Changing out bearings

Bubba_Bruiser · 01-31-10, 04:03 AM

I was surfing youtube and came across some of the videos pertaining to bearing change out on reels. Do any of you guys do this? One video had a reel free spooling for a minute and half, if not longer. Now I know unless gravity takes a turn for the worse, you can not hum a crankbait for a minute and a half. But talk about covering some water, nevermind, day dreaming. But if a spool can turn that long smoothly, can it really boost your casting distance. I was talking to Canal the other day, and like I said, how smooth can a smooth reel be?

BigBassin144 · 01-31-10, 11:04 AM

Bubba, Changing bearing to a better quality bearing does help. But it can get costly if you use good bearings. One of the better bearings on the market and used by a lot of the guys over at the Tackle Tour Forum to replace their stock bearings are the Boca Bearings Orange Seal Hybrid Ceramic bearings. they run about 15 bucks a piece or 4 for $55.

But before you go out and buy new bearings, know this: almost every reel you buy will have bearing that are packed with grease. A good test is to take a bearing out of the reel and put in on the end of a pencil. Then you can spin it to "test" it. It should spin very freely. Cleaing the grease out of bearings and replacing it with a good oil will greatly improve performance.

I use zippo lighter fluid to clean my bearings. I use a little jar and place the bearing in it and swirl it around in the lighter fluid. This will disolve any lubricants in the bearing. Take it out, get the excess fuild out (I tap it off on a paper towel). Then let it COMPLETELY dry. Once it's dry, I add a drop of Quantum Hot Sauce.

While hot sauce isn't technically a bearing oil, it works. Specific bearing oils have a much lower viscosity than other like Hot Sauce, but then your bearing need reoiling two to three times per season. A lot of high end reels some with a small bottle of low viscosity bearing oil. My dad's Zillion did, and so did my SKT Revo.

Anyways, after applies the Hot Sauce (or bearing oil) put the bearing back on the pencil and spin it again. You should notice a BIG improvement. I've done this to 3 reels already this winter, and the WORST bearings I've seen were in my dad's Rick Clunn baitcaster. The bearings in my Johnny Morris signature were better than the RC, but still worse than my $80 Daiwa Procaster.

The two bearings you should do this to are the two that support the spool. One is on the inside of the sideplate held in by a little C-clip (watch it, these things love to fly off to places you will never find them). And the other is on the spool shaft behind the little retainer pin. Now, that pin is a PIA to get out, and if you mar it up or scratch the spool shaft, you're screwed and need to buy a new spool. So far, I haven't done any of the bearings on the spool shafts since I can't get them out. This looks promising, but I think it only works with certain Daiwa spools. I'm going to PM the guy and ask if it will work with other brands, and if so, how much does it costs. Cause I want one, lol.

BB

WTL · 01-31-10, 02:27 PM

BB said almost everything I know about this subject, but one thing to add; I have heard rumors (unconfirmed) that zippo fluid could hurt some bearings. I read Garcia bearings. That said, I have used BBQ lighter fluid on Garcia bearings and it worked seemingly fine, so maybe it was a wives tale.

Jrob78 · 01-31-10, 02:37 PM

I do pretty much exactly what BB said too. I do it on brand new reels, you would be amazed at the grease packed in those bearings. I am hesitant to use Hot Sauce though, I've heard bad things and heard that it can void warranties. I like Ardent bearing butter. Either way though, use a good reel oil and you will be good to go. Try giving your bearings a good flush and re-lube before you drop the cash for Boca's.

BigBassin144 · 01-31-10, 06:29 PM

I'm sure if you're soaking your bearing in lighter fluid or acetone will probably void the warranty as well. And if hot sauce is good enough for those guys over at TT and their $500 Steez reels, $300-600 JDM reel, it's good enough for me, lol.

I forgot to mention in my first post that a lot of the guys on TT use acetone for cleaning.

BB

WTL · 01-31-10, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigBassin144

I'm sure if you're soaking your bearing in lighter fluid or acetone will probably void the warranty as well.

I forgot to mention in my first post that a lot of the guys on TT use acetone for cleaning.

BB

No doubt it would, I regarded grilling lighter fluid as being almost the same as the zippo fluid...and I suppose I was doing my best to illustrate that maybe the talk about like substances damaging bearings was not totally accurate at least in my experience.

I probably could have written that original post better.

I think the same source that I read that talked about the possibility of bearings being hurt by some of the harsh, flammable liquids recommended the cleaning product simple green.

nofearengineer · 01-31-10, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTL

I think the same source that I read that talked about the possibility of bearings being hurt by some of the harsh, flammable liquids recommended the cleaning product simple green.

