Oiling a brand new Baitcasting reel

[Revival]

Just wondering how many you oil a new Baitcasting reel out of the box?  If so, what specific locations are you oiling?  Do any of you have any specific routines/rituals before using a brand new reel?  
 

If I wanted to oil a new reel out of the box, what areas should I be looking at first?  I never serviced my own reels but I want to learn.  I want this to be a educational and informative thread if anyone else is the same boat as me.
 

Thanks

[The Bassman]

I generally try them straight out of the box. I'm a Shimano user. They used to grease their spool bearings but seem to have gotten away from that. Handle bearing are always packed though, so I clean and oil them.

[Jig Man]

I try them.  If they need it then I will.  If they don’t then I won’t.

[Revival]

14 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

I try them.  If they need it then I will.  If they don’t then I won’t.

Where exactly are you oiling if they need it?  Or what would be some common areas that would need it out of the box?

[MiceNReets]

The new daiwas come dry out of the box.  I always get them serviced as soon as I buy them.  It’s night and day.  

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, Revival said:

Where exactly are you oiling if they need it?  Or what would be some common areas that would need it out of the box?

Are you comfortable removing the handle and gear side cover to expose the gear set and clutch mech?

[Revival]

12 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Are you comfortable removing the handle and gear side cover to expose the gear set and clutch mech?

Yes I have done that recently but haven’t done a full tear down yet.

[FishTank]

I generally clean each reel I buy.  Some have too much oil and grease and some not enough.  Cleaning each new reel as I get them allows me to assure that it's just the way I want it. 

[GreenPig]

Completely teardown, clean, apply my oil & grease in the amount I like which isn't much.

[GReb]

It depends. I completely tear down every Daiwa before spooling it with line. I’ve never felt the need to with Shimano. 

[JustJames]

Brand new baitcaster reel, straight out of the box, spool with choice of line and try to catch fish first time out.

If the reel cast well and smooth no need to do anything else. The most I do with brand new reel is flush the two spool bearing and add a

drop of bantam oil after dry.

Spinning leave it alone for at least a year unless it is not smooth or too much resistance when spin handle. After that send to professional to clean it lol.

Make sure to take pictures every step or as much as you can when remove something.

After that episode, I believe you can do it.  Baitcaster is a lot easy and hard to mess up unlike spinning. Oil only on bearing, lightly grease on gear and clean all the drag washer.

You know where to find me if you need help.

[Hammer 4]

On the flip side, all of my Diawa reels were pretty good out of the box, only had to oil the spool bearings on 1. My Shimano oth was totally dry.

[redmeansdistortion]

9 hours ago, MiceNReets said:

The new daiwas come dry out of the box.  I always get them serviced as soon as I buy them.  It’s night and day.  

I've experienced this on both my Thai and Japanese made Daiwas, dry as a bone.  I usually do a quick service with them; clean the gears, spool bearings, and drag stack then hit the bearings with TSI321, drag with Cal's, and the gears with Super Lube.  Smooths them right out.

[Dens228]

I've only done it on my Daiwa's and not all of them.  Straight out of the box I check the spools and bearings.  About one out of every three seems dry so I add a bit of oil. 

[garroyo130]

Spool it and test it out before cracking it open, especially if you dont have quality screwdrivers. Daiwas especially seem to use threadlocker which can lead to scratches during disassembly. 

 

Test it out first. If all is working well then oil as you please. If anything is wrong - noises, grinding, etc. warranty the reel if you can't immediately determine what the issue is and how to fix it. 

[Deleted account]

I give it a quick spin, if it obviously needs it (which is almost never the case) I'll lube it a touch, if not I'll fish it and service it in the off season.

[CountryboyinDC]

I've found the reels to be all over the place with the lubrication they do during assembly.  I take the spool bearings off regardless, soak them in some isopropanol, and then let them dry out.  I use a drop of spool bearing oil on each.  I do that before I put on any line.  Otherwise, pretty much I do the same as@Bass_Fishing_Socal does.

[JustJames]

Now you made me do this, some of them haven’t got acetone bath for years ???

[georgeyew]

I always oil the spool, side plate and tension knob bearings in new reels because they are the easiest to get to. I leave the others for when I do a full cleaning.

[CountryboyinDC]

3 hours ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

Now you made me do this

I wasn't trying to trigger any OCD tendencies, I promise.  It looks like you have all the tools (spool pin pliers, etc.).  I finally broke down and bought the hedgehog tool this year. I was always trying to remember what 2 sets of pliers worked well last time for the job.

[redmeansdistortion]

I'm a big fan of the Reelspeed spool pin pliers, they work very well.  I don't think they are made any longer.  Mine were purchased a few years back but I can't find them for sale anywhere now.  https://reelspeedsouth.com/reelspeed-spool-pin-removal-pliers/

 

[optimator]

3 hours ago, georgeyew said:

I always oil the spool, side plate and tension knob bearings in new reels because they are the easiest to get to. I leave the others for when I do a full cleaning.

This.

[Revival]

3 hours ago, georgeyew said:

I always oil the spool, side plate and tension knob bearings in new reels because they are the easiest to get to. I leave the others for when I do a full cleaning.

Exactly the kind of info that I was looking for.  I think I can handle this.

[JustJames]

30 minutes ago, CountryboyinDC said:

I wasn't trying to trigger any OCD tendencies, I promise.  It looks like you have all the tools (spool pin pliers, etc.).  I finally broke down and bought the hedgehog tool this year. I was always trying to remember what 2 sets of pliers worked well last time for the job.

I’m still prefer HH style pin remover tool, quicker and easier. I have to get Boca pliers because some of the spool that small or shallow on the side got damage even I cover the side with painter tape. You won’t believe which spool give me the most problem, conquest 50.

[TcRoc]

I open any new reel up.. once you have done it a few times it doesn’t take much time at all.