Maintain and fix reels

Let's maintain and fix reels!

I know many fishermen love to open their reels and fix them from night to night especially during winter. Here is something you should mind before opening reels. Stories are for mainly Shimano casting reels but mostly applicable to all casting reels.

My reel doesn't cast well recently.

Before you send back your reel, let's check it by yourself.

As you use the reel, and time pasts, your reel will not perform as it used to. Most troubles are related to the damage of ball bearings, caused by improper lubrication, no-lubrication, salt-water damage, long-storage, and etc. Recent reels are equipped with a lot of high-quality stainless ball bearings, but they die sooner than you expect with improper care. Here you will find how to diagnose your reel easily.

To diagnose spool bearing condition:

Count the duration of spool spin when you hit it by finger. Please remove lines from spool and disable all centrifugal brake blocks. Make sure to loosen the mechanical brake and clutch off the reel. In good condition, spool should spins the time of duration listed below.

Model	Spin Duration Average, * (seconds)
Antares MG	14-16
Metanium XT red	3-4
Metanium XT silver SF	12-14
Scorpion 1500/1501 w/normal spool	3-4
Scorpion 1500/1501 SF	12-14
Calcutta 200XT/201XT	4-6
Scorpion 1000/1001, disabling outer blocks	12-15
Daiwa reels w/ MAG force V, brake min	6-8

*Genuine oil lubrication. If you use different oil, result will differ.

**The data is not official, but will provide good sense of your reel condition.

If your spool doesn't spin long, please check 3 BBs as follows.

1) BB on brake plate (at the end of spool shaft): Put the spool on the brake plate upright and gently hit the spool. Good BB will spin very smoothly without noise. With a rusted BB, spool does not spin, or it makes strange noise. 2) Please take out the BB from mechanical cap side and do the same. Be careful, springs and small white washers love to jump.
3) BB on spool shaft (reels w/normal spool or wiffle spool, not applicable to SF spool reels): Pinch the outer of the BB and spin the spool gently. Good BB will spin very smoothly without noise. When you pinch the BB, your finger should not touch the pin on shaft or spool. If you see any red or orange at the BB, it is surely rusted and dead.

Unless you have used your casting reel with saltwater, other ball bearings don't have to be checked for a long time.

If you find any ball bearings wrong, flush it in a small bottle of light oil or gasoline. Many trouble will be solved by this. If the ball bearing still make some noise, it is worn out. Replace it with new ball bearing. Higher grade ABEC ball bearings do little, and normal grade is fine. Use the spared money on fishing lines.

Gear trouble?

When you feel gear noise, and fine vibration in retrieving:

First, fix 2 BBs at the end of spool shaft. Then if the reel is equipped with an SF spool, check the BB at pinion gear. The BB is indicated in red. It is covered by a thin metal plate. This BB is easy to suffer water damage because of its position, and then it makes noise and fine vibration like gear noise. If the BB makes some noise or vibration when you put it on a pen and spin it with light thrust, replace it. This BB should be lubricated with grease because it receives large thrust from pinion gear.

If you still have vibration, then open the body and check the pinion gear, if you are capable to reassemble.

I'd like to replace parts

We sell parts for Shimano and Daiwa Japan models. Please contact us at question@japantackle.com Also many parts are interchangeable with US models.

Lubrication, a lot of alternatives

Choose oil wisely. Thin spray oils, like WD40 are too thin to be used for BBs which will covered by water. It soon evaporates from your BB, and leaves damages like corrosion or rust. Use reel oil sold by Shimano or ABU for longer life. There are a lot of after market oils like ReelX, Rocket Fuel, silicone oils and etc. Please remember, any oil cannot divert largely from biscorsity(thickness)-life line. If you use thin performing oil, you'll need more frequent maintenance. If you use thick oil or grease, reel and bearings last longer but doesn't cast as good as thin oil-lubed reels.

How to prevent troubles?

1) Read the instruction paper. However, the instructions will be written in Japanese for directly imported reels. Instructions on the US reels and Japan reels are almost the same. The only difference is about lubrication. Japanese models are mostly lubricated with oil, and US models are with grease. If you see any rain drop marks in the paper, that's the place you need to take care.

2) Lubricate your reel as frequently as possible. If you could correctly guess what's on the instruction picture, now you know the very what is written. For Shimano Japan casting reels, you should lubricate BBs at both end of spool shaft at least once every three fishing trips.

3) Use appropriate oil in appropriate amount at appropriate frequency. Don't put spray oil to BBs lubricated with grease, or to inside the reel system. The thin oil will wash away the grease from them. Similarly, if you put thin oil into gear system, gear will no longer hold grease on its surface, and they start scraping each other. Grease is used to gears, BBs holding gears, handle, clutch, and etc, to almost every parts sliding or moving.

Genuine oil are a little thicker than those spray oil, but they last longer on BBs. If you use thin oil, you will shorten the life of BBs. Just a drop, or less than that is fine for small ball bearings. Excess oil will travel to other parts and do wrong on them.

4) Dry it. Clean it. Dry out the reel after you use it. If you drop a reel into water, don't use it before cut water fully. Water will be mixed with grease and cause troubles if you use it immediately. Dirt also do only harm to reels. Keep your reel clean. If you've drop a reel on sand and handle doesn't rotate later, don't force the handle. Sand particles are stacking between gears and you'll damage both gears if you force it. Open the reel and clean all the inside parts fully.

5) Wash your reel in a flowing tap water, after you use it with saltwater and blackish water. Never sink it in pooled water. Of course dry it, and lubricate it every time. For spinning reels, the BB at line roller will die first. Wash it thoroughly, and lubricate it with grease or thick oil like gear lube.

6) Pay a little for longer life. Ball bearings and other parts like pinion gear are designed to be replaced if necessary. With regular maintenance and replacing those worn out parts, fishing reels last very long with great performances. It is a good idea to have it serviced at the end of every/every two fishing season. Your purchase is not a cheap to be thrown away after use of a few seasons!!