New baitcast reel questions

[Sota]

I just got a Tatula TW 100 XHL. 
 Should I oil it before using? Is there anything I should do to it before using it? 
It’s my first bait casting reel. 

[MRQturbo]

Out of the box, not needed.. Fish away.. 

[dk2429]

Possibly. When I got my Tatula Elite that thing was dry as a bone out of the box. Oiled up, greased worm gear, good to go. 

[MickD]

I have never found a Daiwa that needed oiling before use.  If you do oil it, just a drop on the bearings, other pivots/moving parts.  Don't take it "apart," just take the side cover off.  NO NEED to go into it farther and you would have a good liklihood of screwing it up.  Most often needed oiling on casters is the level wind worm gear, just turn it over to expose the worm and a few drops along its length.  Check this now and then.  When it looks a little dry, oil it.

[FishTank]

Every Tatula I have purchased or worked on has been bone dry. They definitely improve with a little TLC.

[MN Fisher]

I do minor servicing on every new reel - some of them are okay out of the box, some are dry and some are overloaded with grease.

[ABU is overpriced]

You shouldn't be doing ANYTHING out of the box when the reel is new. If you feel like there's an issue, return it, and get another one. Someone who is new to baitcasters shouldn't be greasing the gear set of a d**n new reel 😐

[DogBone_384]

Spool it up and fish it.

[GreenPig]

Bought two Daiwa 100 TW reels and one had bone dry bearings. I'd say your odds are 50/50 that it'll be fine, but I'd oil the bearings. A couple minutes and a couple drops of oil will prevent and poor casting screaming reel.

[wvhunt]

I have four (I think) Tatula reels I purchased new.  Three were just fine, but one straight out of the box made a terrible racket when casting.  I oiled the bearings and all was well.

[new2BC4bass]

I always use as purchased with the exception of 2 reels.  So far I've not had a problem.  Well....except for a 'blem' I bought.  I assumed a 'blem' was cosmetic.  In this case it's the internals.  Haven't sent it for repair (I don't bother with Daiwa) since I have an over abundance of reels.  It will eventually get sent out and most likely be upgraded because I am looking for maximum distance with this reel.

[Brian11719]

Generally I'd say you shouldn't have to and I wouldn't unless it was making noise and sounded like it might need oil. Otherwise wait until you would typically service your reel. 

 

Congrats on the purchase btw. One of the channels I like on youtube specifically for Daiwa reel info is Debo's channel. In this part of this video he goes over setting the spool tension and brakes on Daiwa reels w/ zero adjust here:

and this might be worth looking at if you haven't used a Daiwa before. Hope you enjoy it.

[Bigbox99]

I hate it when misinformation is propagated by these you tube personalities.

 

All reels from every brand I have had their spool tension from the factory exactly as my "zero adjust" Daiwas.  Daiwa just started calling the spool tension knob a zero adjuster and put a collar around it to make it hard to access to psyop you into not tightening it.  You shouldn't have to use "spool tension" on any reel unless it has an incompetent braking system and or user.  The exception being spooling a slinky like heavy fluorocarbon onto a fast spinning free casting reel like a centrifugal but that is easily mitigated by not doing that and using the right tools for the job. 

[Flyfish-mt]

The (2) '24 Tatula reels I purchased were pretty dry from the factory.  One was a domestic and the other was a JDM.   

[MediumMouthBass]

My Shimanos all came ready to fish out of the box.

Almost all Daiwas did too, minus a Tatula 150 and Fuego CT. They came very dry and made horrible noises when casting. A few drops of oil fixed the issue.

Lews were all good as well minus 1 LFS, turning the handle felt like writing on a chalkboard.

On 2/10/2025 at 7:36 AM, Sota said:

I just got a Tatula TW 100 XHL. 
 Should I oil it before using? Is there anything I should do to it before using it? 
It’s my first bait casting reel. 

Its hit or miss with new reels (especially today), if it doesnt sound bad when reeling or casting, and doesnt feel bad then you should be fine and nothing special is needed.

If it feels or sounds the opposite than go onto YouTube, watch a few videos on your reel and only take it apart minimally and add some oil to key areas.

 

Even if your reel is fine you still should watch some videos on it, and familiarize yourself with how its built, what does what, and the key areas you should take care of when the time comes to clean it.