Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

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escharfie
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Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by escharfie »

Fishing reel lubricants can be divided into three categories, oil, grease, and protectants.

1. OIL - Sleeve bearings, sliding mechanisms, and rolling element bearings should be lubricated on final assembly with a good grade of pure light machine oil or a 5W-XX automotive PAO synthetic oil like “Mobil 1”. I simply use Singer All Purpose Machine Oil, that is made for sewing machines. Mobil 1 is one of the best synthetic oils money can buy and is compatible with all natural machine oils. NEVER use oils that contain TFE. TFE is a solid and will gum up your reel eventually.

2. GREASE – Gears should be lubricated with grease. Grease is the most misunderstood of the lubricants. Fancy expensive greases that have “secret” or “proprietary” formulations are not worth the extra money. Stick with the basics.

Greases are composed of OIL and SOAP. The oil does the lubricating and the soap holds the oil in position. Greases should be selected based upon the environment that they will be working in. So, what are the desired characteristics of a fishing reel grease?

a. Good lubricating properties. Since the oil does the lubricating, we would want a soap that would hold the highest percentage of OIL possible, per ml of grease.

b. Low separation rates of the oil from the soap. Old style Lithium soap greases would “bleed out” and the soap would harden up if allowed to sit without use.

c. Good corrosion inhibiting properties. Being in a possible wet environment, I think this is obvious, especially in salt water.

d. Water resistance. The ability of the grease to stay in place in the presence water.

e. Thermal stability. What? The reel doesn’t get hot. But those of you who fish all winter, like me, appreciate a nice free running reel in cold weather.

There is one TYPE of grease that meets or exceeds all of these requirements…. Aluminum Complex grease. Al Complex grease carries the highest percentage of OIL per unit volume of ANY grease. It WILL NOT bleed out and that is why it is used in the food industry. It has excellent corrosion properties with respect to Aluminum, Bronze, and steel. It also has excellent thermal stability.

So what grease should you use? No problem. “Yamaha Multi-Purpose Grease” available at most Yamaha motorcycle or boat dealers. This grease is blue in color and is one of the finest greases on the market. It’s very inexpensive too. It is an Al Complex grease that contains a PAO synthetic oil, similar to Mobil 1.

Rules concerning grease :

A. Never mix types of grease(with different soaps), especially Al Complex. Soaps will react and harden up or corrode the metal reel parts.

B. Don’t use Silicone grease or oil. Silicones were developed for highly corrosive environments and DO NOT have the lubricating properties (film strength) of a PAO synthetic or even mineral oil. They are not the best.

C. Don’t use greases fortified with TFE. They are a waste of money and can cause gumming problems.


3 CORROSION PROTECTANTS This is my final category. I apply a very light coat of protectant to all internal parts of my reels. Everyone knows about WD-40. But it dries up after a period of time. A better product is “CorrosionX” or “ReelX” manufactured by Corrosion Technologies Corp. in Garland, TX. These products are similar to WD-40 but have very low VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) and will virtually never dry up. “Real Magic” works very well on the exterior surfaces of fishing reels. It dries with a protective film.

That’s it. I hope this helped someone. I am a retired professional mechanical reliability engineer of 37 years and most of my career has been involved with the lubrication of machinery in the chemical and power generation industries.

The above is a summary of an article that I have written on lubrication of Mitchell reels, but would apply to any reel. If you would like a copy, PM me with your email address.
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john elder
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by john elder »

Thanks much for the great info! All new to what has appeared on this board in the past. Most of us, with the exception of bill sonnett and warren platt have been very pleased with quantum hot sauce grease and oil...where do those products fit into your schema? Are they keepers in your opinion or bad guys in disguise?

You may have seen the comment about shimano not honoring warranty when hot sauce is used with their reels and the recommendation was to use shimano drag grease. My immediate thought was that it was a matter of professional gamesmanship, but maybe not?
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by escharfie »

I have no problem with "hot sauce" except for one thing. I don't know what it is! Before I'll use it, I need to know what it is. It's one of those "secret" formulas. I resent the manufacturer for not telling me.

As I was for my whole career, I prefer to deal with people who are up front and honest about what they are selling me without smoke and mirrors. Also, I prefer to stick with basic and sound engineering principles that have served me well. The products that I have mentioned are excellent and I would use them in my most prized fishing reel with equal performance (in my opinion) at a fraction of the price.