Oh well...there is the rat I smelled.

WTL. I can think of no petroleum product that would hurt any type of steel within a couple hundred degrees of room temperature.

You have been misled by some treehugger looking to make a buck.

WTL · 01-31-10, 06:41 PM

Again, the claim was in certain abu bearings the race on the inside was not steel.

Let me try and find the article so its not me on the line here, I was agreeing that I didnt quite buy it....

Edit; I couldnt find the article. Hopefully someone else has heard of this being debunked, I don't want to contribute in anyway to misinformation getting out there but I did once read that and paid special attention cause it surprised me too.

Kevin · 01-31-10, 06:52 PM

I'm fairly certain any third-party oil placed in your bearings probably voids the warranty. Problem is, with clear oils they can't tell you did anything. With Hot Sauce being red, they can prove you voided your warranty.

I've heard people over and over claim that Hot Sauce is far inferior to other brands. Who knows. I've been using Hot Sauce for years now with great success, and I had been using a smattering of various "top" oils in the past before and notice no difference. If anything, my reels are smoother with Hot Sauce.

I actually believe the oil is the least important part of making a bearing smooth. It's all about keeping it debris-free. If you're just swishing a bearing in lighter fluid or acetone and then putting in the very best bearing oil after it dries, then I'm fairly confident I could have gotten better performance out of the same bearing by using my super secret ultra-sonic cleaning machine and applying low-grade oil. I'll take a good clean over good oil any day.

Jrob78 · 01-31-10, 07:43 PM

Quote:

've heard people over and over claim that Hot Sauce is far inferior to other brands. Who knows. I've been using Hot Sauce for years now with great success, and I had been using a smattering of various "top" oils in the past before and notice no difference. If anything, my reels are smoother with Hot Sauce.

I'm pretty certain that if Hot Sauce was a bad product people wouldn't use it. I certainly wasn't trying to say that it is an inferior oil. My only concern with using it would be the part about it voiding the warranty of your reel should something happen.

nofearengineer · 01-31-10, 08:40 PM

Hey WTL...I did a bit more research, and came up with the following. Simple Green is a degreaser...which means it has a surfactant in it (soap, in layman's terms). Any soap is going to leave a residue, and thus attract moisture, which will inevitably corrode any bearing material.

A true solvent like acetone leaves no residue other than any impurities.

I even heard that the USAF had banned any use of Simple Green in their operations because of its tendency to cause corrosion on aluminum. I can't confirm this, but man, if it's true....

Bubba_Bruiser · 02-01-10, 12:42 AM

Thanks for the responses fellas. I am going to study up on this a little more and get back with you. BB, I was looking at the Bocas for the change out.

muddy · 02-01-10, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigBassin144

I'm sure if you're soaking your bearing in lighter fluid or acetone will probably void the warranty as well. And if hot sauce is good enough for those guys over at TT and their $500 Steez reels, $300-600 JDM reel, it's good enough for me, lol.

I forgot to mention in my first post that a lot of the guys on TT use acetone for cleaning.

BB

I do not do my own reels, I send them to Kevin at Pro Reel or a buddy of mine. I also do not own any high end reels, just because the Sacred Tackle Tour guys use Hot Sauce, does not make it correct. If I am reading the Steez manual correctly , that would void it's warranty. I can not argue if it is good or not, I do not have the expertise or experience but i can read and you fellas should check your warranties before proceeding on your own, I am reading this fropm a post on another forum, since I am no expert i just emailed Kevin, at pro reel to check the validity of the cancelled warranty. You can't go by everything you read these days

muddy · 02-01-10, 09:17 AM

Nevermind: Just got this from Pro Reel:

Reel warranty Does Not Cover
Daiwa products that are purchased from non-approved Daiwa stockists
Daiwa products that are purchased from overseas
damage of malfunctions caused by the owners negligence, lack of maintenance, accident or abuse
normal expected wear
products that have been subjected to unauthorized alterations or modifications
products that have been serviced/modified by non-authorized Daiwa service technicians

bottom line, no authorized Daiwa tech would use hotsauce so warranty is void, and even then hotsauce changes everything to red so I would say that has been modified. This is why I tell customers to wait until there reel is one year old before getting super tunes, if it needs cleaned during the first year it should be done with stock lubes

BigBassin144 · 02-01-10, 09:38 AM

I figured any of the JDM reels shipped to the US would have no warranties here anyways.

