Upgrading Bearings - Shimano Reels, What Is In There Originally

[Mossyoakglock]

Looks like I'll be adding another item to my Lowe's list this weekend.

[.RM.]

 Almost all have SS abec7 spool bearings. Smooth and quiet. Almost all have had a full internal polishing of all moving contact points. Smooth and quiet.

 

.ghoti. the key to those abec7's being so quiet is the Stainless Steel instead of Ceramic.

They respond to clean/lub much better/quicker than ceramic's ever do...

[Fastmover3]

I can t stand it. Abec7 bearings even abec5 increase casting distance, spool smoothness, and overall put a supercharger on your reel. This upgrade is a big jump in performance. If you are not good at casting you will never see any difference. It's not for everyone. I have seen first hand the difference and can say its big. For the most noticeable gains a supertune is a great help. All my reels have abec7 or 5 depending on what it's for. Drag set is a no brainier if you are already in there. There are many ways to get bearings, Boca, Hawgtech,Dads ol Tackle, smooth drag, HP bearings even sells kits. If you are happy w your reel the way it was when you got it,then clean and replace. Remember quality does not cost it pays. But it's not for everyone

[Jolly Green]

As far as soaking your stock bearings, I recommend soaking in Perfect Solution, in a covered jar over night. Scrub any junk off the outside with toothbrush and warm water. Replace in fresh PS overnight, rinse in hit water until thoroughly cleaned. I use a hair dryer on low to dry mine. Give them a gentle spin test, if not smooth, repeat.

 

I tried Perfect Solution this year based on your recommendation and I agree that it does great job; I just want to add that I found the rinse to be critical.  Before trying it on reel bearings I did a test clean on a bearing I robbed from a computer cooling fan and found that after rinsing and drying, the bearing was reluctant to move and when I did get it turning it felt extremely rough. I removed the shields (I am someone who prefers not to mess with the shields, even though cleaning is faster without them) and found that there was a gummy film on all the bearing innards. It rinsed away with hot water and after that the bearing was, as advertised, Perfect.  I went through the whole process again with the same bearing and found that again, after rinsing and drying, the bearing was again semi-seized, and opening it up revealed the same gummy film.  After rinsing it out I went through the whole process a third time but after rinsing it off I immediately put it in a jar of plain old hot water and let it soak for fifteen minutes, agitating gently a couple times. I changed the water and soaked it a second time, dried it with a hair dryer, and finally had a free-spinning bearing. 

 

So, to anyone who hasn't tried it, I concur that Perfect Solution is a nice, effective alternative to solvents, but don't skimp on the rinse! 

 

I'm

[J Francho]

I use that stuff on every part of the reel. Cuts my cleaning time by three fold. As a side note, it also gets scum off my aluminum Xpress hull, makes the white letters on my tires look new, it's the best thing I've found to clean my rubber floor mats, makes my stove top glimmer, gets that nasty stuff stuck to the back of the fridge, and nothing gets my teeth whiter. Ok, last part was a lie.

[Fastmover3]

That cleaner sounds good it ought to work good for the loose parts on a tear down. As for bearings. Lighter fluid like rosinol,zippo,etc. contain naphtha it pulls dirt and contaminant out of metal a good swirl and soak and you are done. The big pay off is it leaves no residue. After they dry check bearing be sure it's good. Swirl and repeat if needed. I like to clean the bearings first. While they dry the rest of the reel gets evaluated and serviced. Lube prior to install. These cleaning ideas are old but very effective I learned most cleaning and tuning when I raced slot cars. The same principals apply with reels. It is all in the set up.

[J Francho]

Anyone that says naphtha or acetone is better than PS for bearings, hadn't tried it. Seriously.

[Fastmover3]

Personal preference is personal preference . Use what you like. My way is faster,less labor intensive, and quick, and no tooth brush. I also use a ultrasonic cleaner have any homemade or lowes stuff for that I am looking for a all purpose cleaner any ideas?

[J Francho]

There's personal preferences, true. Mine is developed over cleaning literally thousands of bearing packs. To say that all it takes is a couple swirls in solvent is a little misleading. That may be true with a relatively clean bearing, that only has lite oil applied. Customer reels are often loaded with factory grease and dirt that is not handled well by solvents. Lastly, solvents leave more residue than the water from my tap. Never mind the fumes, lol. I probably would have never tried using PS on bearings, except for some that had some seriously nasty, oxidized grease all over the outside that acetone would not touch. A few minutes in PS, and it was easily lifted. Try it, don't try it. Use what works, I know - and anyone that has been turned on to the stuff - knows too

[Fastmover3]

Wow. If I ever need blood from a turnip I will call you. If bearings look that bad replacement is a def consideration. Stock bearings are cheap upgrades better. Some may call my way wasteful but I take no chances with equipment. There are no maybe fish. When I go for it the equipment in my hand is near bullet proof. If a bearing needs that much work then odds are it's bad. Spend less time working more time fishing.

[rippin-lips]

It seems that you really haven't worked on that many reels if you haven't had a bearing packed with grease that takes some time to get clean. Then again you also said that stock bearing replacement with abec 5 or 7 nets huge gains. It's been talked about over and over that they don't. Heck Mike at DVT cleans and tunes reels for a living and has said the same thing. A long with other highly experienced people. If someone who has cleaned,lubed,tuned thousands of reels and is even an authorized boca dealer tells me that it's not going to really improve casting distance. Well I think I'd believe him. He has also switched to using perfect solution himself. I'm sure he's tried 100's of cleaners. He's not going to use something that makes his job harder to do.

