Do you have to clean your reels?

[LCG]

I have done a few reels and messed a few things up along the way. What I have learned is that you need to take it slow, take pics, have a parts tray, watch those springs as they love to go flying, have the reel schematic (google your reel), wait until the wife, kids, pets are away

[roadwarrior]

Mike does a GREAT job!

http://www.delawarevalleytackle.com/

 

[PressuredFishing]

3 hours ago, LCG said:

I have done a few reels and messed a few things up along the way. What I have learned is that you need to take it slow, take pics, have a parts tray, watch those springs as they love to go flying, have the reel schematic (google your reel), wait until the wife, kids, pets are away

Okay thankyou for this, will be careful with the springs for sure

3 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

Mike does a GREAT job!

http://www.delawarevalleytackle.com/

 

Will check him out thanks!

[J Francho]

I recommend sending them to Mike at DVT. I used to run my own reel cleaning business, did around 250-300 reels per year. If I didn't know how to do it myself, I'd send them to Mike. Side note, I see this recommended quite a bit, and from some highly regarded "experts" to install spring washers like this: )(. I've NEVER seen a reel come from the factory this way. It's always like this: (). It probably makes no difference, but if you take the reel apart, take note of how they're installed. 

[redmeansdistortion]

4 hours ago, LCG said:

watch those springs as they love to go flying

My favorite tool for removing clutch springs is a pair of fine tipped gripping pliers, preferably with a curved tip.  They definitely come in handy working on reels, whether you're installing or removing springs or trying to remove or install a part in a hard to reach place.  They're also great for reinstalling E-clips.  This is the pair I have https://www.knipex.com/products/gripping-pliers/gripping-pliers-needle-nose-pliers/gripping-pliersneedle-nose-pliers/3121160

[PressuredFishing]

16 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I recommend sending them to Mike at DVT. I used to run my own reel cleaning business, did around 250-300 reels per year. If I didn't know how to do it myself, I'd send them to Mike. Side note, I see this recommended quite a bit, and from some highly regarded "experts" to install spring washers like this: )(. I've NEVER seen a reel come from the factory this way. It's always like this: (). It probably makes no difference, but if you take the reel apart, take note of how they're installed. 

Okay I have gotten a few recommendations for him, I will check him out, thankyou so much!

7 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

My favorite tool for removing clutch springs is a pair of fine tipped gripping pliers, preferably with a curved tip.  They definitely come in handy working on reels, whether you're installing or removing springs or trying to remove or install a part in a hard to reach place.  They're also great for reinstalling E-clips.  This is the pair I have https://www.knipex.com/products/gripping-pliers/gripping-pliers-needle-nose-pliers/gripping-pliersneedle-nose-pliers/3121160

Ah I have one of those, I will be sure to add them to the arsenal if I decide to tear it down myself

[Jaderose]

Someone mentioned youtube.  Unless you have some oddball, the chances are pretty good you can find a high quality video on tearing them down and cleaning.  The number one piece of advice I can give is DO THIS IN THE WINTER DOWNTIME.  Otherwise you will be in a rush and you will screw something up.  First few times takes patience, concentration and time.  Make sure you have plenty of all 3 or send them to DVT.  It's not hard.  It's just "fiddly".

[NOC 1]

On 6/15/2021 at 7:20 AM, DaubsNU1 said:

 

^^ Great advice here! ^^

 

I tore apart a bait-caster a few years back...installed drag washers incorrectly....

 

Should have been like this, they have a slight curve to them  ) ( 

 

I had them like this  ) ) 

 

Couldn't figure out why my drag was not working properly....(may have had something to do with my old eyes...)

 

Anyway, took apart, re-assembled the correct way...all was good. 

 

 

The good news is that once you've done that a dozen times or so (like I have) you recognize the symptoms in a flash and can set it right easily.

 

Good tips here, and I'll add one more. Try getting a large Gallon sized freezer bag and put your reel into it while you remove stuff like "e" clips and springs. saves some time crawling around looking for them if you slip.

[gim]

I break mine down in winter and clean them too. I don’t completely take apart the bait casters internally though. There are a lot of small parts inside and they shouldn’t be accumulating debris in there anyways. Every few years I’ll take all my reels to a reel shop in Wayzata to be completely disassembled, cleaned, and oiled. I do the same with my guns. I take the major parts off and clean them but I don’t take apart the internal pieces - I let a professional gunsmith do that every once in a while.

[Ratherbfishing]

One thing is near certain:  If I regularly took my baitcasters apart to clean, I'd have the shiniest reels going-because they'd have to be replaced with new ones on regular basis.

[Bankc]

I like taking things apart and seeing how they work.  So I always disassemble a new reel the first chance I get.  I also completely disassemble, clean, and lubricate each reel once in the winter.  Occasionally I'll notice a reel isn't running as smoothly as it was, so I'll break it down and clean it mid-season.  

 

If you take care of your reels, don't dunk them in water, and keep them clean on the outside, they can last many years before needing to be torn down and cleaned.  Factories throw enough grease and oil in them to last through the warranty period without maintenance.  But most serious anglers like to do it more often to keep them performing like new for as long as they own them. 

[GReb]

A nice set of precision screwdrivers is really important. Those little screws are easy to foul up if you aren’t careful. 
 

