Re Lubricants

[john elder]

Okay, get your mind out of the gutter. ...

There's been some past dialogue about reel lubricants and I thought that most were singing the praises of something called "Hot Sauce". I went by the tackle shop and the fellow said "sure" , then handed me a bait dressing called "Hot Sauce" and said it was all the rage. Did I get the name wrong or is this like the WD-40 thing in reverse?

[Farace]

I went to the tackle shop last week and asked for Zebco Hot Sauce and the guy looked at me as if I'd been taken hook, line and sinker. He knew about it, but felt it was all gimmick and then sold me on the Penn products. Said the grease was made by the same company that makes lubricants for NASA's Mars Rover. (Makes me wonder if he had been taken hook, line, and sinker!) But he swore by the stuff, said it was the best thing out there and told me to get the white lithium grease out of my Mitchell 300.

[john elder]

thanks, Bob..and here's the thread that answers my own question re the name...have to go back and see if it was a Zebco product he showed me.

http://reeltalk.orcaonline.org ... =hot+sauce

[Ron Mc]

John, I've been using Zebco Hot Sauce grease and lube on my reels since I showed up on this bulletin board, and they are excellent products. The grease NEVER gets stiff.

[Farace]

Ron (or anyone), can you compare the Hot Sauce to the blue Penn grease? I followed the link John posted and saw the Colonel's comments that the Penn "works but slings off." On the reels I use, I don't imagine any of them are working at a speed where slinging off is a problem, and on reels that sit on the shelf, it's a non-issue. So in terms of other qualities, are they comparable? I'm wondering if there is a clear difference, or are we talking small degrees of excellence?

[SWIM JIG]

jump yay-banana usa ONE MORE TIME!I have recomended ZEBCO HOT SAUCE GREESE tm. and Zebco hot sauce oiltm in the reel fix column for a long time! also Marvel oil tm I also recomend to keep reels in tune! should your tackle stores not carry it, then they are in pre dark age selling, when you find a tackle dealer in the KNOW or has ever read the Fishing tackle Retailer then they will carry the ZEBCO LUBES! it is a wee bit pricy however a wee bit goes a LOOOONNNGGG WAYS! In a pinch, you can use anty lubes that contain teflon or silicon, in our findings wd40 and that blue junk by Diawa , and that white stuff Sjimano sells will only in time ruin a reel, after all if reels lasted forever? well you should have the Picture, in a pinch and around brackish or salt water most any lube will do untill you can get the reel to a shop for proper cleaning! OK so some of you are going to say, if its that good then the reels go longer between cleanings! VERY true, The Charter Captains now go 3 years before cleaning and lubing, their oil and grease on board? ZEBCO HOT SAUCEtm. and either Zebo Hot Sauce tm oil or Marvel Oil tm. Ther are other products out there howver they are very expesive( SYNCOPEN ) SUPPER LUBE tm, is fantastic for tournoment reels as it water thin, try $16.00 a Quart! however its not thick enough to take severe use for a full season, needs used after each day of fishing with the reel. John, I am going to send you a TUBE! you have done favors for me!You can also buy Hot Saucetm from good dealers or get it direct from ZEBCO, check the zebco web site, Marvel oiltm is in most parts houses from 4 oz to 1 gal size, use what you laike however a main ball bearing can cost $15.00 to $35.00 each, Your ohio Conection On Lake ERIE Col. Milton Lorens aka SWIM JIG,

[Ron Mc]

about grease, the reel answer is what does it look after a couple of years. Is it just as soft as the new stuff in the tube, or has it stiffened? If its stiffening, its turning to wax and will eventually be a solid.

[qwapaw]

I mainly do it because I hate going to the store, But I buy my Zebco Hot Sause on E-Bay. I am not sure if I get a good deal or not, but it is not too expensive there, Good Luck, Dan

[Steve]

If you clean and lubricate a reel annually, you don't need to consider what a grease will be like several years down the road. You don't wait three years to change your car's oil, and any reel that gets used regularly should be relubricated on a regular basis. The characteristics of the ideal lubricants needed for spinning reels probably are subtlely different from those used in conventional reels. And the ideal lubricants for, say, bearings, are going to be different from the ideal lubricants for, say, worm gears. For bearings, maybe the most important consideration is the anti-friction properties of the lubricant, but with gears, you're more concerned with protection of the teeth from the different kinds of mechanical damage. And saltwater reels need better anti-corrosive lubricants than freshwater reels. With both, you also need to worry about how well the lubricants stick where they're supposed to be at high speeds. But there's a big difference in the rotational speeds produced by a trout and a marlin. Point is, if you're lubing a 6/0 Penn Senator, it probably would be safer to use oils and greases supplied by Penn for that type of reel. If you're lubing a Zebco ultralight spinning reel, you'll probably do better with Hot Sauce.

