I May Never Clean My Reels Again

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, gunsinger said:

I did this. With the exception of the last Lews reel, my errors have been orientation error (rachet reversed, yoke collar upside down, yoke springs sitting on the bench after assembly, etc).

Your cell phone's camera is your friend. Take pics at every stage of disassembly then reference them during reassembly and you can't go wrong. If you don't work on reels often enough to where everything is second nature, this is the way to go.

[gunsinger]

I appreciate all the responses. A lot of solid advice and wisdom here. 

[Bird]

Unless you're constantly fishing in harsh conditions, a complete tear-down is not necessary.

Haven't taken the handle side off in 20+ years but do yearly basic maintenance, spool, worm gears, bearings etc.

 

The more reels you have, the workload gets distributed and less demand for anything other than basic. IMO 

[wvhunt]

11 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Your cell phone's camera is your friend. Take pics at every stage of disassembly then reference them during reassembly and you can't go wrong. If you don't work on reels often enough to where everything is second nature, this is the way to go.

I've learned to use my cell phone camera for just about anything I take apart; firearms, fishing reels, small engine carburetors, etc. It's a huge time savor getting things back together correctly. 

[MickD]

On 3/27/2024 at 9:33 AM, Eric 26 said:

Exactly why I don’t even bother

Me too.  I will go in what I call "one layer," which is taking a look inside, lubing, might do some cleaning but not usually.  If I dunk a reel or if it's gone many  years and I suspect it might need serious "rehab" I send it to a pro.  Reels are just too complicated and too easily screwed up these days.  At least for me they are.  

[redmeansdistortion]

16 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

But in the words of “Dirty” Harry Callahan, “A man’s gotta know his limitations.”lol

That's what me and my business partner refer to as the learners tax.  A few years back, a customer of mine bought some Daiwa Seaborg electric reels second hand from Japan and sent them my way for some refreshing.  Between the 30 some odd shims, drive belts, and 2 sets of planetary gears, the learners tax was heavy with those.  Now we know our way around them, but the first go round was "what did we get ourselves into"? 😂

[garroyo130]

On 3/27/2024 at 8:29 AM, gunsinger said:

Of the 6 I've disassembled, cleaned/lubed, and reassembled, not a one worked upon reassembly the first time. 

 

I think this is what makes it more difficult. I'd probably send 5 off and keep 1 (or any identical reels) to work on and work on that one and only that one until i was VERY comfortable with it.

 

Forget spinning though until you have a good handle on casting. 

[GReb]

There is a Youtuber named TackleAdvisors that is no longer active due to conflicts with YT but he has a ton of videos and basically disassembles reels in every one. I learned a lot from watching him. 
 

Im far from a pro but a basic tear down isn’t that difficult and most every baitcasting reel is pretty similar internally. I practiced with an older reel before moving to nicer ones that I actually use. 

[Bdnoble84]

Yup. I have 2 Lews that i cant use because i decided to take them apart and couldnt get them back together. Never again. I will pull off the brake sidecover and remove the spool but thats it.

[Siebert Outdoors]

20 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

 

Agreed.  DVT

[WRB]

I serviced my reels until they became so sophisticated and needed specialized tools to remove bearing etc. 

I had a very skilled reel technician locally and had him clean and tune my reels ounce a year. 
Today I only have 2 baitcasting reels and only lube the spool end shafts and level wind. When they need service probably send them to Mike at DVT, no locale technician anymore.

You all should do the same!

Tom

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

10 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

That's what me and my business partner refer to as the learners tax.  A few years back, a customer of mine bought some Daiwa Seaborg electric reels second hand from Japan and sent them my way for some refreshing.  Between the 30 some odd shims, drive belts, and 2 sets of planetary gears, the learners tax was heavy with those.  Now we know our way around them, but the first go round was "what did we get ourselves into"? 😂

And it never ends. Have you been into one of the new shimano spinning AR assemblies yet? I was stringing together curse words in some very creative ways. 

[MN Fisher]

1 hour ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

And it never ends. Have you been into one of the new shimano spinning AR assemblies yet? I was stringing together curse words in some very creative ways. 

Thanks for the warning, Mike - I haven't dove too deep into my Miravels or Ultegra yet...do I need a Haz-Mat suit?

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

7 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Thanks for the warning, Mike - I haven't dove too deep into my Miravels or Ultegra yet...do I need a Haz-Mat suit?

Lol. No, you’ll the dexterity of a surgeon, imagination of an engineer and patience of a saint. 

[FrnkNsteen]

On 3/27/2024 at 10:34 AM, A-Jay said:

I agree with @MN Fisher Having a process is a good thing.

And I think @J Francho has mentioned that the Egg carton method (for parts) can be helpful.

I use something very similar. 

Either way, I ALWAYS stay in my lane.

Meaning, I'll only break a reel down as far as I "Know" I can reassemble it correctly.

No guessing for this hack.

Finally @Delaware Valley Tackle has serviced 'several' of my reels

every few years for the deep clean.  #topnotch 

Checking and replacing worn parts in advance of failure is an important aspect of that IMO.

Between full service visits, I'll Clean and do a 'light' & 'as needed' deal.  

Oil, grease and a drop or two of fine oil on easily accessed bearings takes care of it.

A-Jay

 

 

Nice collection of reels @A-Jay. What are the red & black ones in the middle? I can't place them.

[redmeansdistortion]

13 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

And it never ends. Have you been into one of the new shimano spinning AR assemblies yet? I was stringing together curse words in some very creative ways. 

Oh yeah, I remember the first time I opened one it was a jack in the box lol.

 

Another fun Shimano component is the FTB brake found in their BFS models.  The springs in it are tiny, very tiny, and take a steady hand to re-seat correctly.  

[Bankc]

It's not for everyone.

 

Personally, after the first couple of reels, I really don't like messing with them anymore.  I can do it fine, but it's slow and tedious work.  I've gotten to the point where I no longer do regular maintenance, and instead wait for signs of maintenance needed.  My justification is that as technology improves, I'm going to want to upgrade these reels anyway.  So, they don't have to last me a lifetime.  Ten to twenty years or so is all I really need out of a reel.  Beyond that, they're going to get upgraded even if they still work like new.  

[A-Jay]

47 minutes ago, FrnkNsteen said:

Nice collection of reels @A-Jay. What are the red & black ones in the middle? I can't place them.

Quantum Tour KVD Limited Edition 

A while back over the course of a few months,  I managed to snip a handful off e-bay for a song.  Reel has been good to me.

A-Jay

 

 

[gunsinger]

10 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Lol. No, you’ll the dexterity of a surgeon, imagination of an engineer and patience of a saint. 

And sharp vision no doubt.

[MN Fisher]

3 hours ago, gunsinger said:

And sharp vision no doubt.

Oh I'm dead now - I'm an eye short...really screws with depth perception.