How hard is it to flush and re-lube bearings

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smallysrule
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Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 1:49 am

How hard is it to flush and re-lube bearings

Post by smallysrule » Thu Mar 03, 2011 3:44 am

I'm guessing there was a large amount of info on this before the global wipeout. I have no doubt I can do this, but my fear is I am going to screw up a reel that is already in good working order. I have mostly Abu Garcia Revo's.

2 2009 STX-HS
1 2009 PRM-L
1 2010 STX
1 2010 SKT-L
1 BPS Pro Qualifier
1 Shimano Citica 201D

I looked into taking them in to have a cleaning done but feel the 150 to 200 would be better spent on a new rod!

I'm looking for some pointers to get me started in the right direction on what to look for and what not to do. They were all bought brand new last year. With the ice melting around here I am getting ready for the season and want me gear to be ready as well.

Thanks in advance for any info.

EFed
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Re: How hard is it to flush and re-lube bearings

Post by EFed » Thu Mar 03, 2011 3:51 am

If you are going to get into maintaining your own reels you may want to take that $ and invest in a ultrasonicc cleaner. Make things a lot easier.

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D.R.
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Re: How hard is it to flush and re-lube bearings

Post by D.R. » Thu Mar 03, 2011 5:50 am

smallysrule wrote:I'm guessing there was a large amount of info on this before the global wipeout. I have no doubt I can do this, but my fear is I am going to screw up a reel that is already in good working order. I have mostly Abu Garcia Revo's.

2 2009 STX-HS
1 2009 PRM-L
1 2010 STX
1 2010 SKT-L
1 BPS Pro Qualifier
1 Shimano Citica 201D

I looked into taking them in to have a cleaning done but feel the 150 to 200 would be better spent on a new rod!

I'm looking for some pointers to get me started in the right direction on what to look for and what not to do. They were all bought brand new last year. With the ice melting around here I am getting ready for the season and want me gear to be ready as well.

Thanks in advance for any info.
I sent you a PM with my contact info. Call me and I will answer any questions you may have.

D.R.
Prostaff: Dobyns Rods, Smooth Drag, Tackle Warehouse, Lake Fork Tackle

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Finnz922
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Location: Ashland, NE

Re: How hard is it to flush and re-lube bearings

Post by Finnz922 » Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:28 am

Before the site crashed I had asked and responded only about 100 times. However, in that small amount of time I picked up a good set of spool pliers and learned the necessary steps to clean and relube bearings. I still am learing but on the 15 reels I have tried it on it seemed to work great. I just cleaned and polished a friends two Revo S's and gave them back to him yesterday. He was blown away by how much smoother they were. Note: all parts were stock, no upgrade.

1. I use a gun cleaning mat and take the reels apart carefully placing the pieces down in order they came off the reel so that it is easier to get them back together.
2. I use a Simple Green mixture to clean all the parts. Especially get rid of the excess grease that is all over the handle sideplate. A few reels now and I like a cleaner look only greasing the necessary parts. I fish freshwater only so no need to protect everything in a layer of grease.
3. I clean all bearings in Simple Green mixture then soak in acetone for 1 hour.
4. I dry the bearings off and then soak them again in acetone for another hour.
5. I use a light packing of grease on non-spool bearings and 1-2 drops.
6. I have used Brasso to polish spool tips and have good success with that.
7. I also make sure that the worm gear is very clean since it is the most susceptible to debris from the lake. I use Ardent reel oil instead of a heavy grease because grease can hold the debris and it takes a more thorough cleaning to get it all out. With oil I found that I can clean it faster but you do have to reapply more often.
8. Put the reel back together.

By no means am I an expert but I have been pretty happy with my results. I must warn you though. If you start to get frustrated because a part won't come loose put it down and come back later when you calm down. I have had a few reels that I didn't get the results I was looking for but with a few questions on the forum I was able to get it figured out. There are some really good members out there that will help you out if you ask. I don't want to name them because I know I will leave someone out.

Hope this helps

Basswrangler
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Re: How hard is it to flush and re-lube bearings

Post by Basswrangler » Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:14 am

6. I have used Brasso to polish spool tips and have good success with that.
Yea Brasso works ok, but you should try some Simichrome. I started off using Brasso, but I figured I'd try something else one day and I never used Brasso again. The incredible thing about Simichrome is that you can supertune a reel with a hand polish. I just did a main gear and pinion I.D. using only Q-tips and a microfiber cloth and it turned out flawless. I am not crazy about using dremels, although I have done it in the past and they are ussually needed to polish certain parts.

Simichrome does leave a film on polished areas so it's even more important than usual to rinse parts after polishing.

I am not an expert by any means, just have too much time on my hands waiting for the ice to melt. This is my time of the year to service/tune reels, because once there's water I'd rather be fishin.

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zodiak311
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Re: How hard is it to flush and re-lube bearings

Post by zodiak311 » Thu Mar 03, 2011 5:37 pm

D.R. wrote:
smallysrule wrote:I'm guessing there was a large amount of info on this before the global wipeout. I have no doubt I can do this, but my fear is I am going to screw up a reel that is already in good working order. I have mostly Abu Garcia Revo's.

2 2009 STX-HS
1 2009 PRM-L
1 2010 STX
1 2010 SKT-L
1 BPS Pro Qualifier
1 Shimano Citica 201D

I looked into taking them in to have a cleaning done but feel the 150 to 200 would be better spent on a new rod!

I'm looking for some pointers to get me started in the right direction on what to look for and what not to do. They were all bought brand new last year. With the ice melting around here I am getting ready for the season and want me gear to be ready as well.

Thanks in advance for any info.
I sent you a PM with my contact info. Call me and I will answer any questions you may have.

D.R.
=D> Gotta love this site!
Get your kids hooked on fishing, and they'll never have any money for drugs or alcohol.

brownhl
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Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:39 am
Location: Cherry Hill, VA

Re: How hard is it to flush and re-lube bearings

Post by brownhl » Fri Mar 04, 2011 8:01 am

I learned from ChuckE to use the red and white rouge from here.
http://www.ccsilver.com/supplies/polish ... hing1.html

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