Keep water off the line before it hits the reel?

[Chris W.]

Hey guys, my buddy and i went out fishing yesterday. He has a pinnacle platinum plus. Well, he always hands his reels off to me to clean and service and when we got home he handed it to me. Today i opened the side plate and pulled the spool and a ton of water literally came pouring out from behind the brakes. The spool is wet and the grease/oil is wet and black. I swear years ago i saw someone tie a rag to their rod or something to keep water off the line. He uses 12lb mono if it makes the difference. but i want to try and figure out a way to keep the water off the line which in turn will keep water out of the reel.

[Wayne P.]

If the reel spool has holes in it, wrap the arbor with teflon tape before installing the line. That will keep most of the water out of the inside.

[BASSclary]

Mono absorbs water, so that may be part of it. Maybe when reeling in he can run the line through his fingers when palming it.

[J Francho]

It isn't going to hurt, its normal.  Just store your reel in a dry place.

[Chris W.]

The water got into the internals (gears and everything), behind the brakes, on the spool shaft and pretty much if he threw it into the pond it wouldnt have made any difference lol.

[J Francho]

It probably doesn't matter, no reel is waterproof.  I can move this to the Pinnacle forum if you'd like, and maybe they can help you out better.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Reels are designed to be used around water, some contact is inevitable. If anything, this makes the case for regular, thorough maintenance.

[.RM.]

Reels are designed to be used around water, some contact is inevitable. If anything, this makes the case for regular, thorough maintenance.

X2

[Hammer 4]

I run clean fresh water over my reels that get used for the salt, i.e. a Curado, and a Castaic..never had any problems with water pouring out of them..I have them serviced 2 times a year.

[Bassn Blvd]

Never heard of such a problem with that much water.  Buy a better reel.

[Sam]

Do you think that some of the components are not setting correctly and allowing water to enter the reel?

A very small offset that is not easily seen with the naked eye could allow water into the reels.

I have never had any water in any of my baitcasters or spinning reels.

I always check the screws before venturing out just to make sure all components are fitting snugly together.

Great question and the answers are excellent. Please let us know what you determine to be the problem. 

[Chris W.]

the reel is a walmart reel, it's like 40$. I've never had that issue with my baitcasters either but i was more so asking for him. I think the water gets in through where the spool meets the frame because theres a gap there. I kid you not, at least half a tablespoon of water came out of the side cover. and the oil in the bearings got washed out, it looks like liquid graphite. The grease is nasty and has water on it, but obviously grease is mostly inpenetrable by water. I'm going to do a teardown and regrease and reoil everything, i just didn't know if there was a way to prevent this next time. My accurist gets soaked, but not internally, and i've looked at the grease and oil inside of it and it's untouched.