cleaning a spinning reel

[davef]

i found a browning gold medallion spinning reel in a lake that was being lowered down. it was full of mud but turned free and eazy. i cleaned it up and put it back together and it still turned free and eazy. now a week later it is real stiff to turn the handle. i assume i just need more grease on the gears but thought i'd ask for suggestions. this reel has three ball bearings one on each side of the handle and one on the main shaft. probably a dumb question but how do you clean and lubricate a ball bearing. thanks for any help you can provide.

[EyeBoy]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-23-00 AT 08:46PM (CST)[p]Dave;
Tear it down and be sure to keep the parts in order, so that you can reassemble it properly. Use a spray can of carb cleaner to clean the parts and bearings, don't spray them in the house. Check the bearings for roughness, if they are rough replace em. Other wise pack them with a silicone base reel grease. Be sure to lube all of the moving parts that make contact, gears etc. It should be a nice evening project. OBTW, if you find any rust clean it off with some fine crocus cloth or equivelent. Also don't over grease it, a little goes a long way. Good luck
ON-PLANE!!! TOM
PS. use your fingers to squeeze the grease into the bearings.

[Bob Z]

Dave, Here is another idea on what may have happened. When the internal parts of the reel where exposed to air there may have been some moisture left inside the reel. Combination of the oxygen and moisture created oxidation. Another good cleaning may be in order making sure no moisture is in the bearings or other internal parts. Hope it works for you.

[EyeBoy]

Dave;
Almost forgot to mention that some carb cleaners can be tough on plastic, use caution.
ON-PLANE!!!TOM

[Sweed]

Sounds like you got the info you needed.... curious as to where this lake is. They are lowering one here in Iowa at Lake McBride state park. I was out there last week and found a few anchors, all the rods and reels I found were shot.... You hit the jack pot. Those Gold Medallions from Browning sell for about $79. Good Luck, Sweed

[REW]

In addition to the other posts, many ball bearings are quite susceptable to rusting. As one of the other folks suggested -- remove each ball bearing from the reel - and hold it in your hand and attempt to spin the bearing. An easy way to do it is to put the bearing on a tapered stick - like a pencil to hold the inner bearing and then spin the outer shell. There should be absolutely no drag, no roughness, and no apparent friction.

If there is any contamination, or rusting in the bearings - it will feel rough, or have noticable drag. If, after blasting the bearing with brake, or carb cleaner -- you still feel drag -- replace the bearing. Normally, most ball bearings, should be oiled - not greased. If you use grease in ball bearings, and if the weather is a bit on the chilly side, the grease can cause a lot of apparent drag. Conversely, if you almost always use your fishing equipment in very warm weather, then a light grease is in order, to help keep it in the reel.

For example -- all of my open water reels, I use a combination of silicone grease (for the gears) and a high quality oil, like sewing machine oil - for the bearings, and handle.

However, for any of my ice fishing reels - that are consistently used in colder weather -- I clean the reels and remove all grease. Then I simply use the sewing machine oil on both gears and bearings. When it is 0 degrees outside -- the grease can get almost as hard as concrete -- and makes the reel much tougher to turn.

Take care

REW

[EyeBoy]

REW;
That's a big affirmitive on the grease when ice fishing etc. Things can get a little sluggish. As an intresting aside, on an elk hunt with a buddy of mine, he had the bolt of his rifle freeze closed. The lube on the bolt locked it solid, he was known thereafter as ol one shot.
ON-PLANE!!! TOM