Smoothest gear grease.

Reels are the hottest topic for TackleTour. Everyone wants to know what the latest and greatest is and how they compare to the old guard. What's the best for light stuff, or what's your suggestion for heavy cover. Do we really need different retrieve ratios? It's all in here.
tincanary
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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by tincanary » Mon Nov 15, 2021 10:37 am

jvelth74 wrote:
Mon Nov 15, 2021 9:42 am
tincanary wrote:
Sun Nov 14, 2021 2:07 pm
TSI is awesome. Try this out; 8 parts 99% alcohol, 1 part TSI. Dip your spool bearings, dry with compressed air. Thank me later :D
Actually sounds excellent advise!

I have bought some precision oilers that have been disappointment.

Thinned oil might be good solution to apply a drop of oil to bearings! But why alcohol, why not for example acetone?
TSI isn't an oil in the typical sense, it bonds to metal, filling in the microscopic pores and leaves a coating behind that repels dirt and moisture. It'll stay put on reel bearings for a couple of years easy without any reapplication. When using alcohol, the alcohol functions as a carrier and quickly evaporates. It works similar to TSI 301 which contains a solvent that's harmful to plastics. Alcohol isn't going to warp plastic and it's pretty cheap to boot.

Here's my junkyard Abu 4500, the spool bearings are at least 20 years old. They were from an eBay donor 5500 C3. This reel is just a two bearing reel, everything else is polished bushings and treated with the pimp juice concoction above.

https://youtu.be/GQ_ZSFF8row

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by jvelth74 » Mon Nov 15, 2021 12:17 pm

Thanks for sharing knowledge!

Seems like TSI 301 is 95% butanol. I really don't know, but I guess Acetone would work as thinner...But I really don't know how this NASA oil behaves with Acetone.

TSI's seems like worth of purchasing...

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by johnD » Tue Nov 16, 2021 6:06 am

I use TSI on bearings , it last for a very long time. Longer than the TG's rocket fuel I used before..Dawn at smooth drag ,sells small bottles.

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by adam lancia » Tue Nov 16, 2021 9:14 am

DrPerf wrote:
Mon Nov 15, 2021 9:16 am
adam lancia wrote:
Mon Nov 15, 2021 3:15 am
DrPerf wrote:
Sun Nov 14, 2021 12:51 pm
uljersey wrote:
Sun Nov 14, 2021 5:54 am
What, no love for Super Lube synthetic anymore ? That & TSI 321 oil been doing right by me for years now.
I think that I have a couple of tubes of Super Lube and a few ounces of TS 321 that you can have :lol:
What don't you like about the TSI 321...? I've been really happy with it.
TS 321 is a good spool bearing oil and I have a couple of reels that it is still used in. But I have found ZPI F-0 Extra Long Cast Oil to provide better performance, in most cases, based on testing.

Regards,
Doc
If you had to quantify the performance difference, what would it be?

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by HobeyBaker » Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:45 am

Some of you guys have gone down a rabbit hole with this stuff. Is there a law of diminishing returns on the grease and oil? How much better is some of this stuff than ZPI grease and HH oil? I clean my reels during the winter and apply new grease and oil. They seem to stay smooth and functional at the end of the season almost to the point where I debate cleaning them each winter.

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by DrPerf » Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:18 pm

HobeyBaker wrote:
Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:45 am
Some of you guys have gone down a rabbit hole with this stuff. Is there a law of diminishing returns on the grease and oil? How much better is some of this stuff than ZPI grease and HH oil? I clean my reels during the winter and apply new grease and oil. They seem to stay smooth and functional at the end of the season almost to the point where I debate cleaning them each winter.
Reels get my maintenance/tuning process on purchase and typically do not need another for at least 2-3 years, other than a drop of my preferred oil for spool bearings. Some reels are into to year 5 after that process. OBW, reels "in rotation" are used 2-5 times per month, year round.