Whatever lubricants you use, remember some other sage advice from our pal, Milford ("Stanley"): Don't keep live prunes in your tackle box.

[Farace]

Does grease harden simply through age, or is hardening also a result of churning it through the gears? How often do people clean and regrease a reel that is for display only, where the factor affecting the grease will be age only rather than use?

[Steve]

Seems to be a result of both age and heat. Grease mixtures separate over time, and heat accelerates the process, so eventually only the grease thickeners remain. A lot of the cakes in old reels probably were caused by years of reel use, followed by years of storage. Most modern greases are probably a lot less likely to separate, but they probably all do eventually. The amount of lubricant you might want to use in a display piece may be too small to worry about, anyway. Better to consider just coating the metal enough to stave off corrosion.

[john elder]

I once bought a bunch of tackle from this old gentleman who used to own a sporting goods store. When he sold out, he carted off assorted brand new tackle that had never been out of the box, including a couple of Ambassadeurs and several Shakes 2062s. i went to sell the latter reels to a buddy (wish I had that whole find back..it was before i started with reels), touting them as NIB. We pulled them out and tried to crank them...they wouldn't budge! buddy looked at me like I was really trying to hose him! Turned out that they had just been sitting since the '70s and the grease had totally set up in there. finally got them turning after getting the initial crank to go, but stiff as a board!...soooo, the grease doesn't have to be used nor hot to get nasty!

[Ron Mc]

oxidation is what hardens grease - changes its molecular structure.
just the way varnish ages - the products are waxes and acids.

my observation was with Diawa blue - a high quality grease I've been using for 20 years. I lubed two reels within a few weeks of each other, Daiwa blue and Hot Sauce grease. When I went back many months (and fishing) later the blue was stiff and waxy and the red wiped off like it just came out of the tube. I haven't used anything else since then.

I think the fact that Zebco tests these in salt spray cabinets (of course they're the only reel maker with the overhead to afford that) says a lot for their development efforts.

[Reel Geezer]

It might help if you look for Quantum Hot Sauce, instead of Zebco. The companies are both parts of the same conglomerate, but the grease and oil are marketed under their Quantum brand, not Zebco.

There are several fine oils marketed for modern high speed ball bearing reels, but these are not needed for our antique reels. Rem oil and three & one oil have tested to be as high a quality as most of the modern super oils and are a lot cheaper than Hot Sauce.

[Airexguy]

I just looked on E-bay under the sporting goods section and typed in Hot sauce and sure I got some extra items not related to Quantam Hot Sauce, but its there. The oil and grease are both available.

I learned about this product line some time ago, from a fellow who posts messages on the board from time to time. After thoroughly cleaning my Airex reels I use the Hot Sauce products and I believe they operate better than when new. Granted I don't how they operated when new, but this product makes a HUGE difference. Bob Halver----->The Airex Guy

[FSREPAIR]

I am aware of the thin Super Lube Col. Milt talked about but the Super Lube I use is the multipurpose grease which is about the consistency of vaseline and works much better. It is a synthetic grease with PTFE (teflon) added. It has a working temperature from -45F to +450F. I buy it in 400gr tubs which is about 14 oz. Cost is between $8 & $9 per tub so it is very economical to buy and use. The best thing is that it works great on gears and after using it for over 8 years I have never had it harden up like petroleum or lithium based greases do.

The three reel oils I use made by Corrosion Technologies Corp are Corrosion X, Reel X, & Speed X. Check out their website at:
http://corrosionxproducts.com/index.htm
Each one has different characteristics and uses but for bearings I use Speed X exclusively. Speed X was developed for roller blade bearings but it is the best one I have used for reel bearings. Randy

[hurdpete]

I too like the Superlube - I've had my 16 oz. tub for at least 20 years (yep, they originally made it in 16 oz. - today it's 14) and have seen no separation or any other kind of change in its properties over that time. I like it because it has a silicon base with teflon that is completely non-acid and doesn't harden, separate or melt (at least at temperatures under 600 degrees F.!), so you can lube a reel and not have to do it again, and not have to worry about the lube damaging the reel over time (like some lithium based lubes). The only drawback I've found is that the thickness of the lube doesn't work well on baitcasting reel parts- it doesn't come off the parts at all, and they run much more slowly than with a proper thin lube; if you're only going to display the reel it won't make any difference, but it isn't what I would use for actual use or if you want the reel to spin freely (see Col. Milt's Hot Sauce). It works great on spinning and trolling reels where viscosity isn't an issue.

