Baitcaster maintenance?

[cjam93]

When you are doing regular maintenance on your baitcaster, do you use oil and lube? I have been told some people like to use just oil on reels used for moving baits and oil and lube on flipping ones. Do you differentiate in any way, or how do you maintain it? Thanks!

[punch]

I'll only grease the main gear & pinion when I do a full reel tear down. I'll just oil the bearings and grease the wormgear if i'm just doing a "light" cleaning. I only do a full tear down when the reel is feeling geary or not a smooth as it should be. 

 

I don't think there's any reason to differentiate between a "moving bait" reel and a "flipping reel". Oil the bearings, grease the gears. 

[Bankbeater]

I will lightly oil and grease throughout the season as needed.  My reels get broken down for a full cleaning in the winter when the water is frozen.

[WRB]

There are all types of baitcasting reels with specific maintenance needs. What make and model do you have?

Tom

[jimmyjoe]

   I oil the levelwind maybe once a week. I oil the spindle bearings maybe once a month, unless they become noisy. I used to send reels into the factory once a year for everything else, but I may .... just may, mind you ... do yearly maintenance myself this year. That's not because I'm mechanical.  I'm not. It's because I'm cheap.   jj

[CrankFate]

I go very light with grease and keep it off the plastic gears (because it slows them down makes them less smooth and makes noise). I oil all bearings, except maybe, worm bearings which get grease sometimes. I go very light with fingerprint thick grease on the worm and a dot of oil. I like fast bearings and reels that spin freely and smoothly. I do not like resistance in the handle, gears or worm. I slap the handle to pick up slack as I fish. Resistance makes that impossible. So does handles less than 100mm for most reels.

[cjam93]

I have an assortment but most of them are shimano citicas, curado i's and k's

 

 

Sounds good thank you guys!

[GreenPig]

Grease gears (lightly) and oil bearings and level wind. Oil monthly because I run my spool bearing shieldless. I do a complete tear down on all my reels annually.