Oiling Reels

[Maximum12]

I have several reels, a few for several years, that I've never oiled. I'm severely challenged when it comes to taking apart (OK that part's easy) & putting back together small mechanical devices, plus I have no idea what to oil. I take good care of the rest of my stuff, but fear taking apart my reels. They're good open-faced Shimano spinning reels.

Anyone have any general advice for how an one-who-thinks-I-am-silly can oil a reel & get the thing back together?

[FISHER ED]

Max, I was in the reel repair business for years and we used very little oil, mostly reel grease or petro jelly (vaseline). If you are looking at an open face (spinning) reel, remove the handle and then remove the screws from the side plate. Lift the side plate and you'll expose the gears. If you don't want to go all the way into it just put a little grease on the gear teeth and spin the grease in. You can use a little reel oil on the bearings but that's probably as far as I'd go with the oil myself. Just don't use too much grease, just enough to coat the gear teeth good. After you do this once you'll see that it's no big deal and you can do it every season to keep your reel running smooth for years. Good luck.

[Maximum12]

Thanks Fisher Ed, I'll give that a shot. It doesn't sound so bad!

[mrkastni]

Fisher Ed, I have a reel question for you... On the ice this year I mis-tied a lure and didn't go through the bail on my spinning reel. For some reason taking the screw out of the side of the bail to slip the line through seemed like a better idea than re-tying. (brilliant) Anyway, upon removal of the side of the bail, I heard a click of the bail spring and as you may have guessed, it doesn't spring back into place to pick up the line, nor does it hold the line to reel up. Any way a normal guy can re-assemble this critter, or do I chalk it up to experience. It is a relatively inexpensive "ice bonz" reel but would still like to recover it if possible.

Thanks for any advice in this repair. I have until next ice down here in IA to figure it out...

Mike

[cartfan]

Is it ok to use WD-40?

[FISHER ED]

We would always use a manufacturers reel oil because it was heavier than WD40. We applied it from the inside so it was no big deal. If you are just giving it a quick lube from the outside WD shouldn't hurt the bearings. Just don't drown it because you don't want the grease that is on the gears getting too thin.

[FISHER ED]

Mike, did the bail spring break or did "tit" on the end of the spring leg just pop out of it's hole in the bail arm? Take the bail wire off by unscrewing the roller screw. Doing this will decrease any chance of bending the bail wire. I've fixed a lot of reels that won't spring back just because the bail was bent. Once that is unscrewed, take the bail arm off. If your spring isn't broken you're half way there. You should see a hole in the lower corner of the reel housing and a hole in the bail wire arm. Put the spring "tit" in the reel housing hole and then hold the bail arm at an offset angle and put the other end of the spring in it's hole. Compress the spring a little by twisting the bail arm and line it up with the screw hole. If it has spring tension, screw the bail back on. The bail should line up perfectly with the roller screw hole. If not, it's bent. Just put gentle pressure in the direction it needs to move and use some trial and error.

Sorry for the long post but it's much easier to do than explain. If you are having problems or your spring is broken, e-mail me at [email protected] and we can go from there.

Ed

[mrkastni]

Sounds great! I think I will be able to accomplish that. In fact, I bet it is a lot like the reverse of what I did. Basically re-seating the spring is what I need to do. I didn't put any pressure on anything when I took it apart, so I am hopeful that the spring did not break.

I will try it tonight when I get home and get back to you. Thanks a ton for the info!

Mike