When evaluating grease and oil selection, I tested each at my "casting park" where targets and distances are accurately measured. That allowed me to quantify, with some degree of accuracy, the improvement in casting performance/effort with each change in grease and oil.

If course, "smoothness" of retrieve was a integral part of the above test, as well as, a flick of the handle and resulting rotation.

The greases and oil that I have settled on have each provided improvements in measured casting performance and perceived "smoothness".

Regards,
Doc

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by HobeyBaker » Tue Nov 16, 2021 2:19 pm

DrPerf wrote:
Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:18 pm
HobeyBaker wrote:
Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:45 am
Some of you guys have gone down a rabbit hole with this stuff. Is there a law of diminishing returns on the grease and oil? How much better is some of this stuff than ZPI grease and HH oil? I clean my reels during the winter and apply new grease and oil. They seem to stay smooth and functional at the end of the season almost to the point where I debate cleaning them each winter.
Reels get my maintenance/tuning process on purchase and typically do not need another for at least 2-3 years, other than a drop of my preferred oil for spool bearings. Some reels are into to year 5 after that process. OBW, reels "in rotation" are used 2-5 times per month, year round.

When evaluating grease and oil selection, I tested each at my "casting park" where targets and distances are accurately measured. That allowed me to quantify, with some degree of accuracy, the improvement in casting performance/effort with each change in grease and oil.

If course, "smoothness" of retrieve was a integral part of the above test, as well as, a flick of the handle and resulting rotation.

The greases and oil that I have settled on have each provided improvements in measured casting performance and perceived "smoothness".

Regards,
Doc
Thanks. I’ll pick up some of the recommended grease and oil when I go through with what I have. I don’t doubt what you guys use after the reasoning and experience behind it.

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by tincanary » Tue Nov 16, 2021 3:17 pm

HobeyBaker wrote:
Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:45 am
Some of you guys have gone down a rabbit hole with this stuff. Is there a law of diminishing returns on the grease and oil? How much better is some of this stuff than ZPI grease and HH oil? I clean my reels during the winter and apply new grease and oil. They seem to stay smooth and functional at the end of the season almost to the point where I debate cleaning them each winter.
The cool thing about lubricants, you can really tailor your reel to how you want it to feel and ultimately fish. Some people like airy feeling reels, some like buttery smooth reels, and some in between. Experimenting with different lubricants can be fun if you're like myself and DrPerf. He and I have spent a lot of time finding what we prefer, but it does take a fair bit of experimentation.

Most of the stuff I use is off the shelf lubricants for marine, automotive, aerospace, and industrial use. Those lubricants tend to be cheap and highly effective. Some may turn their noses up at lower cost lubricants, but remember, these are lubricants used in harsh environments that don't quit under the stresses they were engineered for. A reel doesn't encounter the stresses these were designed for, and therefore it becomes a walk in the park. The truth of the matter, you can get many years supply of these lubricants for the price of a 15ml bottle of whatever Japanese voodoo oil is trendy at the moment.

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by LowRange » Wed Nov 17, 2021 11:23 am

I thought airy feeling just meant light. Airy is a feeling one can get when turning the handle.

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by tincanary » Wed Nov 17, 2021 12:46 pm

LowRange wrote:
Wed Nov 17, 2021 11:23 am
I thought airy feeling just meant light. Airy is a feeling one can get when turning the handle.
Exactly, and that feel can be changed according to the oil used in places like the pinion bearings and driveshaft bearing. For my own personal reels I like to use Royal Purple differential oil in 90W.

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by Hobie-Wan Kenobi » Wed Nov 17, 2021 6:32 pm

I applied some Duethlon grease/oil to my Conquest BFS (8.1 gear swap) and the grease feels nice. They have a "starter" kit that has gear grease, high speed oil, drag grease and, a semi-fluid grease (for worm gear, non-spool bearings and such). Seems to be a well put together kit. Comes with instructions and a decent layout.

