it prolongs the life of Raiders reels,

I might add that apart from doing all the steps you have indicated, I also put

a drop or 2 in the bail arm anchoring points either side of the reel, think this

helps too as the little bail arm cops a fair bit of use durind a session as well.

Top effort Tony, the step by step pics the whole shebang.

[crunch]

Nice one.

Extra handy tht I have the non-tuff body in that reel

[slinkymalinky]

Hi Slinky,

Can you explain the theory of tightening the drag prior to applying a mist spray to clean, after use? If the reel has been in use during a fishing trip, then the drag setting will have been eased off whilst in use.Whilst travelling on a boat, they are invariably exposed to sea spray at whatever speed you are travelling at(maybe70Kmh). Surely salt water is being forced at pressure into the drag mechanism. If you then tighten the drag prior to cleaning, aren't you trapping the salt into the drag asembly rather than allowing it to flush out with fresh water. Wouldn't you be increasing the corrosive effect rather than diminishing.

G'day Rads,

Salt spray shouldn't get into your reel's drag under normal circumstances... Tightening the drag of (most) reels will help prevent any water getting in between the drag washers while you're cleaning your reel

BUT If your reel is getting heavily splashed or gets dunked though, salt water will get into your drag... it can't be flushed out with water though. The water and contaminants will just stay inside doing damage and it will just make the problem worse. If you think you might have salt, water or something equally unwelcome in your drag, then you have to strip it down, clean it, lube it (if appropriate) and reassemble it.

Cheers, Slinky

[wallacewt]

i have spoken several times with innox,and their recommendations are innox3 for most parts,frames,spool cleaning etc; innox5 for the bearings.any salt water resistant grease works on the inside to prevent corrosion.you can get it all here in oz.works for me.hope it helps,cheers

[steze]

My reel has been dunked with saltwater not too long ago. I cleaned it with water and put some oil in it as well. Would this be enough or should I strip the whole reel and get it cleaned and re lubricated.

[slinkymalinky]

My reel has been dunked with saltwater not too long ago. I cleaned it with water and put some oil in it as well. Would this be enough or should I strip the whole reel and get it cleaned and re lubricated.

Time to strip it down, clean and re-lube it, Steze. Sorry to say that if it happened a while ago, you're probably looking at needing new bearings too.

Cheers, Slinky

[steze]

Time to strip it down, clean and re-lube it, Steze. Sorry to say that if it happened a while ago, you're probably looking at needing new bearings too.

Cheers, Slinky

Yea it happened about a week ago. After reading the post on the SOL 2000 Ive sent the reel back to Daiwa to make sure that they do everything ok. Thanks for your help anyway. Im pretty sure my bearings need replacement as well. I hope it doesnt cost me an arm and a leg.

[Wild Bill]

Wow, im new to these forums and the first thing i read i learnt heaps off. Cheers

Wild Bill

[GreyNurse]

Hey slinky,

I do pretty well exactly as you have instructed and have always done so. That's why I'm still able to fish with my my older reels like the Shakespeare Sigma 070 and the Daiwa PS4000, as well as an original Roddy. For various reasons, they don't get as much use as they used to. But although the technology is superseded, they still perform reliably.

One question, though. How long should one keep reel lubricants? I've always used Mitchell reel lubricant. I still have two tubes that must be 25 years old. I've always kept them in a clean, dry temperate environment. (My workshop is on the lower of three floors at the back of the house.) And the lube seems as good as the day I bought it.

P.S. I hope you can answer my PM I sent the other day.

Nursie

[slinkymalinky]

Hey slinky,

I do pretty well exactly as you have instructed and have always done so. That's why I'm still able to fish with my my older reels like the Shakespeare Sigma 070 and the Daiwa PS4000, as well as an original Roddy. For various reasons, they don't get as much use as they used to. But although the technology is superseded, they still perform reliably.

One question, though. How long should one keep reel lubricants? I've always used Mitchell reel lubricant. I still have two tubes that must be 25 years old. I've always kept them in a clean, dry temperate environment. (My workshop is on the lower of three floors at the back of the house.) And the lube seems as good as the day I bought it.

P.S. I hope you can answer my PM I sent the other day.

Nursie

G'day Nursie,

That's a really good question and to be honest, I have no idea. I've never really thought about whether lubricants have a use-by date. I've never seen any of the lubricants I have in my service kit change in any way so maybe they don't degrade or at least if they do, it's so slow that it makes no difference.

All I'd do is pay close attention to the lubricant and if you ever see is change in colour, texture or otherwise, replace it. Maybe there's an engineer on the forum that might know the answer... and perhaps whether there are differences in longevity between the different kinds of lubes.

Cheers, Slinky