Reel Oils

[OkobojiEagle]

I've been using Yellow Rocket Fuel, RemOil and Berkley's reel oil interchangably for the past several years and haven't noticed any difference between them. I'd like the opinion from some of you seasoned guys about RemOil specifically, but also throw in your thoughts on the other two oils as well.

oe

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

We owned a lube oil distributorship for years and here is my take. The main thing is to lube regularly and properly with an appropriate product for the application. There are no magic formulas. Any of the mentioned products will work. Check the viscosity of a given oil and remember that lower vis. (thinner) will allow bearings to spin faster but won't last as long. Higher vis. is the opposite. What you want is a happy medium. You can go as far as using sewing machine oil in the bearings if you have that around the house. Whatever you use: clean the part thoroughly. In the case of bearings that means flushing with acetone... then dry. Apply one drop directly on the race (side)and give a spin. All this applys to grease as well. Drag washers are a special application and need a drag specific grease. Cal's or Shimano Drag can be used and work well through out the reel. If you're not going to mess with the drag, Super Lube is a good product or Yamaha Marine or similar will work.

[OkobojiEagle]

I was hoping someone could provide a comparison of viscosity and penetrating properties between these oils. As Rem Oil is formulated for a purpose other than fishing reels I had no empirical data comparing it to either of the other two oils I mentioned. I feel the Berkley's oil penetrates the race cover a little better than Rocket Fuel and Rem Oil but I'm not confident that my OBSERVATIONS are accurate. Rocket Fuel needs to be re-applied more often than either of the other two. The sewing machine oil I use in my tailor shop (O.K.'s oil) appears lighter than all three of the previously mentioned oils and I wasn't impressed with it when I tried some of it for reels several years ago.

oe

btw... I use a lightly applied coating of 70wt. synthetic lower unit oil to lube my level wind pawls.

[breezy]

I think I remember seeing a more recent chart with a few more oils on it but couldn't find it. Search around on google for reel oil viscosity chart and you may run across it.

[OkobojiEagle]

Breezy... Thanks for the chart! Who'd of thought 3-in-1 oil might be an excelent cold weather spool bearing oil? I guess I'll drop my Rem Oil from usage in my bearings and feel comfortable with the Abu (Berkley) and Yellow Rocket fuel. I'm assuming the shelf life of these oils extend into the decades?

oe