[J Francho]

It doesn't really matter, some guys will do what they do - I'm one of them, stubborn to a fault. I kept the stuff under wraps for more than two years. I'm sharing it now because it works, and it's a little payback for all the good advice I've received over the years. My purpose is not to be better than everyone else, it's help everyone else get better. Take what you want, leave what you don't. Look at me, I see hundreds of posts a year about how good a C-rig is, and I've learned when the optimal time to throw it. Do throw it then? Not really. I'd rather stick a fork in my own eye. Call me crazy, but that's how information works.

[rippin-lips]

Yeah I'm with you. I'm stubborn myself but also willing to listen to people that have a lot more experience on a subject then I do. I picked some PS up from Lowes a few weeks ago but all my reels got cleaned over the winter. I'll have to give it a few months before I get to use it finally.

[J Francho]

I left a wet box if jerk baits in my boat last fall. Fished them out a couple weeks ago, and most of the hooks were rusted, some rusted right to the baits, leaving a bad mess and what thought was a costly mistake. Cut all the split sings and hooks off, and cleaned them up with PS. All I did was ruin some hooks the I would have replaced anyway. 1001 uses, lol.

[John G]

Will Perfect Solution make your hands feel really rough if you use it enough on bare skin? Just curious

[J Francho]

Dishpan hands? Every reel tech will get them. Wear gloves - I do.

[John G]

Dishpan hands? Every reel tech will get them. Wear gloves - I do.

The reason why I asked is I was judging the potency by the wear n tear on your hands. I don't ever recall Simple Green being rough on my hands and I have used Greased Lightning Super Strength and it will mess your skin up on your hands if used without any protection. Greased Lighting works a lot better than full strength Simple Green on my work trucks. I am the last guy that worries about dish pan hands. LOL

[rippin-lips]

I'm a big fan of purple power at full strength around the garage but it'll do a number on your hands.

[J Francho]

My hands are pretty ugly any way. I play drums, and along with the callouses, the wooden sticks suck the moisture out. Dawn or Palmolive gives me dishpan hands. I do think PS is a little irritating at full strength. Diluted it seems fine.

[Fastmover3]

There are many ways to remove bearing grease. I have seen it a time or two. I use lighter fluid and then compressed air from my little compressor . Just another way to accomplish the same thing. Bearings I beg to differ. If I was a pro baseball pitcher and I could find a way to throw 90mph fast ball with a flick of a wrist instead of risking arm and shoulder fatigue thru the use of a different bearing isn't that considered a performance gain? I guess all bearing sales to fisherman, rc racers,bicyclists, etc are wrong then. When you mature more you will appreciate less effort for the performance you want. Can't stay young forever

[Fastmover3]

Ps gloves are a definite need

[rippin-lips]

There are many ways to remove bearing grease. I have seen it a time or two. I use lighter fluid and then compressed air from my little compressor . Just another way to accomplish the same thing. Bearings I beg to differ. If I was a pro baseball pitcher and I could find a way to throw 90mph fast ball with a flick of a wrist instead of risking arm and shoulder fatigue thru the use of a different bearing isn't that considered a performance gain? I guess all bearing sales to fisherman, rc racers,bicyclists, etc are wrong then. When you mature more you will appreciate less effort for the performance you want. Can't stay young forever

You have your opinion and we all have ours. Though you're seemingly out numbered you still want to argue with people. Some that make a living off cleaning reels. Next you're going to tell us that free spool videos actually mean something.

[War Eagle 44]

It doesn't really matter, some guys will do what they do - I'm one of them, stubborn to a fault. I kept the stuff under wraps for more than two years. I'm sharing it now because it works, and it's a little payback for all the good advice I've received over the years. My purpose is not to be better than everyone else, it's help everyone else get better. Take what you want, leave what you don't. Look at me, I see hundreds of posts a year about how good a C-rig is, and I've learned when the optimal time to throw it. Do throw it then? Not really. I'd rather stick a fork in my own eye. Call me crazy, but that's how information works.

This is a little off topic but I just had to comment on your stance about the Carolina rig. I 100% agree with you. I have a friend who catches tons of fish on'em every summer but I just can't bring myself to fish them. I'd rather give up the sport altogether.

I also agree with you about being stubborn. I'm the same way in this regard as well. I do however have to disagree about the bearings, I feel that Boca OS 7's offer enough of an improvement over properly cleaned and oiled stock bearings to justify buying them.

I'll also agree that caster skill plays an important factor in just how much gain there is. Also different reels respond better than others to these upgrades in my experience. I've enjoyed the improved ability of my Chronarch 101B for instance with weightless plastics. As others have already pointed out many times maximum distance isn't improved so much but the effort needed to make "ordinary" casts or pitches is really reduced. This to me is where the gains with weightless plastics come into play.

[Tartan34]

I was skeptical of the PS cleaned bearings on par with new ABEC 7....but now I'm sold.  

 

I just used PS on bearings out of a Chronarch 200E, and once installed, they are very, very close to new, upgraded bearings. I casted with both sets on the same reel, with the same settings.  I really can't tell much of a difference (other than my older ones are quieter).   

 

Thanks for the Perfect Solution tip.

[Maico1]

Anyone that says naphtha or acetone is better than PS for bearings, hadn't tried it. Seriously.

Well John I finally got to use PS and am very happy with it. I have only done 6 reels so far but it has performed exactly the way you claimed it would in our discussion.The key is a good thorough rinsing as you said for you know that was my big concern about switching from Acetone. The other big factor I like is you no longer have to deal with those obnoxious fumes .......