I haven't put it to the test yet and I will be doing a full strip down of my Alphas AIR TW and using all 4 of the products on it. I didn't get to use the drag grease on the Conquest BFS because I put Carbonex dry drag washers in. The reel is also brand new so, I didn't want to strip the line to apply the Duethlon.
IG @hobie_wan_kenobi_fishing

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by tincanary » Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:47 pm

Hobie-Wan Kenobi wrote:
Wed Nov 17, 2021 6:32 pm
I didn't get to use the drag grease on the Conquest BFS because I put Carbonex dry drag washers in. The reel is also brand new so, I didn't want to strip the line to apply the Duethlon.
It's about time you broke down and got one. How do you like the 8.1 gears?

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by adam lancia » Thu Nov 18, 2021 4:22 am

tincanary wrote:
Tue Nov 16, 2021 3:17 pm
HobeyBaker wrote:
Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:45 am
Some of you guys have gone down a rabbit hole with this stuff. Is there a law of diminishing returns on the grease and oil? How much better is some of this stuff than ZPI grease and HH oil? I clean my reels during the winter and apply new grease and oil. They seem to stay smooth and functional at the end of the season almost to the point where I debate cleaning them each winter.
The cool thing about lubricants, you can really tailor your reel to how you want it to feel and ultimately fish. Some people like airy feeling reels, some like buttery smooth reels, and some in between. Experimenting with different lubricants can be fun if you're like myself and DrPerf. He and I have spent a lot of time finding what we prefer, but it does take a fair bit of experimentation.

Most of the stuff I use is off the shelf lubricants for marine, automotive, aerospace, and industrial use. Those lubricants tend to be cheap and highly effective. Some may turn their noses up at lower cost lubricants, but remember, these are lubricants used in harsh environments that don't quit under the stresses they were engineered for. A reel doesn't encounter the stresses these were designed for, and therefore it becomes a walk in the park. The truth of the matter, you can get many years supply of these lubricants for the price of a 15ml bottle of whatever Japanese voodoo oil is trendy at the moment.
I picked up some Super Lube synthetic and mixed it with 321 on a whim of making it thinner because it really slowed down in the cold (sub 10*C). While I do like how the gears feel now, I'm wondering if they're actually compatible or if I've just concocted a slimy grease or a greasy oil... Any input? I'm definitely out of my depth when it comes to understand technical oil and grease information.

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by tincanary » Thu Nov 18, 2021 5:03 am

adam lancia wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 4:22 am
I picked up some Super Lube synthetic and mixed it with 321 on a whim of making it thinner because it really slowed down in the cold (sub 10*C). While I do like how the gears feel now, I'm wondering if they're actually compatible or if I've just concocted a slimy grease or a greasy oil... Any input? I'm definitely out of my depth when it comes to understand technical oil and grease information.
Due to TSI being a thin film bonding lubricant, it doesn't mix with other lubricants, but displaces them. This is because TSI was not designed as a liquid wet oil lubricant. It was originally designed for application to hard drive platters. The tiny read/write heads hover over the platter on a cushion of air less than the thickness of a human hair, so out of necessity the platters must run dry. If you want to thin out Super Lube, use one of their PTFE based oils. Conversely, you can purchase their Engine Assembly Lube which is a much softer grease than the more common Super Lube PTFE grease.

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Re: Smoothest gear grease.

Post by iabass8 » Thu Nov 18, 2021 3:05 pm

DrPerf wrote:
Fri Nov 12, 2021 12:27 pm
Last year I had settled on ZPI F-0 Pro Grease Medium for all gears and ZPI F-0 Pro Grease Soft for sliding/moving metal parts/frame bearings/worm gear.

After some research, I now use Dupont Krytox GPL 225 for gears rather than ZPI Medium, which is a significant upgrade over an excellent grease.

The Dupont grease is a bit expensive, but a "little goes a long ways". I have used it on 40+ reels, using less than a quarter of a 2 oz. tube.

Regards,
Doc
I bought some krytox 225 to try this year. Just finished up one reel, Morethan petw. I appreciate your suggestion. This stuff feels incredible…..Good find.

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