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DYI reel maintenance


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Wanting to look after my spin reels, im interested in maintaining them properly...just dont quite know where to start.

Other than the obligatory rinse and wipe down after a session, thats about all i currently do.

 

Ive an not-so-precious Penn 560 im happy to have a fiddle with (heard they are an easy one to strip too).

 

What are folks out there doing; stripping, cleaning & regreasing, re-stacking drags ect?

Where do i start other than undoing the screws and trying to note where everything came from :unsure: ?

Any vids out there, recomended lubes/grease ect?

 

 

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I think it's economics to an extent, a mid to high end reel is worth paying to have it done if you aren't confident.

But I too am interested in servicing those sub $100 reels a lot of us use!!

 

I dunked a Shimano Sonora, and carefully stripped it, cleaned and regreased it by just paying attention whilst dismantling and then again during assembly. Works fine.

 

But I am interested on keeping the drags on these cheap reels working as new.

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Same, I strip and clean/regrease mid range/cheapies if I need to. I always rinse after use but there's always the odd dunk in the sand etc especially when the kids forget the rod and chase pelicans.....so I end up with the crunchy/jammed reel.

 

If there's sand inside it can be a real bitch. Needs all the grease stripped off and then regreased - all apart. I've tried cleaning while it's mechanically together and it only takes a couple of invisible grains of sand/salt to make you pull your hair out. No methos, just pull apart on a clean bench and layout the order it is pulled apart. Take a picture with your phone, especially any spring orientations.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally had a crack at 2 reels; a Penn Slammer 560 followed by a Shimano Sienna 2500FD.

 

I have never stripped a reel before, do have some general mechanical aptitude but are by no means a 'gun'. I conducted some basic research primarily from the above links, few vids off YouTube & a chat with Mozzie from Gotcha Tackle.

 

An added bonus that neither of these reels were considered particulary valuable either.

 

 

Penn Slammer 560

 

I started with the Slammer as the Penn's have a reputation for being one of the simpler reels to work on. This was second hand, so i didnt know what it had been subjecttd to, otherwise appeared in excellent condition other than some cosmetic scratches and some sand on the outside & under the spool.

 

This link was a great start: http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=3205.0

It refers to a 760L as opposed to the 560 but Slammers are nearly identical, other than size plus mine lacked the Live Liner function.

 

It appeared to be logically put togeather and it amost 'intuative' to strip & reassemble. This wasnt easy but certainly not hard.

There was some grey discolouration of the grease, expected with Al alloy gears, other then that no real issues. So i stripped, cleanend off all the sand and old grease, re-greased, lubed & re-assembled.

It seems fine, just needs to be propely loaded up & tested in the field!

 

 

Shimano Sienna 2500FD

 

The Sienna had been well used wading and had experienced numerous splashes & partial drownings. It was starting to feel rather 'clunky' and i had just about ended its working life.  Glad i started with the Penn as this was a little harder, much due to its smaller size making it fiddly.  Otherwise all the components were similar and function in the same way.

 

Internally the grease was similary discoloured but there was some obvious signs of corrosion on the alloy gears, likely from some earlier salt water intrusion. Drag washers also looked a bit past it. Nevertheless i cleaned, lubed & re-assembled. Now feels much better. Not new-like but certainly a different reel.

 

 

So as long as you are not a mechanical missfit, give it a go it's not that hard! Some advice would be:

  • Find an hour or so where you can concentrate on the reel uninterupted (i found this the hardest part of the whole task!)
  • set up your area first, plenty of room, good lighting & tools
  • have the exploded schematic diagram close handy
  • plenty of small rags & some newspaper
  • a couple plastic containers to store small bits

i used:

  • Cotton buds, an old toothbrush & a small stiff paint brush for cleaning
  • A glass jar partial full of white spirits to soak off greasy gears
  • Inox mx3 as a light oil (plus helped clean stuff) & Inox mx6 grease (no particular reason other than it came in a handy 30g tube with a nozzle).

I'd certainly do it again if one of my reels gets a dunking or otherwise feel unsatisfactory. Might add that none of my reels are considered 'high end', most expensive being a Symetre 4000FL.

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Some great advice there, Underpants. It really is quite easy to do yourself.

 

Gotta love the design of those Slammers, engineered as simply as possible, absolutely no unnecessary parts, very little will go wrong with them and if it does it's easy to fix.