[RAM]

Amazing so many ORCANs know so much about lubricants but not one soul knows the name of the city with historically the most reel factories. We're well lubricated but kind of squeaky on reel history. The answer shortly.

Back to lubricants. Wasn't Pflueger's "Speede" reel oil sperm whale oil for many years?
Bad Bob

[FSREPAIR]

I use Super Lube on baitcasting reels all the time and they spin as freely as one could ask for. The idea is not to apply the grease to the backside of the drive gear (the side that comes in contact with the side plate), drive gear shaft, or spool shaft. I only apply the grease to the teeth of the gears. I apply Corrosion X, Reel X, or Speed X to the backside of the drive gear, drive gear shaft, the collar on the side plate that the drive gear shaft goes through, the worm shaft for the line guide, bushings, bearings, & spool shaft. I also apply a thin coat to the inside of the side plates or any other metal surfaces that may corrode. I let it set for a few minutes on the side plates & metal surfaces and then wipe down the surfaces with a dry rag. This will help protect these parts against corrosion. Another trick I use when lubing a reel is to apply a few drops of Corrosion X to a piece of 0000 steel wool and use it to polish the shafts, including the drive gear shaft, spool shaft, and the inside of brass bushings. After polishing I wipe the surfaces down to remove any residue and apply a thin coat of Speed X to these parts. Some people may call this super tuning but I simply think of it as a way to enhance the performance of the reel by reducing friction. This works particularly well on brass, bronze, & steel shafts. Try it and I am sure you will be happy with the results. Randy

[SWIM JIG]

jump yay-banana canadian usa < now I am confused, thats normal for me! Randy, as you did live in Iowa this last time I looked, why all the extra lubes? there isnt too much Salt Water in that STATE? The Supper Lube I refer to is the OIL called SYNCOPEN synthetic penetrant , a very thin oil we us on ball bearings in compotiion reels, it also has a teflone like particals in it, they dont give the actual make up, the upc code #82353 85032) this oil breaks out rust from ball bearings and lubes the bearnings for turnoment reels! The greese you talk about we have that also, it works well and wont cake or harden under most conditions, as for steel wool there is a brass wool out and the company producing it is HOMAX, product # 123100) upc code is 33873 12300, comes in 3 grades coarse, medium and FINE we use the Fine. as for oils , and Greese, We find that the HOT SAUCE grease works best and last the longest, under most coditions including a several month vist to the bottom of lake Erie when a boat sunk in bad weather, rods and reels were on the bottom for 5 weeks until the divers brought them up! Sand was the worst problem, and after a drying out, and a air presuer of 125 lbs. to rid the sand, we looked for water damage, it was minor , some fiber drag washers had sand in them and had to be replaced, The Hot Sauce and Marvel oil held up very well! We went thru the reels with a normal Mineral Spirts washing, dryed them and relubed with HOT SAUCE and Marvel Oil, yes those reels were Diawa 47LCs over 12 yaers old and still working as designed to work! I will say only this, on a comercial business and personal use reels, we just have yet in 11 years have a comeback because of lube failure, Penn Grease works however the gears throw it away and its bare metal to metal! Hot sause Greese and oil will do just fine, or Marvel oil works very well, 97 charter captains are well satisfied as a bad reel makes for a very angry fisherman on a Charter boat! The Only thing on this issue is , if it works for you then use it! Col. Milton Lorens aka SWIM JIG on Lake Erie

[FSREPAIR]

I was not aware that a reel had to be used in saltwater to get corroded? Fresh water and and even just damp or humid conditions can cause corrosion between dissimilar metals as most older and newer reels have. For instance reels which have screws or other parts froze up is an example. Using a lube like Super Lube or the oils from Corrosion Technologies which have dielectric properties will prevent most of that from occuring. My only reason in promoting Super Lube and the reel oils manufacturered by Corrosion Technologies Corp, is simply that they are the best & most economical lubes I have used.

You asked "Why I use three oils?" I thought I stated the reasons for that already. Simply go to the Corrosion Technologies website mentioned above for further info.

My post was purely for the benifit of other collectors and/or guys who work on their own reels and might want to try some other products that work as well as the more expensive lubes. The tips on polishing were simply for the average guy who wants to improve the performance & life of their own reels. Please excuse my ignorance and accept my apologies for not knowing everyone already knew all of this. Randy

[Jack Bright]

I have been told a collector doesn`t need grease ! Reels just sit on shelf
and get handled a couple times a year. My favorite lubricant is from Len
Sawisch, an oil with Teflon in it. Fishing with a reel; now that`s a different
story. Especially in Salt !