Caring for reels

[hogesTS]

Hi all,
Well i took my new gear out today for the first time to the reefs around Prince of Wales Is., no hits at all but was good to get it in the water. So now i am wondering what is recommended to do to keep your reel and other gear in good order, is just rinsing with the hose good enough? Should they be cleaned more thoroughly ever month or so?
cheers

Jeff

[bignick]

I just had my 2 X 6/0 Penn Senators serviced. 1 is about 15 years old and it needed 2 drag washers and the other is about 13 years old and needed absolutely nothing. I have never put a spanner to either of these reels in the time I've had them (I bought them both new). All I have ever done is give them a good hose off when I get home from fishing. Of course I have always tried to keep great volumes of salt water off them and always allowed them to dry out before putting them up in the rod racks up off the ground to try and keep as much dirt and dust away from them as possible. Neither of these reels has ever let me down and the only changes I have made is fitting 9/0 Diawa Sealine handles to both to make them easier to wind up from the depths. And both these reels have had a fair flogging over the years. The best advice to help you keep your gear in tip top shape is very simple: DON'T LEND IT OUT TO YOUR MATES!!!

Cheers,
NICK.

[Volvo]

First off, like bignik sez, DONT LEND IT TO YOU MATES....
Mate hose it off as soon as you get home and leave to dry..For me its a take apart and a spray/oil up every third trip the reel gets used.. Dont know if thats quite neccasary but have developed the habit and hard ta break , not that i want to:)..
All my reels are near in original condition as when first bought and have some over twenty six years now that still look like they is out of the box and they do get a fair usage.
Ide say best thing for you would be to get the schematic of your reel and into a copier and enlage it to the point where you can read to numbers etc with ease along with order of dismantling if the schematic is good enough to do so otherwise it will be trial and error of pullingit down in a sequence of laying all the parts down in order and not taking off fer lunch or a quickie halfeway through the process otherwise your moggie or whoever just may rearrange em fer ya ;D, leaving you scrachin the noggin and hollerin fer help.
Feck!! that sentence ended up a mouthfull!! :-[..
Wash n clean your parts down in white spirits or whatever and re oil or greese wherever neccassary n back together again..Wont look backwards if you get into some routine with your reels ey and they wont let you down..
For those thatown a Charter Special!!, there's a bearing in thewinding gear mechanism which will fail due to the wee hole just below the winding mechanism to allow water to drain or whatever its reason fer bein there. Trouble is it alsoallows water in and bearing bein sealed one end and exposed the other allows water into the bearings!!! ..
Best bi tof advice with this real would be to pull apart and press some greese into the reel to ward off water/moisture or just go along and buy a sealed bearing and soke it in oil fer a few hours prior to fitting.
Did so myself and havent looked back...Two mates own the same reel , same thing happened and we did the same thing with all..
Cheers

[DAVE_S]

they also say to back off the drag to take the pressure of the washers and they do not stick together while not being used

[hogesTS]

some good advice there, thanks guys. not sure about the schematics for my reel, ill have a search around the net and see what i can find. And dont worry, i dont plan on letting any of my mates get there mits on my gear, they all have better stuff then me anyway ::)

[onerabbit]

Just bought a new outfit for floating big livies at sea, sealine 900 +37kg stick, used it once & was surprised at some of the 'dry' noises it made.
Had the reel serviced & is now nice & quiet, best to be aware that the manufacturers often only put 'just enough' grease in a new reel & that many new reels should be serviced before use.
All of my reels are serviced after every 6 trips or so.

Muzz

[grayson]

Good advice all-round and I agree that probably the best bit is "Don't lend your gear to mates or anyone else unless you know they are paranoid about looking after the gear".

I have reels going back 20 years and they are all in greta cond. My surf reels look a little attered and battered but they are as smooth and reliable a the day I bougt them. Ageer each trip the minimum I do si to fill a lrage tub with water and add a tiny (like 1/3 capfull in 15ltrs) of carwash. I use a soft carwash brush and dip it in the car wah solution and use it to thoruoghly wash the reels down. I then rinse them of with fresh water in spray form and low pressuer from the hose. I leave the darg done up while I do all this, the back it off and place the reels on a towel in the shed to dry. When dry I spray then with INOX and put them in their cotton reel bags and stash them in the drawer.

I regluarly strip my surf reels (maybe every 3rd/4th trip) but this is because they cop a worse battering than my other gear and also they are easy to strip clean and re-assemble yourself being egg beaters.

Most of my other reels are stripped and checked by me every 1-3 years depending on use and a couple I get done by a pro because theye are a little complex for me just now (but I am working on it)

[jimbolikes_barra]

yeah mate ,

just hose ur reel off with the hose when u get home but beware DONT HOSE OFF WITH HIGH PRESSURE because it can drive salt water in deeper to the reel just a soft mist ;)

[Shafty]

Everything that has been said is spot on. Can't over emphasise drag on when washing down (keeps water and salt out) and drag off when storing (prevents compressed drag washers)!
Shafty

[beefaman]

I also give my reels a spray with Inox every couple of trips ;)