Which Reel Grease and Oil do you Recommend?

[NateFollmer]

I decided to take a stab at cleaning and servicing my reels myself. Which oil and grease do you recommend? I bought some cheapo Eagle Claw oil and grease but I'm too afraid to use it because it was loads cheaper than everything else I saw. I guess I should have asked this question BEFORE I went to get the stuff, but I was buying tackle and it was just there (an impulse buy). Stupid salesmen and their impulse product placement!

[hmongkidBee]

Cal's drag grease is the best grease I believe.  As for oil go with yellow rocket fuel.  you can find them online for cheap, try ebay.

[I.rar]

i used Penn oil/grease and shimano drag grease on the drag washers and i like it just fine.

[Catt]

It's sold by David Green "The Reel Mechanic"

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

More important than brand is application. Only use an actual drag grease on the drag washers. I like Shimano's or Cal's. You don't need to be "Afraid" to use what you bought. Make sure all old lube is removed especially when changing brands. Worst case, it may need servicing a little sooner than if higher quality lubes are used. Let me know if you need a hand with anything.

Mike

[NateFollmer]

Thanks everyone.

@Mike - I'll probably be sending you some reels once I get some extra money. For now, I'm going to try and make due with what I can do myself I always liked being able to take care of my own stuff too, I guess it's almost an ego thing HA No, I just like to learn as much as I can... about as much as I can (if that makes sense). It's a blessing and a curse!

[BobP]

I use Superlube grease, TG's Yellow Rocket Fuel, and Shimano Ace-2 drag grease on drag washers.  There are several good bearing oils available including Reel Butter Bearing oil (not the regular oil, which is thicker).  Quantum Hot Sauce has good lube characteristics if you can stand the ugly red stain getting all over the inside of the reel (I can't).

Superlube comes in small squeeze tubes for about $2, or  you can buy an 8 oz can (a lifetime supply!) of the stuff for less than $10 at a Napa auto store.  It's an automotive bearing grease but is used by many reel service centers and works great.  It contains PTFE and is white in color.  Any grease will work - this stuff just works and lasts best, in my experience.

Drag grease - don't grease drag washers with regular grease because they will become jerky pretty quickly.  Drag grease is much thicker stuff, most often based on cosmoline, a thick, sticky grease.  Penn Muscle Grease, Shimano Ace-2, Cal's, etc are designed for drags and work well.

TG Rocket Fuel comes in 3 different viscosities.  Yellow is the one you want.  There's a tradeoff on bearing oils.  The lower the viscosity, the easier a bearing will spin but the faster the oil will migrate out of it.  The YRF will last 4-6 months in typical use before the 2 spool bearings will need another drop.   

[.RM.]

It's sold by David Green "The Reel Mechanic"

More important than brand is application. Make sure all old lube is removed.

Agree 100%........

[NateFollmer]

Thanks for the input guys! I'm going to head over to Quantums site and get my reel schematics and see how far I can get into this before I mess it up....

Mike - I'll keep your number on speed dial in case I have to send you an emergency reel. HAHA I'll drive it out myself if I have to!

[RWSCHMITZ]

Also do not over oil and grease your reel !!!!  1-2 drops of oil max for the bearings and a light coat of grease on the gears. Someone posted that Hot Sauce oil was all over the inside of his reel, then he over oil the bearings !!!!!!

[fishfordollars]

Check with the manufacturer. Failure to use the reccommended oil/grease can void the warranty.