Lubing brand new reels

[Mobasser]

I've been reading up on tackle maintenance lately, and found that some folks like to open up a brand new reel, remove the factory lube, and add they're own brand or remove the factory grease altogether. In almost 40 yrs of fishing I've never done this. Any new reel I bought felt ready to go out of the box. I received a Lews LFS casting reel for Christmas and it seems smooth as glass. If you've done this on a new reel, has it made a difference? Has it changed the performance of your reel? Maybe I'm missing something here?

[Jig Man]

Shimano used to have too much grease and some needed to be removed but I haven’t noticed it lately.

[Bird]

Mobasser, I'm not stalking you. Lol

 

Good question as I'm an advocate of reel maintenance. 

I personally inspect every new reel apon purchase and yet to find one that wasn't sufficiently greased from factory. 

 

I do however perform annual maintenance and then use my preferred grease.....Rock&Roll super slick.

[J Francho]

If I'm using the reel for review purposes, it get no maintenance.  A reel I bought for myself, might get fished a few times, but I'll inevitably tear it down, and run my own lube strategy, based on usage and performance out of the box.

[Hook2Jaw]

I just acetone my reel and spool bearings, then add a single drop of oil and fish it.

[MN Fisher]

I knew that out-of-the-box, my Supreme wasn't as free spinning as my President. Quick visual check showed quite a bit of excess lube on the level-wind. Opening it up showed 'gunky' grease on the gears...who knows how long the reel had been sitting on a shelf. So, that one is getting a strip-down and re-lube this winter before it gets line put on.

 

It's a case-by-case basis. My Fuegos didn't need a pre-use workover, but my Trion spinners, the President last year and now the Supreme all did. Maybe it's the grease that Pflueger uses...

[OnthePotomac]

I  only clean and relube the spool bearings on a new Shimano bait caster.  Every thing else in the reel waits until annual reel cleaning.  Contrary to popular belief Shimano does not ship their bait cast reels with grease in the spool bearing, only excess oil.

[Hammer 4]

Bought a new Shimano reel, fished without doing anything to it. With 12 lb mono, it didn't cast worth snot. I opened up, noticed way to much grease on the level wind, added a drop of oil to the bearings, and wala..it performed like it should.

 

So, sometimes to much, or to little on new reels.

[Log Catcher]

I might take the side plate off and take the spool out to oil the bearings before I use it. I don't do anything else with it until I see how it performs. I've had more problems with Abu Garcia reels needing to be lubricated than any other brand I have tried.

[GReb]

The Lews that I’ve owned had way too much grease from the factory. 

[deadadrift89]

Open box, put on line, fish it. Gets cleaned following Winter along with all others. Only if I have an issue will it get any maintenance before that.

[FishTank]

My routine usually consists of fishing a new reel a few hours to see how it is feels, then break it down, clean it and lube. Pretty much every reel I have ever bought need some attention right out of the box.  It either was way over lubed or it had no lube at all.  I am often surprised how much better reels perform with just a small amount of lube. 

 

I also like to check the drag washers to make sure they are put in correctly and have a small amount of drag grease (unless they are supposed to be dry). 

[GreenPig]

I drop all new reel spool bearings in my ultrasonic cleaner and then it gets a tiny drop of oil. I had to prove to a friend it does indeed make a difference.  We both bought a Curado 200k, spooled both with the same 14 lb fluorocarbon line, and mounted the on the same 7' MH rod. At the lake I was consistently casting 10- 20' father than him. We swapped combos and he cast father than me. I've also noticed using less and lighter/thinner oils I can cast lighter lures with less problems. 

[.ghoti.]

When I get a new reel, I “ride it like I stole it” for a while. Just to test for defects. When I’m satisfied nothing is amiss, it gets a complete tear down, clean, and lube to my specs.

 

When i get a used reel, it gets the tear down, clean and lube as soon as I get it.  

[NYWayfarer]

10 hours ago, stratoliner92 said:

Open box, put on line, fish it. Gets cleaned following Winter along with all others. Only if I have an issue will it get any maintenance before that.

Ditto. 

[MickD]

Every reel I've bought has been like glass when new, and I've left them alone.  (Shimano/Daiwa).  I've never found a reason to change.