[Manx Fisher]

<font color='#810541'>I clean all my reels by spraying with fresh water after each trip, wiping excess water off then leaving to dry.  Twice a year I simply add a drop of oil to the bearings but that&#39;s as far as my unscientific maintenance goes - partly out of laziness, partly out of fear of destroying a perfectly good reel by taking it apart anymore than necessary.

Now, my quandry is this:  My current approach certainly seems to work for me in as much as my reels are in fine working order and still serve me as well as ever despite being used frequently.  However, some anglers I know swear by the &#39;flush bearings out in lighter fuel before oiling&#39; approach every couple of months, and I feel that perhaps I should be doing more cleaning/maintenace.

I must admit at being more than tempted to try the full cleaning of bearings in lighter fuel before re-oiling, but you know what they say, if it aint broke....

Question then is : how often and how do you clean yours ??</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>Well manx after every trip the reels I use are rinsed in fresh water, no cleaning agents are used as they generally contain salt. The reels are then allowed to dry naturally in air before being sprayed with WD40. The WD40 prevents corrosion and acts as a barrier against salt build up.

Every month I strip the reels down to the last detail and every non plastic part is soaked in petrol to remove any build up and old lubricant that has accumulated, this is then repeated and the perol allowed to evapourate.

The bearings are placed in light oil and alllowed to soak in it. I then begin to re-assemble the reels lubricating every necessary part. To the main drive gears and components I apply a light but high heat resistant grease or a silicone lubricant. Any smaller metalic moving parts are lubricated with a light oil or WD40.

By following this maintenance regime my reels are always in top condition, there are no signs of corrosion and they run as smooth as the day they come out of the box.</font>

 

[Manx Fisher]

<font color='#810541'>Therin lies the crux of my indecision FF. &nbsp;Seems like you go to a lot of work (compared to what I am doing), but are your reels in better condition than mine ?

Out of curiosity &nbsp;- when you clean your bearings, does much dirt come out of them ?

Lets see what others say - perhaps I will find out that I am lazy when it comes to reel maintenance

</font>

 

[Mike Thrussell Jr]

<font color='#000000'>Pretty much all our Abu&#39;s, Penn&#39;s and 7HT&#39;s go through the same cleaning and maintenance regime described by Fishing_fanatic. It the best way to look after your reels, doing so will give you many years of service. Especially my trusty MagElite and 7000 which I couldn&#39;t do without

No bother with any of them, and some of them are 15 years old and still going strong&#33;</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>You would be suprised at the dirt that comes from the bearings, its quite shocking.</font>