New to flushing bearings

[cjam93]

Hey guys so far when I clean my reels I just open them up wipe off old lube or oil and then put new lube and oil on. I would like to start flushing my bearings. What would you recommend for soaking the bearings in? Also what oil should I put on the bearings to get the best performance? Thanks!

[Jaheff]

Depends what the bearings were lubed with prior. Grease, i like to use acetone first. second cleaning i will just use a good de greaser. If my bearings are open, i will put them in really hot water (pre boil) and blow them out with Air really good. As far as oil, any thin oil for spool bearings. Thicker oil, or grease for frame bearings. Oil is alot easier to clean second time then grease.

TSI 321 is my fav for spool bearings.

Frame bearings, thick gear oil.

Also, if their Quantum PT bearings, I only use de greaser, no acetone.

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/supertune-baitcaster.html

[FloridaFishinFool]

Mineral spirits will do fine. Soak and spin out. Lube as you choose. Lower viscosity oil faster spin, higher viscosity oil slower spin. A lot of reel techs love TSI-321 lube on spool bearings as mentioned above, but to each their own.

[rippin-lips]

Pick up a can of brake clean, and a bottle of Remington oil from Walmart. Rem oil will be in the gun section and the brake clean in automotive. Spray the bearings generously with brake cleaner. Then spray some in a glass jar and let them soak for a bit. Take them out and spin them on a pencil a few times. Let them dry for about 10 minutes and add 1 small drop of rem oil to each bearing. You'll need a spool pin tool to remove the bearing from the spool shaft.  If you don't have one you can use a soda cap and fill it up with solvent and sit the spool on end so that the bearing is submerged. Be sure to check that whatever solvent you use doesn't react with the plastic first if you don't have the tool. 

[Evan K]

I used lighter fluid in a small jar and soaked the parts in it. It worked really well.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Naphtha works but is highly carcinogenic. Acetone works well but if possible I use a degreaser like simple green followed by a hot water then denatured alcohol. You don't need to get crazy with the oil. 3in 1, Remoil or even sewing machine oil all work well. I keep some  Tsi in the shop but it's pricey and a bottle would last 3 lifetimes just doing a few of your own. 

[iabass8]

5 hours ago, rippin-lips said:

Pick up a can of brake clean, and a bottle of Remington oil from Walmart. Rem oil will be in the gun section and the brake clean in automotive. Spray the bearings generously with brake cleaner. Then spray some in a glass jar and let them soak for a bit. Take them out and spin them on a pencil a few times. Let them dry for about 10 minutes and add 1 small drop of rem oil to each bearing. You'll need a spool pin tool to remove the bearing from the spool shaft.  If you don't have one you can use a soda cap and fill it up with solvent and sit the spool on end so that the bearing is submerged. Be sure to check that whatever solvent you use doesn't react with the plastic first if you don't have the tool. 

x2

[cjam93]

This is a lot of help thanks guys!

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

For times you want to give a quick cleaning this little product works well called RPM Bearing Blaster. Its 2 pieces and the bearing is sandwiched between the pieces. Your tube for the brake cleaner goes in hole and you spray the bearing. Works well if somehow bearing got heavy dirt on it or lots of grease.

 

[fishstick]

1 hour ago, QUAKEnSHAKE said:

For times you want to give a quick cleaning this little product works well called RPM Bearing Blaster. Its 2 pieces and the bearing is sandwiched between the pieces. Your tube for the brake cleaner goes in hole and you spray the bearing. Works well if somehow bearing got heavy dirt on it or lots of grease.

 

Been using one of these for a couple of years now. Works great

[BobP]

I use aerosol starting fluid (ether) to soak bearings.  The more volatile the degreaser, the faster and better it works and you can't get much more volatile than starting fluid.  Shoot some in a shot glass, throw in the bearings, agitate them occasionally, and let them sit with the glass covered to stop the fluid from evaporating.  Take out the bearing, spin it on the point of a pencil to check its smoothness.  If it's still rough, dunk it again.  When finished, place the bearing on a paper towel to dry.  It's dry when it won't spin as fast as it did when lubed with the ether.  One drop of bearing oil and you're set.  I've "brought back" bearings that set in reels for 20+ years with this method.

There are lots of bearing oils and all of them work.  But it's a trade off.  The lower the viscosity of the oil, the faster the bearing will spin but also the faster the oil will be thrown out of the bearing and the more often you will need to re-oil during the season.  I use Yellow Rocket Fuel or Ardent bearing oil (NOT their "reel oil").  No special reason - I haven't compared them to other oils, they just work fine for me.  Also, be aware that bearing oils can change their viscosity significantly according to temperature.  Some more than others.  One of the better oils in this regard is the Quantum Hot Sauce - but I can't stand the red dye they put in the stuff, which ends up all over the reel's interior.   

[Jon G]

Another one of my hobbies is collecting old zippo lighters. Due to that I usually have a lot of zippo fuel laying around so I usually use that to soak my bearings in.