Most reels are basically the same design so once you get a few under your belt it becomes much easier. I usually just remove the sideplate, gear stack, pinion, and bearings, degrease, and add grease/oil. I have only felt like I needed to remove the worm gear a few times. That’s by far my least favorite part but unless you are fishing muck it’s easy enough to keep it cleaned and lubed without tearing apart. 
 

I have used Mike at DVT before and was more than pleased with the service, price, and turnaround time. Anything other than a simple clean I will send to him. He’s forgot more about a reel than I’ll ever know 

[Michigander]

On 6/14/2021 at 4:58 PM, MN Fisher said:

Sounds like my dad - and I was building computers way before online services like Compuserve, Source, Genie, or Quantum Link  ever got started.

LoL, CompuServe. Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, Michigander said:

LoL, CompuServe. Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

One point or another in the 80s, I belonged to all four services...not at the same time.

[PressuredFishing]

1 hour ago, GReb said:

A nice set of precision screwdrivers is really important. Those little screws are easy to foul up if you aren’t careful. 
 

Most reels are basically the same design so once you get a few under your belt it becomes much easier. I usually just remove the sideplate, gear stack, pinion, and bearings, degrease, and add grease/oil. I have only felt like I needed to remove the worm gear a few times. That’s by far my least favorite part but unless you are fishing muck it’s easy enough to keep it cleaned and lubed without tearing apart. 
 

I have used Mike at DVT before and was more than pleased with the service, price, and turnaround time. Anything other than a simple clean I will send to him. He’s forgot more about a reel than I’ll ever know 

Okay this makes me feel comfortable about trying it out, thanks for some or the advise!

8 hours ago, Jaderose said:

Someone mentioned youtube.  Unless you have some oddball, the chances are pretty good you can find a high quality video on tearing them down and cleaning.  The number one piece of advice I can give is DO THIS IN THE WINTER DOWNTIME.  Otherwise you will be in a rush and you will screw something up.  First few times takes patience, concentration and time.  Make sure you have plenty of all 3 or send them to DVT.  It's not hard.  It's just "fiddly".

Okay yeah I think I will wait until winter, probably a good idea

3 hours ago, Bankc said:

I like taking things apart and seeing how they work.  So I always disassemble a new reel the first chance I get.  I also completely disassemble, clean, and lubricate each reel once in the winter.  Occasionally I'll notice a reel isn't running as smoothly as it was, so I'll break it down and clean it mid-season.  

 

If you take care of your reels, don't dunk them in water, and keep them clean on the outside, they can last many years before needing to be torn down and cleaned.  Factories throw enough grease and oil in them to last through the warranty period without maintenance.  But most serious anglers like to do it more often to keep them performing like new for as long as they own them. 

Okay this is all good to know, I will probably do this in the upcoming winter, thanks for the tips as I am new to cleaning reels!

3 hours ago, gimruis said:

I break mine down in winter and clean them too. I don’t completely take apart the bait casters internally though. There are a lot of small parts inside and they shouldn’t be accumulating debris in there anyways. Every few years I’ll take all my reels to a reel shop in Wayzata to be completely disassembled, cleaned, and oiled. I do the same with my guns. I take the major parts off and clean them but I don’t take apart the internal pieces - I let a professional gunsmith do that every once in a while.

Okay, this makes a good amount of sense, thankyou for this advise! 

[Ryan Smith]

On 6/14/2021 at 5:51 PM, Kenny Yi said:

There are many YouTube videos to help with the deconstruction and lubing process.  Some advice: Always lay your parts in an order on your table as you take it off the reel.  This helps with the reassembly process, since you just put the parts back in the opposite order.  Be sure to pay attention to the orientation of certain parts and don't lose any.

If you are going to start doing your own reels do yourself a favor and buy a Wera 3355 Posidrive screwdriver from Amazon PZ 0x60. They fit the Phillips head screws perfectly and you won’t strip the screws. Believe me it’s easy to do. Diawa uses flathead screws. I got this information from a well respected tackle advisor who is phenomenal at breaking reels down and it’s made a huge difference 

[CDMTJager]

On 6/14/2021 at 3:37 PM, DaubsNU1 said:

I clean as needed (rarely), and disassemble and lubricate once a year (usually in the winter when it's snowing...and I need to do something fishing related). 

 

Aside from that, no action needed.

 

All my reels are 25+ years old. 

Mirrors mine about 95%. I also do not buy high dollar reels. I tried my first $125 baitcaster this year and my most expensive baitcaster before that was a $80 Abu Garcia Max Pro4 I bought for $51.36 TMD and in my novice opinion the $125 baitcaster didn't do anything that much better than my cheaper baitcasters to be worth 2.5x the cost. I did way back in mid-late 1990's buy four Abu Garcia 4500 baitcasting reels at about 50% off from a local fishing store that was closing and did yearly disassembly clean reassembly of them ever since and they all are going strong and finally had to replace the anti-reverse bearing on only one of them.

 

I do weekly inspect my baitcasting and spinning reels that I am using and keep them free and clear of accumulating crap and remove any dirt or yuk thats sticking to them.

 

Actually my most expensive fishing reels are my salmon steelhead spinning reels which are all Shimano's I bought so long ago they were all made in Japan and all cost over $100 back then. Those I make sure to do a once a year disassembly clean and lube.

[Brian11719]

21 hours ago, Ryan Smith said:

If you are going to start doing your own reels do yourself a favor and buy a Wera 3355 Posidrive screwdriver from Amazon PZ 0x60

Chances are they started by now considering this thread is over 3 years old...