I also assumed that some of the mods these guys do voids teh warranties, but what does "unauthorized alterations or modifications" I would've thought that 3rd party mods would void the warranty, but not any Daiwa brand stuff. But this sounds like any mods done by the owner of the reels. Interesting.

BB

muddy · 02-01-10, 10:41 AM

Hey BB: Pro Reel, said some of this is ambiguos. It may depend on who at Daiwa is reading it, Shimano has similar language. I do not play with all this high end stuff, and it would not be right for me to offer anything in the way of my interpataion as it would just be coming out of my you know where!
I was first made aware of this with a Pflueger Trion I had, less than 6 weeks old and a friend ( NOT PRO REEL) took all the stock grease out with acetone, and then used hot sauce. Then the reel started sticking and the Pflueger service sent me a note , that said they fixed it, but next time they saw the hot sauce red dye, they would not honor the warranty, I have no idea why.

Jrob78 · 02-01-10, 10:50 AM

Does anyone know if Quantum even uses Hot Sauce in their reels from the factory? I've never owned a Quantum reel, I would be very curious if it came new with red oil in it.

jooleyen · 02-01-10, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jrob78

Does anyone know if Quantum even uses Hot Sauce in their reels from the factory? I've never owned a Quantum reel, I would be very curious if it came new with red oil in it.

Yes, they sure do.

Jrob78 · 02-01-10, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Yes, they sure do.

Good to know.

BrownHL · 02-02-10, 01:31 PM

All may find this informative on oiling bearings.
http://tackletog.com/superttuning/20...pool-bearings/

Rebbasser · 02-03-10, 01:20 AM

What BB said and ditto on using Hot Sauce. Been using it for years and never a problem.

First thing I do when I get a new reel is clean and re-oil the bearings.

nova385 · 02-03-10, 01:53 PM

Anyone use this http://www.triflowlubricants.com/ ? I have uesd this in bearings for years.

BigBassin144 · 02-03-10, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rebbasser

What BB said and ditto on using Hot Sauce. Been using it for years and never a problem.

First thing I do when I get a new reel is clean and re-oil the bearings.

Reb, how do you go about getting the pin in the spool shaft out w/o damaging anything?

BB

rrw4258 · 02-03-10, 05:15 PM

I have been using Hot Sauce since day one on all of my reels, oil and grease. I have recently tried the Aredent Reel Butter Products (Grease, Oil, and Bearing Lube) and hated them. Went back to my Hot Sauce and performance was much better. At least in my mind it was.

Like Kevin said a good clean bearing will help even a new reel perform so much better. I love cleaning reels for my buddies who do not clean them but once a year. They use mine, and they say "holy crap, this fishes like brand new". I clean mine at least once per month. My reels are fished hard, almost every day during fishing season.

Ryan

muddy · 02-03-10, 08:18 PM

My reels are fished hard also,usually 100 long days a year, I get em cleaned at the end of every season, i keep em somewhat clean and oiled during the season, and I am good to go. I am not a technican and i have not a clue whats the best for what, I do know it is very good to have a new reel stripped down and lubed properly whan you buy it and I know to be careful what you use if you are a do it your selfer because it can and will void warranties.

01-31-10, 04:03 AM	#1
Bubba_Bruiser BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: South MS Posts: 3,659	Changing out bearings I was surfing youtube and came across some of the videos pertaining to bearing change out on reels. Do any of you guys do this? One video had a reel free spooling for a minute and half, if not longer. Now I know unless gravity takes a turn for the worse, you can not hum a crankbait for a minute and a half. But talk about covering some water, nevermind, day dreaming. But if a spool can turn that long smoothly, can it really boost your casting distance. I was talking to Canal the other day, and like I said, how smooth can a smooth reel be? __________________ \,,,,/ ROCK ON! HRN4L!

