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Reel annual maintenance ***Post updated, Article Posted***


Slyster

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I use a variety of shimano spinning reels.. I haven't really done a thing to them besides new line since I bought them 3 years ago.. they've been great so far!

Is there any particular maintenance to be done on these things besides new line each spring?

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depends on how much you want to get into it sly... You can bring it to a reel cleaner dude.. and it usually costs about $15.. or you can send it into shimano. and they will do it.. I think around the same price.. OR.. get the scematics and do it yourself.. a little oil here and little greese there.. and get all the parts back to where they should be.

I do my cheeper reels myself.. I send in the pricy ones...go ahead.. call me a chicken

if you do it yourslef... oil berrings.. grease gears.

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i do my own,but mine are all symetres, or penn.dead bolts. they are easy. if you take them apart; as you take each pc. off, place it on a clean sheet of something, and keep them in the order that they came off.( having the diagram is a good idea )you will probably see dark gunk on gears and the shafts. clean this off . a good rule of thumb for lubricating is, if it spins fast use a oil.( hot sauce is a good one) for on the gears and shafts i use a light coating of grease.( i use a white lithium )put things back together . you should be good to go. if you are not comfortable doing this, just a drop of oil will help til they act up. then take them to some one that services reels. del

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Thanks! Just starting to get that bug... the one where you feel like going through all your stuff and organizing and getting things ready... only like 2 months and we could be out on the open water again for crappies!

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that's fine as long as you keep the ice up there, and we get the open water here in iowa! grin.gif

i agree that one probably doesn't HAVE to clean and lub. your reels every year. it is just something i do in the winter.that way i know they are ready to go come spring. smile.gif

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I think April 15-20 or so was my first time out last year.. and WBL was wide open. Certainly could be later! I WILL be seeing some open water myself though.. going on a caribbean cruise / diving trip soon with the wife and kiddies! smile.gif LOTS of open water. No fishing though.

Ice out chart. (WBL average April 11 but as late as MAY 4!!)

http://climate.umn.edu/doc/ice_out/ice_out_historical.htm

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Quote:

There is a good article written by agape (wayne ek) about what he does every year with his rods and reels in the down time of the season. i will see if i can find it and post it. ike


Ike- I beat you to it.. ha ha ha.... helps that Wayners is a good bud of mine.

Here is that article folks.. a very good read!!!!

SPRING CLEANING FOR 2006 By Wayne Ek

Sometime around the middle of February, I start to think about the need to clean-up and repair the assortment of rods and reels that I will need to use throughout the upcoming season. And then some time in March, I finally get around to it. Each year I check and clean upwards of 25 rods and reels. To make this a little faster and somewhat enjoyable, I’ve developed a system that works for me.

As I live and guide in Alexandria, Minnesota where the winters get quite cold, I’ve learned to move everything from the garage to the house, to allow the equipment time to warm up. It is never good to work on cold equipment, as it’s hard on the equipment and your hands. Once everything is defrosted, I remove all the reels from the rods and strip the line from all of the reels. I make no attempt to save any of the monofilament or fluorocarbon line. Throughout the season you should change your monofilament and fluorocarbon lines at least once, because for the most part, old line is bad line. However, if you are fishing a braided line and don’t spend everyday on the water, you can use that line two years running. I would suggest spooling the braid onto a spare spool and get 2 years out of it. I’ve been fishing mainly Sufix brand lines and have had great success with them.

Let’s start with the rods. Before I start cleaning any of the rods I go over them from butt section to tip. I’m looking for loose guides, damaged guides, frayed wrappings, wear marks or chips on the blank, stripped or damaged reel seats and any damage to the cork handles. To clean my rods I use Mr. Clean and Scotch-Brite Dobie cleaning pads. This combination removes all those wonderful things that accumulate on the butt sections, but does not scratch the blank. I use the same cleaner with a toothbrush around the guides and reel seat. After I’ve rinsed the rods off, I let them stand and dry. If pressed for time I have used a fan to speed up the drying process. Once the rods are dry I do any of the repairs that I feel comfortable performing. For the most part this is dealing with frayed wrapping and damage to the cork handle.

These are two rather easy fixes. I have rod-building epoxy that I purchased at a local tackle shop. You can probably purchase the same thing out of any of the major fishing catalogs. I coat the frayed wrapping with the epoxy; then lay the rod on a cardboard shoebox, with notches cut in both ends. This allows you to turn the rod a couple of rotations as the epoxy dries and any epoxy that does drip lands in the bottom of the box. For repairing damaged cork I just shave cork off an old butt section that I keep for just such repairs. Once I have the right amount of cork to fix the hole or crack, I chop it into finer pieces and mix it with Gorilla wood glue, then fill the hole. I’ve been doing this for some time now and it works great.

I’m going to toss in a shameless plug here for Rod Wrap. I am not on the field staff for this product, but started using it two years ago, after one of my clients sent a rod and reel sailing overboard while casting. Using Rod Wrap has eliminated the problems created by wet slippery cork handles. As an added benefit I feel it does wonders for protecting the cork sections of a rod from normal wear and tear. I had concerns that the cushioning nature of the Rod Wrap might affect the sensitivity of the rod. This has not proven to be a problem, and I’ve noticed no difference in the rod’s sensitivity.

All of my reels are Quantum reels. Because these top-of–the-line reels are manufactured to such exacting standards, I have had no mechanical problems with any of them. And because of those high standards and the introduction of Quantum Hot Sauce, I feel its unnessaccary to open them up every year to clean and re-grease them. I have a number of Quantum Kinetics reels that have been used hard everyday on my guide trips for the past 4 years. During that time not one of these reels have given me any type of problem. Nor have I taken them completely apart to be cleaned and lubricated. Again, I go over each reel looking for any damage that may have occurred during the past season, usually from bouncing in a rod locker or being stepped on. If I find something I cannot correct I will send it into the manufacturer’s warranty center, even if it’s out of warranty. All of the major reel manufacturers have web sites that will show you where to send a reel.

On spinning reels I remove the spools and clean them separately with dish soap and hot water. A hard bristled toothbrush is very handy for this and works magic. Once cleaned, remember to check the lip of each spool for nicks, burrs or damage. For the reel body I use the same dish soap and toothbrush on the outside of the body. For the hard to get at places on the reels I use a Q-tip, which works great in the tight spots. If you over-lubricated your reels last season you could end up with a stubborn film of grease on the body. I have had good results cleaning this problem area with a soft rag that has been sprayed with Gun Scrub.

With the bait-casters I clean the whole body of the reel with the same dish soap solution and toothbrush; paying particular attention to the worm shaft, line guide carrier and area of line guide pawl. On a bait-caster I will remove the palm side cover assembly and spool. This makes it easier to clean the spool, spool shaft and reel housing. A Q-tip comes in handy in cleaning some of the interior areas of the spool and gear side cover assembly.

Once the reels are cleaned and dried completely I will lubricate each reel with oil and grease at the points the manufacturer suggests. The only lubricant I use now is Quantum Hot Sauce, which comes in both reel grease and reel oil. This lubricant has unique qualities not found in other reel oils and has worked better than anything else I’ve used. When using Hot Sauce you need to use it very, very sparingly, a little bit go’s a long way.

You can reach Wayne Ek at Agape Fishing Guides, www.agapefishingguides.com or [email protected].

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