If Shimano said this about hot sauce, it is very possible that they have uncovered some incompatabilities between it and their own lubricants. I guarantee that Shimano engineers know EXACTLY the technical specs of the lubricants in their reels.

Besides grease soap problems, some synthetic oil types ( not Polyalphaolefins) can react with mineral oils. Lubricant reactions can and will corrode metal parts prematurely. To be safe, I would never switch to hot sauce without a complete and thorough cleaning of my reel.
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by Kelly L »

Thank you so much for taking the time to inform us with this. I wish I had read this sooner. I just ordered Cal's Drag grease. I have not yet purchased the star drag grease. So I am going to pm you for the full article. Looks like I have some more shopping to do. I have been quite happy with Hot Sauce so far. But if something is better, I want to try it. Thanks so much.
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by Kelly L »

I am having trouble finding the Yamaha Multi-Purpose Grease. They have the Yamaha Marine Multi-Purpose Grease. But that wasn't mentioned, so I did not purchase that. There is one more place to try here. I will have to wait until Tuesday. (closed for Labor Day) If I can't get it locally I guess I will have to order it. It seems you have to use UPS instead of the USPS, so the shipping charges will be more.
If anyone has a good online source, please let me know. I still don't have my order in from Mike's Reel Repair. That is where I ordered the Cal's grease. I ordered it almost a month ago. I guess they are slow, or maybe they are waiting on a back order. The stuff said it was in stock.
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by escharfie »

Kelly, Look here @ $7.22 per pound plus shipping. Buy two. It's excellent for lots of other things like wheel bearings, etc.. I've ordered from this company before. ~~ED

http://www.boats.net/parts/detail/yamah ... 16-TB.html
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by Kelly L »

Thank you escharfie. I think I that is a site I was on before. If you order it, you have to pay UPS to ship. Why, I am not sure. I guess some ingredient in there is the reason. There is the Marine Yamaha Multi Purpose Grease here, from a boat shop. But I am waiting to hear, if that is the same. If not I will have to buy on the internet. It is very good to know you had a good experience with that company. Thanks so much for letting me know.
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by Kelly L »

escharfie wrote:Kelly, Look here @ $7.22 per pound plus shipping. Buy two. It's excellent for lots of other things like wheel bearings, etc.. I've ordered from this company before. ~~ED

http://www.boats.net/parts/detail/yamah ... 16-TB.html
I decided to go with this place. I already ordered it. Thank you again.
Kelly
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john elder
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by john elder »

Ed has written a great article that will be included in the ORCA Reel Restoration Handbook that's being put together. Hopefully, it will be ready as a great stocking stuffer!
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by Kelly L »

Good deal. I look forward to the handbook.
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by Kelly L »

Well my grease came in the mail today. It was not the same tub, as the photo of the product on Boats.net. I was dismayed to see it was Yamalube Multi-Purpose Grease. I thought maybe they just changed the name, and the exterior of the tub, for a new look. The ingredients should be the same. I opened it up, and the grease is RED, not BLUE. Then I really was concerned. I just emailed Boats.net and asked them to find out if it is exactly the same composition. I do know the tub says it has Aluminum Complex in it. It says on the front Water Proof, Extreme Pressure, and Anti-Corrosion on it. So that seems to be the same. I thought the blue one said water resistant. This does not say Yamaha or Yamalube Marine Multi-Purpose. When I find out more, I will post their answer. I asked them if they did not know for certain, please contact Yamaha and ask them. It was very important that I get the exact grease. I don't care if it is red, instead of blue. In fact, the red is preferable. But if the grease is different, that will be a problem.
This is what Boats.net sent me.
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/yamalube/ca ... ductscroll
<<<Multi-Pupose Grease
General purpose aluminum-complex grease resists melting and running under extreme temperature application, excellent for wheel bearings, steering and chasis lube points. Use where specified in the service manual to use grease "B".>>>
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by Kelly L »

Still no word from Boats.net
I hope I will hear from them by in the morning. Surely they have
answers for me on this.