01-31-10, 11:04 AM	#2
BigBassin144 BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 9,463	Bubba, Changing bearing to a better quality bearing does help. But it can get costly if you use good bearings. One of the better bearings on the market and used by a lot of the guys over at the Tackle Tour Forum to replace their stock bearings are the Boca Bearings Orange Seal Hybrid Ceramic bearings. they run about 15 bucks a piece or 4 for $55. But before you go out and buy new bearings, know this: almost every reel you buy will have bearing that are packed with grease. A good test is to take a bearing out of the reel and put in on the end of a pencil. Then you can spin it to "test" it. It should spin very freely. Cleaing the grease out of bearings and replacing it with a good oil will greatly improve performance. I use zippo lighter fluid to clean my bearings. I use a little jar and place the bearing in it and swirl it around in the lighter fluid. This will disolve any lubricants in the bearing. Take it out, get the excess fuild out (I tap it off on a paper towel). Then let it COMPLETELY dry. Once it's dry, I add a drop of Quantum Hot Sauce. While hot sauce isn't technically a bearing oil, it works. Specific bearing oils have a much lower viscosity than other like Hot Sauce, but then your bearing need reoiling two to three times per season. A lot of high end reels some with a small bottle of low viscosity bearing oil. My dad's Zillion did, and so did my SKT Revo. Anyways, after applies the Hot Sauce (or bearing oil) put the bearing back on the pencil and spin it again. You should notice a BIG improvement. I've done this to 3 reels already this winter, and the WORST bearings I've seen were in my dad's Rick Clunn baitcaster. The bearings in my Johnny Morris signature were better than the RC, but still worse than my $80 Daiwa Procaster. The two bearings you should do this to are the two that support the spool. One is on the inside of the sideplate held in by a little C-clip (watch it, these things love to fly off to places you will never find them). And the other is on the spool shaft behind the little retainer pin. Now, that pin is a PIA to get out, and if you mar it up or scratch the spool shaft, you're screwed and need to buy a new spool. So far, I haven't done any of the bearings on the spool shafts since I can't get them out. This looks promising, but I think it only works with certain Daiwa spools. I'm going to PM the guy and ask if it will work with other brands, and if so, how much does it costs. Cause I want one, lol. BB __________________ As of June 14, 2014 the members of the BF.com forum have moved to basschat.yuku.com! Last edited by BigBassin144; 01-31-10 at 11:57 AM. Reason: Forgot to add links.

01-31-10, 06:29 PM	#5
BigBassin144 BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 9,463	I'm sure if you're soaking your bearing in lighter fluid or acetone will probably void the warranty as well. And if hot sauce is good enough for those guys over at TT and their $500 Steez reels, $300-600 JDM reel, it's good enough for me, lol. I forgot to mention in my first post that a lot of the guys on TT use acetone for cleaning. BB __________________ As of June 14, 2014 the members of the BF.com forum have moved to basschat.yuku.com!

01-31-10, 06:41 PM	#8
WTL BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Huntsville, Al Posts: 7,466	Again, the claim was in certain abu bearings the race on the inside was not steel. Let me try and find the article so its not me on the line here, I was agreeing that I didnt quite buy it.... Edit; I couldnt find the article. Hopefully someone else has heard of this being debunked, I don't want to contribute in anyway to misinformation getting out there but I did once read that and paid special attention cause it surprised me too. Last edited by WTL; 01-31-10 at 06:49 PM.

01-31-10, 08:40 PM	#11
nofearengineer BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southwest IN Posts: 5,630	Hey WTL...I did a bit more research, and came up with the following. Simple Green is a degreaser...which means it has a surfactant in it (soap, in layman's terms). Any soap is going to leave a residue, and thus attract moisture, which will inevitably corrode any bearing material. A true solvent like acetone leaves no residue other than any impurities. I even heard that the USAF had banned any use of Simple Green in their operations because of its tendency to cause corrosion on aluminum. I can't confirm this, but man, if it's true.... __________________ Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.

01-31-10, 02:27 PM	#3
WTL BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Huntsville, Al Posts: 7,466	BB said almost everything I know about this subject, but one thing to add; I have heard rumors (unconfirmed) that zippo fluid could hurt some bearings. I read Garcia bearings. That said, I have used BBQ lighter fluid on Garcia bearings and it worked seemingly fine, so maybe it was a wives tale.

01-31-10, 02:37 PM	#4
Jrob78 BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 4,671	I do pretty much exactly what BB said too. I do it on brand new reels, you would be amazed at the grease packed in those bearings. I am hesitant to use Hot Sauce though, I've heard bad things and heard that it can void warranties. I like Ardent bearing butter. Either way though, use a good reel oil and you will be good to go. Try giving your bearings a good flush and re-lube before you drop the cash for Boca's.

01-31-10, 06:52 PM	#9
Kevin Administrator Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 651	I'm fairly certain any third-party oil placed in your bearings probably voids the warranty. Problem is, with clear oils they can't tell you did anything. With Hot Sauce being red, they can prove you voided your warranty. I've heard people over and over claim that Hot Sauce is far inferior to other brands. Who knows. I've been using Hot Sauce for years now with great success, and I had been using a smattering of various "top" oils in the past before and notice no difference. If anything, my reels are smoother with Hot Sauce. I actually believe the oil is the least important part of making a bearing smooth. It's all about keeping it debris-free. If you're just swishing a bearing in lighter fluid or acetone and then putting in the very best bearing oil after it dries, then I'm fairly confident I could have gotten better performance out of the same bearing by using my super secret ultra-sonic cleaning machine and applying low-grade oil. I'll take a good clean over good oil any day.