 

One trick with threadlines, especially ones you might wade with or fish in the surf, is this. For many years I have been using boat trailer wheel bearing grease to fill the entire reel body. In this way if it does get splashed or even dunked it is much more difficult for water to pentrate the reel and sand has very little chance of finding its way in. ;)

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  • 3 months later...

A moment's inattention (probably dealing with another puffer) saw the Symetre 1000 have a dunking last wading session :facepalm: . Uncomfortable with the basic rinse & wipe down,  i decided it strip, inspect & clean/lube as required.

 

Nothing mystical about it. Here's what i did.....

 

 

spool off.JPG

  • Spool off.
  • Bit of salt under spool, cleaned.

 

spool support & washers.JPG

 

  • Remove spool support & washers.
  • Bit tricky but they do just pull off.
  • Note the exploded scematic diagram!

 

rotor nut.JPG

  • Removed screw, rotor nut.
  • Handle off too (doesnt need to come off yet tho, just a bit easier to work with).
  • Bit of salt/rust on the handle. Inox applied & worked in.

 

rotor.JPG

 

Rotor now can come off

 

 

anti reverse screws.JPG

Loosen anti-reverse screws- the 3 larger ones here.

 

 

anti reverse.JPG

Anti reverse off

 

 

sideplate screws.JPG

Loosten the 3 sideplate screws(need handle off now).

 

 

sideplate.JPG

 

Sideplate off.

 

 

drive & pinion.JPG

  • Removed drive & pinion gears.
  • Some discolourationg of grease on the gears and particularly on either end of the drive gear and where the pinion/drive mesh.
  • Noted no visable salt water ingress :).

 

All cleaned & re-greased as required. Pretty much as my earlier post regarding the Penn.

Reassembled, to the anti-reverse. Note no grease on the anti-reverse, light oil only. Otherwise it wont 'anti-reverse' at all!

 

 

  • Checked both sides of the bail arm & roller bearing for salt, rust & lube.
  • Note the line roller is a total pain in the :censored: . Suggest leave it alone unless it is acting up!
  • Reassembled & rotor back on, nut & screw in place.
  • Note nut is only finger-tight.

 

 

Now for the drag:

 

drag.JPG

  • removed retainer, and drag washers.
  • Cleaned, re-greased & reassembled.
  • Drag clicker cleaned & re-greased.

 

Spool back on.

 

Has fared fine from its swim. Mostly just expected wear & tear plus a little salt & corrosion.

 

Job done. Just needs to be put to use and properly loaded up as intended :D !

 

 

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I've got a Shimano Tekota 600 that I reckon is 7 or 8 years old, had a heap of use and just keeps going.  Pulled it apart for the first time a couple of years ago and gave it a service.  Was very careful at looking how everything came apart, and when I took a part off a laid it on the table in order of how it was removed, paying particular attention to which way shims etc were fitted.  Over the years I've pulled reels apart to service them only to find they were never the same after I tinkered with them.... :huh:  

 

The first time I pulled the Tekota apart I did so without any assistance, but a tip for young players is Youtube or google is your friend, and with a little bit of searching you will probably find a video or some steps by someone who has pulled the same or similar reel apart. 

 

Anyways just recently the drag on the Tekota started to get really sticky and not smooth.  Was quoted $50+ for service plus the cost of any parts.  For the sum of $7.99 delivered to my door from ebay I picked up a set of carbon fibre drag washers for the Tekota and replaced the worn out old (and fused together) factory paper washers.  Already had a little tub of Cal's drag grease and so the drag now on the Tekota is back to being silky smooth and hopefully has a little more grunt than when it left the factory :) .  I was so happy with the results I lashed out another $7.99 and upgraded the drag in my Saltist 40LW with a set of carbon fibre washers too!

 

I reckon if you're slightly mechanically minded, can read a set of schematics and can watch a video, a basic service is well within the abilities of most. 

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Nicely done Underpants, it's so much easier to do these minor services yourself rather than than taking it to a shop and being without the reel for a few days, also more rewarding.

 

As you noted the line roller on some reels can be a PITA to re-assemble, but it is a part that is most susceptible to corrosion as it is pretty much out in the open, very easy for it to be splashed with saltwater, and if it gets corroded to the point of seizing up it can really stuff up a reel, especially when fishing with braid, the line ends going on the spool all twisted which causes wind knots and all sorts of other tangles. A drop or two of Inox every few trips or after a splashing should be enough, and you can usually do it without taking it apart.

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