What Lube And Grease To Use For Reels?

[Big Fish Small Pond]

Just as the title says, what brand lube and grease do you guys use for servicing your reels?

[mprestonSEK]

Shimano Star Drag Grease

[HoosierHawgs]

Reel Saver

[desmobob]

Hot Sauce lube and grease.

 

 

Tight lines,

Bob

[aprestonSEK]

Shimano Star Drag Grease is the best I have used. 

 

Best to Worst:

1. Shimano Star Drag Grease

2. Abu Garcia

3. Ardent Reel Butter

[Bluebasser86]

Hot sauce

[PNWdude]

Quantum Hot Sauce oil and grease. I plan on trying out the Shimano reel grease next cleaning season though.

[FishTank]

Reel Butter and Shimano oil.

[kickerfish1]

Hot sauce is ok but will stain somethings red. The plus side is that you can see where and how much you have applied.

[BobP]

Shimano ACE2 Drag Grease for drag washers.  Superlube PTFE grease for other grease applications.  Yellow Rocket Fuel or Reel Butter Bearing Lube for bearings, level wind, and brake drum.

 

Drag grease is a thick, sticky cosmoline type grease that is the thing to use on drags if you want them to work for more than 5 minutes.  You can also use it on gears but I like the Superlube better for that.  Superlube is a white PTFE fortified automotive bearing grease sold in 8 oz cans at NAPA.  Excellent stuff!  Bearing oils are a player's choice:  the thinner viscosity they are, the faster a bearing will spin but the sooner the bearing will throw off the oil and require re-oiling.

 

Personally, I HATE the red dye in Hot Sauce.  It migrates all over the reel.  Otherwise, it has very good lubricity.

[OnthePotomac]

Super Lube or Yamaha blue marine grease on gears and pinion bearing, Shimano drag grease on drag washers, ReelX oil on worm gear and drive shaft bearing, Yellow Rocket Fuel on SS spool bearings and handle bearings and Oust Met Oil on ceramic spool bearings.

[J Francho]

A list of products I use and trust:

 

Shimano Star Drag Grease

Cal's Drag Grease

Cal's Light Grease

Shimano Bantam Oil

Oust Metol

Rocket Fuel Yellow

Daiwa Blue Oil

TSI 321

CorrosionX

[powerduster]

Penn blue grease for spinning reels and superlube for casting reels. rocket fuel for bearings. I did purchase rocket fuel liquid grease, but rhe consistency seems more like thick oil than grease. I decided to put it on the worm gear on my levelwinds for salt water wreck fishing. Sticks on good, I suppose.

[desmobob]

A list of products I use and trust:

 

<SNIP>

CorrosionX

 

Not many people seem to be familiar with this product.  It is fantastic!

 

One of my other hobbies is R/C aircraft.  I fly some float plane models, and found out right away that sensitive electronics and water don't mix.  If I soak a receiver or electronic speed control in CorrosionX overnight, not only is it no longer prone to malfunction, failure or ruin if it gets wet, it will actually still function perfectly while totally submerged in water.  And this treatment lasts for the whole season.  It's a good lubricant that penetrates very well, too.

 

I don't know why they don't market the stuff in stores.  Well, maybe they do, but I can't find it around here; I have to mail-order it directly from the manufacturer.  It's worth the trouble, in my opinion.

 

Tight lines,

Bob

[TrippyJai]

I'm too lazy these days to buy and use separate products when you have to clean more than 2-3 reels. I use Shimano Drag Grease on the drag and gears, bantam oil on stock bearings and Boca Lube on ceramics. If you find that the Drag grease is too thick, you can apply a drop or two of the bantam oil on your fingers and mix it with the drag grease. I do this for the worm gear since you want a lighter grease there. BTW, only use drag grease on the drag washers, nothing else.

[J Francho]

Not many people seem to be familiar with this product.  It is fantastic!

 

One of my other hobbies is R/C aircraft.  I fly some float plane models, and found out right away that sensitive electronics and water don't mix.  If I soak a receiver or electronic speed control in CorrosionX overnight, not only is it no longer prone to malfunction, failure or ruin if it gets wet, it will actually still function perfectly while totally submerged in water.  And this treatment lasts for the whole season.  It's a good lubricant that penetrates very well, too.

 

I don't know why they don't market the stuff in stores.  Well, maybe they do, but I can't find it around here; I have to mail-order it directly from the manufacturer.  It's worth the trouble, in my opinion.

 

Tight lines,

Bob

 

I gues I'm wrong about it - now it's the aerosol can version of ReelX.  I have an older bottle of what is labeled CorrosionX, but is sold as ReelX now.  I like it for roller bearings, and saltwater applications, where speed isn't not the biggest demand.  Dawn at Smooth Drags carries it, along with the TSI.

[desmobob]

I gues I'm wrong about it - now it's the aerosol can version of ReelX.  I have an older bottle of what is labeled CorrosionX, but is sold as ReelX now.  I like it for roller bearings, and saltwater applications, where speed isn't not the biggest demand.  Dawn at Smooth Drags carries it, along with the TSI.

 

They also have a product for high RPM applications: SpeedX.  Sounds like it might be good for reel bearings....

 

Tight lines,

Bob

[J Francho]

I'll have to try it, though for 90% of bearings, Bantam oil works the nuts.

[Angry John]

I like the daiwa blue space age grease.  It also comes in a nice applicator that goes where you want it and does not make a huge mess.  I use this on everything but the bearings.

I am currently using the boca bearing oil on my bearings and it works well.

[BobP]

Many guys don't realize bearing oils change viscosity a bunch due to temperature, and that in turn affects baitcaster performance quite a bit.  If you're a fair weather fisherman, it doesn't matter much but if you fish in temperature extremes, it might.  Here's a little test data posted on another website a few years ago for a few popular oils.  Just something to consider for reel performance maniacs.  I like Yellow Rocket Fuel and don't much worry about it.  If my reel slows down a bit in winter, that's OK because fishing while dressed like the Michelin Man is not optimal for casting anyway.  

 

 

Lube....Viscosity (cP)   @ 38F.........@78F........@ 98F (cP)

Yellow RF .......................285..............59..............35
3-In-1 Oil.........................161....... ......40..............20
Quantum Hot Sauce........100..............25..............16

[AQUA VELVA]

I have been using Hot Sauce grease and oil for several years now and like it. BTW, whats the best way to clean drag washers before I re-grease them?

[BobP]

I soak mine in naphtha after wiping off any grease I can see, then let them air dry.