Spinning Reel Care

SJS · Feb 26, 2011

I have two pflueger president reels, and before Spring I want to clean them up to make sure it will run good this fishing season.

Some things I have read said to use a damp cloth and wipe it off and then grease up the moving parts. A lot of articles and videos online had different recommendations for products to use when lubricating these parts. So what does everyone here do to maintain their spinning reels? :?:

SJS · Feb 27, 2011

Anyone have any advice?

Navyfisher · Feb 27, 2011

If you feel up to the task of dealing with small parts the manufactures instructions will in detail tell you how to service and maintain your reel (and not void a warranty, if there is one).
In my opinion the only two things you can do wrong is break\loose a part and over grease (It lets dirt build up scratching your bearings and gunking up the works).
If you strip your little screws holding the rod together it will make it real hard to open it back up and figure out what is wrong.
I worse thing you can do, in my opinion, is damage a reel in taking it apart improperly or loosing something. If you don't think your up to it, there are a lot of shops willing do it for a reasonable fee.

SJS · Feb 27, 2011

Thanks for the reply, then I don't think I will do anything with taking it apart. I just wanted to prevent it from becoming damaged or not smooth.

So instead I just cleaned it with a damp paper towel and re-lined it.

Bassin' Ted · Feb 27, 2011

Maybe this helps:

http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content ... 0(1%20page).pdf

MikeLyxs · Feb 28, 2011

You can use wrench lubricant. Unlike grease or WD40, it is dry, doesn't build up and comes in spray.
Cheap and available in any hardware store.

Boogaloo · Feb 28, 2011

Like BigRick mentioned, you can easily get to key areas for cleaning. I believe keeping your reels clean helps you get your moneys worth out of them. I have Stradics that are about 10 years old and still perform as well as the day I got them. They get a lot of use too.

I remove the spool and see how much dirt is underneath. I wet a small towel with WD-40 and wipe the area clean. I then crank the handle to see how dirty the center pin looks. If it is black and dirty, it's time for a cleaning. I then will spray some WD-40 into the area where the spool sits letting it get inside. Holding the reel with the spool facing down, I spin the handle fast to get all the excess out. I will keep wiping the center pin clean (spin,clean/spin,clean) until all the dirt is removed. After wiping the entire reel down with WD-40 it is time to add a small amount of grease or oil. Add a small amount to the center pin and crank the handle to work it into the reel.

Bassin' Ted · Feb 28, 2011

Boogaloo said:
I then will spray some WD-40 into the area where the spool sits letting it get inside. Holding the reel with the spool facing down, I spin the handle fast to get all the excess out. I will keep wiping the center pin clean (spin,clean/spin,clean) until all the dirt is removed.

Those Shimano instructions specifically posted not to use WD40 in the internal parts. Now you can't argue with Boogaloo's 10 year of success with his reels but that is what Shimano says. Maybe WWD is made by one of their competitors. I just thought I would pass it along.

Click to expand...

SJS · Feb 28, 2011

The reel I was looking at isn't too bad yet (as I determined from Boogaloos post) so I'm not going to worry about lubricating the parts. After all I have only used the reel for 1.5 softwater seasons now so it's relatively new.

But all the information you guys provided is going to be a great reference for next year or maybe later this year so thanks a ton.

And Bassin' Ted, I did actually remember seeing some articles that said not to use WD-40. But then again I saw some others that said it worked great...So I think I'm going to play it safe and maybe pick up some wrench lubricant MikeL mentioned in case I will need it later.

twoglasseyes · Mar 1, 2011

If you take one thing away from this, remember never to use wd40 in place of other light synthetic lubricants! Wd40 is a spray grease not an oil, and it is not synthetic and will damage rubber/plastic parts. Just trying to help by sharing my own experience. The can says a lot of things you can use it on, some of which are really bad ideas. Most sewing machine oils, and some electric motor oils are the same as that which most reel manufacturers recommend, but check the labels to be sure.

Boogaloo · Mar 1, 2011

I'm actually glad this topic came up. I was always afraid to open up my reels before so I never did. The link Bassin Ted provided opened a japanese page for me, so I haven't seen where they say not to use wd40. Anyway, after doing some looking on line, it didn't look too daunting to open up a reel and clean. So last night I took one apart. It definitely had some sludge type build up inside for sure. I cleaned it all out, without using wd40 and properly oiled and put back together. It was much easier than I thought it would be. The reel doesn't feel any different, but at least I know it's clean!

SJS · Mar 1, 2011

So what oil did you use then Boogaloo?

Winnebasschamp · Mar 1, 2011

Check out the Ardent Reel Cleaning kits available. Gander Mountain had them on sale last week..
Great little kits for cleaning those reels w/ instructions!

Bassin' Ted · Mar 1, 2011

Boogaloo said:
Anyway, after doing some looking on line, it didn't look too daunting to open up a reel and clean. So last night I took one apart. !

Boogaloo- do you have any links for what you were looking at? I need to get my spinning reels done in the near future. Thanks.

Boogaloo · Mar 1, 2011

I googled: spinning reel care and found quite a bit.

This video showed what to do.

I'm sure all reels are a little different, but it wasn't hard to figure out.

As for oil, I used what came with my Abu baitcaster.

SJS · Mar 2, 2011

Ok, so just curious then as to how many years it took for all of your spinning reels to start digressing in performance? Because the 1 I have been using mostly for a bout a year and a half still seems pretty fine. But I think I will still try to grease it a little later just to maintain it. And thanks for the insight BigRick and link Boogaloo.

I still need to get some grease/oil so will either get the kit winnebass mentioned or some of that wrench lubricant.

Bassin' Ted · Mar 2, 2011

I'll be honest I haven't done upkeep on my spinning reels like I have on my baitcasters. Matter of fact- I don't recall doing any on my current spinning reels. My Daiwa Advantage still works perfect but that is my newest reel. It is a little over 2 years old. I have a couple older Daiwas that have seen tremendous use. The biggest thing I've noticed is that the bail doesn't open as fluidily as in the past. Everything else is fine. This post has made me realize that I need to work on those reels ASAP. Thanks guys!

Spinning Reel Care

SJS

SJS

Navyfisher

SJS

Bassin' Ted

MikeLyxs

Boogaloo

Bassin' Ted

SJS

twoglasseyes

Boogaloo

SJS

Winnebasschamp

Bassin' Ted

Boogaloo

SJS

Bassin' Ted

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