9-13-13
Still not a word from them by this morning. So I emailed them again. It is 6:28pm, and I still have not heard from them. I guess I am gonna have to CALL THEM tomorrow.
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by Kelly L »

Well I finally just had to call them. They never emailed me back. They ended up putting me on the phone with a tech. He said they have switched the color from blue to red. It is virtually the same, if not better ingredients he told me. Basically they just changed the color, and packaging. I particularly asked about the aluminum complex ingredients, and he said that was the same. (My Thoughts: Maybe by better, it went from water resistant to water proof on the labeling.) I hope he is right. I will try this out and see what I think. I actually like the red better than blue.
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by Niro »

Is this grease specs OK to use on salt water reels?
Orelube ocean 7W
Tried to upload a pic of the spec with no success...
says it's white aluminum complex EP grease
Manufactured using high VI paraffin base oil.
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by escharfie »

Niro,

I looked at the Orelube website. Unfortunately, they don't give all of the specs, but I see no reason why the "Ocean 7W" grease would not work in fresh or salt water. The only difference between the Ocean 7, Ocean 7W (white color) and the greases I have recommended are that the base lubricant is made from a natural paraffin base crude oil stock.

Orelube does make a PAO synthetic oil based Aluminum Complex grease called "Trident 88" that looks like it would be excellent. The PAO synthetic oils have better lubricating properties than natural base oils.

Be sure not to mix AL Complex Grease with any other type of grease.

All of my recommended lubricants are now available on amazon.com !
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by Bill Sonnett »

John, I have not been a fan of Hot Sauce Grease for use in antique reels (non-free spool) that are in use in active fishing. The gears in these reels are turning at near "warp" speed during the cast. There is a lot of centrifugal force in play and it has been my experience that this particular grease (along with some others) tends to fly off the gears after a few cast. I look for a gear grease in this case which is "sticky" enough to stay put when the reel in use, day in and day out. This, of course, is not an issue in modern free spool reels in which the gears are only turning during the retrieve and then at a relatively slow speed when compared to the gears in a reel such as a Marhoff or Nobby are during the cast.
I love to get old reels, work on them until they run as smooth as silk and the take them fishing using pre-1960 plugs, mostly surface fishing for Largemouths after dark.
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by john elder »

Funny you should say that, Bill! That's the exact reason that Milt Lorens swore by Hot Sauce! His claim was it was better at staying put than other greases.

Based on Ed's writings, i think he would conclude that if you see the grease flying off, you are using about 4x more than you should. In his article for the Reel Restoration book, his example of a properly lubricated reel hardly showed any apparent grease at all! I'm sure i use too much. But then, you have a lot of experience fishing old reels, so i'm sure you have your own comfort zone.
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Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by escharfie »

John, you are very correct about the amount of grease necessary. Very little is needed. Too much will hinder performance especially in non freespool bait casters.

Synthetic Oils are highly desirable. I’m talking about the common synthetics like PAO (polyalphaolefin). which are pure hydrocarbons. Nothing fancy. All of the big name oil companies make them. There are characteristics of PAO synthetics, both oil and the PAO based greases that I recommend, that work well in fishing reels.

1. Better lubricating properties. High shear strength. Perfect for gears.

2. Temperature stability. They stay soft at very cold temps.

3. Clinging characteristic. Being pure hydrocarbons, they tend to cling to metal surfaces.

All PAO synthetics have these properties, regardless of who makes them !

Hot Sauce Comments: This is from the Quantum website:

“The link to the SDS information is here http://www.zebcobrands.com/SDSHotSauceOil.pdf. It is on our website. You will find the flash point on this sheet. We cannot disclose how the molecular bond occurs as that is trade secret information.”

This trade secret BS is what eats me up ! Big deal, it clings to metal. Nye Lubricants, who makes the stuff, will not allow access to technical information. It looks like a standard synthetic base lubricant, but by keeping the composition a trade secret, they can charge 10 bucks for 3/4 of an ounce !! WOW.

Corrosion X products are wonderful. They are used by the following Reel Manufacturers in new fishing reels. Shimano, Penn Reels, Bauer Fly reels, Okuma Tackle, and Zebco (why doesn’t Zebco claim to use Hot Sauce in their Quantum reels?).

I use Reel-X all the time now along with the Sta-Lube Multi Purpose Marine Grease. All of the greases and oils that I recommend are available at Amazon.com.

There is another grease that I found that meets all of my criteria (AL Complex, Synthetic base oil). Royal Purple Ultra Performance Grease. It come in a 14oz grease gun tube.
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Re: Fishing Reel Lubricants - The Basics

Post by Niro »

Thank you so much Edcahrfie :bow:
I now feel confident greasing my reels thanks to you!
Would please like to ask you more about how much, how and where on the reel exactly to use with ReelX product by CorrosionX ?
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