Reel maintenance question

[Sota]

I saw a question about reel maintenance and the common mistakes people make doing maintenance. I didn’t want to hijack that thread. So….

 For yall that do your own reel maintenance. What do you use to clean bearings? What do you use to clean the rest of the reel? 
 I come from a more firearms background. You might be amazed at what some people use to clean and lube firearms. 
 There was people that competed in handgun competitions. They said to use brake cleaner and motor oil. To clean and lube it.  I’m f I remember correctly. Pretty sure I do. One well known optics manufacturer used to say to clean the lenses with acetone.  
 I’m wondering what y’all use for reel maintenance?  Tia 

[Jig-Man]

Naptha is my preference for bearings when I can find it.  Otherwise I use acetone.

[wolfe_ohara]

i use 99% isopropyl alcohol or acetone to clean my bearings

[bulldog1935]

Denatured alcohol (iso-ethanol) - lighter MW - it doesn't suck as much water from the air as iso-propanol, so it flashes drier, and flashes quicker.  

[FrnkNsteen]

I put my bearings in a small glass jar then spray a little brake cleaner in there so I can swish them around to flush them out. That's for steel bearings only. I don't run ceramics.

 

The rest of the reel gets wiped down, then cleaned as needed with some simple green.

[Sota]

Does acetone or brake cleaner effect sealed bearings? 

[FrnkNsteen]

Depends on what the seals are. I would imagine it could hurt the rubber seals like the orange ones you frequently see (Are they Bocas?). 

 

No issues on the stainless bearings with the metals shields. I don't even take the shields off much anymore.

[bulldog1935]

Hexane, alcohol, acetone and mineral spirits only dissolve paraffins - oil, grease, wax.  

I would be hesitant about brake cleaner, which likely contains stronger solvents that dissolve oxidized polar organics, and may attack rubber bearing seals.  

 

You can get a small jewelery ultrasonic cleaner for $5 on Amazon.  Nice thing about ultrasonic is it moves dissolved grease and oil farther away from the bearings, leaving less residue - works like a tiny toothbrush.  

[Alex from GA]

A 35mm film can with alcohol.  I used to have an ultrasonic cleaner for my motorcycle and chainsaw chains and that worked good for bearings. 

[FrnkNsteen]

Another good little tip if you don't have an ultrasonic is put it in the container, then hold the container against a shaver, trimmer, or anything that vibrates. The vibrations will transfer to the container and mimics an ultrasonic, especially if it is glass.

 

I use a small glass horseradish bottle and my cheap cordless mustache trimmer if I don't feel like digging out the ultrasonic bath. 😆😆 You can watch the crap come up out of the bearings.

 

Careful though, some cleaning agents heat up under vibration from ultrasonics.

[bulldog1935]

I've done the shake in can of solvent - it's less than a trick with less than complete results.  

No comparison to ultrasonic cleaner, even cheap $5 jewelry cleaner, which is perfect for cleaning reel parts.  

With the ultrasonic, you actually see the grease leaving the bearing - until the solvent goes completely opaque with dissolved grease - the film can still has clear solvent, so you're not getting the grease out of the bearing.  

If you also clean bicycle chains, you can justify a $35 ultrasonic cleaner.  

[newapti5]

19 hours ago, Sota said:

Does acetone or brake cleaner effect sealed bearings? 

 

According to my experience, for sealed bearings, an acetone bath in an ultrasonic cleaner for less than 10 minutes is more effective than an acetone soak of overnight.

Just make sure to get an ultrasonic cleaner with a metal container.

[FishTank]

I have used Simple Green/Simple Orange and acetone.  Both work well but an ultrasonic cleaner makes them more effective.  I bought a cheap one off of Amazon and so far so good. 

 

I soaked the bearings out this reel I snagged about 20 feet deep and then ran them in the ultrasonic cleaner the next day. The additional gunk that came out was staggering. This dead Black Max works exceptionally well now.

 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Naphtha works well but I’ve moved on due to health concerns with repeated exposure. Acetone is more user friendly and almost as effective. You can follow up with a dna bath for extra but it’s not necessary. Simple green for the rest. 

[ike8120]

I use the acetone nail polish remover for bearings and carefully use on metal parts. For the rest of the reel I use Penn Rod and Reel cleaner. Remember acetone does not play nice with plastics.