02-01-10, 12:42 AM	#12
Bubba_Bruiser BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: South MS Posts: 3,659	Thanks for the responses fellas. I am going to study up on this a little more and get back with you. BB, I was looking at the Bocas for the change out. __________________ \,,,,/ ROCK ON! HRN4L!

02-01-10, 09:17 AM	#14
muddy BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 350	Nevermind: Just got this from Pro Reel: Reel warranty Does Not Cover Daiwa products that are purchased from non-approved Daiwa stockists Daiwa products that are purchased from overseas damage of malfunctions caused by the owners negligence, lack of maintenance, accident or abuse normal expected wear products that have been subjected to unauthorized alterations or modifications products that have been serviced/modified by non-authorized Daiwa service technicians bottom line, no authorized Daiwa tech would use hotsauce so warranty is void, and even then hotsauce changes everything to red so I would say that has been modified. This is why I tell customers to wait until there reel is one year old before getting super tunes, if it needs cleaned during the first year it should be done with stock lubes Last edited by muddy; 02-01-10 at 09:25 AM.

02-01-10, 09:38 AM	#15
BigBassin144 BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 9,463	I figured any of the JDM reels shipped to the US would have no warranties here anyways. I also assumed that some of the mods these guys do voids teh warranties, but what does "unauthorized alterations or modifications" I would've thought that 3rd party mods would void the warranty, but not any Daiwa brand stuff. But this sounds like any mods done by the owner of the reels. Interesting. BB __________________ As of June 14, 2014 the members of the BF.com forum have moved to basschat.yuku.com!

02-01-10, 10:41 AM	#16
muddy BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 350	Hey BB: Pro Reel, said some of this is ambiguos. It may depend on who at Daiwa is reading it, Shimano has similar language. I do not play with all this high end stuff, and it would not be right for me to offer anything in the way of my interpataion as it would just be coming out of my you know where! I was first made aware of this with a Pflueger Trion I had, less than 6 weeks old and a friend ( NOT PRO REEL) took all the stock grease out with acetone, and then used hot sauce. Then the reel started sticking and the Pflueger service sent me a note , that said they fixed it, but next time they saw the hot sauce red dye, they would not honor the warranty, I have no idea why.

02-01-10, 10:50 AM	#17
Jrob78 BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 4,671	Does anyone know if Quantum even uses Hot Sauce in their reels from the factory? I've never owned a Quantum reel, I would be very curious if it came new with red oil in it.

02-02-10, 01:31 PM	#20
BrownHL BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 64	All may find this informative on oiling bearings. http://tackletog.com/superttuning/20...pool-bearings/

02-03-10, 01:20 AM	#21
Rebbasser BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 10,142	What BB said and ditto on using Hot Sauce. Been using it for years and never a problem. First thing I do when I get a new reel is clean and re-oil the bearings. __________________ It's happened to the best of them: John 21:3

02-03-10, 01:53 PM	#22
nova385 BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: MID MI. Posts: 140	Anyone use this http://www.triflowlubricants.com/ ? I have uesd this in bearings for years.

02-03-10, 05:15 PM	#24
rrw4258 BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Bellevue, Ohio Posts: 2,338	I have been using Hot Sauce since day one on all of my reels, oil and grease. I have recently tried the Aredent Reel Butter Products (Grease, Oil, and Bearing Lube) and hated them. Went back to my Hot Sauce and performance was much better. At least in my mind it was. Like Kevin said a good clean bearing will help even a new reel perform so much better. I love cleaning reels for my buddies who do not clean them but once a year. They use mine, and they say "holy crap, this fishes like brand new". I clean mine at least once per month. My reels are fished hard, almost every day during fishing season. Ryan __________________ Never Give Up!

02-03-10, 08:18 PM	#25
muddy BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 350	My reels are fished hard also,usually 100 long days a year, I get em cleaned at the end of every season, i keep em somewhat clean and oiled during the season, and I am good to go. I am not a technican and i have not a clue whats the best for what, I do know it is very good to have a new reel stripped down and lubed properly whan you buy it and I know to be careful what you use if you are a do it your selfer because it can and will void warranties.

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