There has been several posts recently regarding casting distance and I have a related question. I’ve had problems on occasion with oil in reel bearings inhibiting casting distance. Not in the sense of distance per se, but ease of casting. I’ve tried different oils, but they all seem to inhibit, to some degree, the free rotation of the (spool) bearings. Removing the oil completely solves the problem, but I would think there is some type of low viscosity lubricant that some of you might know of that would provide optimum bearing performance.

For all around use I like yellow rocket fuel, but if you want the fastest try the red rocket fuel.
Here's a link to viscosities for different lubes-
[www.cptelecom.net]

Put your mouse in the lower right corner and click the bubble if you need to enlarge the table...

Stan; Which is better? High # or low#'s I have the Super lube withPTFE good or bad?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2007 11:20AM by Barry D. Thomas Sr..

Stan,
Thanks for the chart. VERY helpful. I've been using Quantum's "Hot Sauce" which is relatively low viscosity, but I see on the chart that Rem Oil (which I have) is even lower. I might give it a try.

jim,
be careful of using too much oil on the bearings. one small drop is usually enough for each bearing on the spool. too much oil will really slow the bearings down no matter which oil you use.

The lower the number the lower viscosity which would be faster. Remember there is a trade off, most of the lower viscosity lubes will have to be applied more often. Jim is right a small drop per bearing is all you need.

I will send out another vote for Yellow Rocket Fuel, if you are not going to use that one. I would give corrosion x a shot. I have used it with good results just as a test. Does not seem to have the need to be reapplied as often..

Tom Kaufmann
GySgt USMC

ATF.....All I have to say on the subject.

Wink!



Derek L. McMaster
Rohnert Park, CA

Born to Fish, FORCED to Work

I use super lube oil on the spool bearings, and the super lube grease on the other bearings. May be better stuff out there, but the ones I've looked at have no (or incomplete) spec sheets for engineering usage and test results. Thus you really can't quantify their complete characteristics. Remember, you want lubrication AND protection. Lower viscosity usually goes along with lower protection and load bearing capacity.
You might also want to:
*upgrade your bearings
*blueprint your reel
*custom spool/bearing sleeve (depending upon the reel). Basically it is a spacer over the axle, inside the spool, that fits up against the spool bearings. It is to ensure that the spool gets no side pressures transfered thru the bearings (as you could get from poor tolerance controls, drag, or belleville compression).

Long ago I spent several months evaluating Mil-Comm's TW-25B on 20mm gatling type weapons and working with the M-C rep, who also used it on his reels. I was impressed enough to start using it then, and to this day haven't used anything else.

Hey Mick,,, isn't a 20mm auto a bit overkill for fishing? Can't be much left to filet afterwards. :-)

Seriously tho,,,, yeah, the military and aerospace research guys probably have the very best stuff. Time marches forward though, with new tech products sprouting in the footprints. Certainly anything used in that 20mm auto application would be great stuff for load, adhesion, and heat. Could well be better stuff out there now, though, even if maybe far beyond fishing reel qualifications.

Nice thing about all the govt used stuff is that there are copious MSDS sheets, ASTM and mil-spec test results. You can actually quantify and have some assurance in the characteristics. All of the micro-market reel oils I've seen lack those things. Suspect most are repackagings of other larger market things,,,, but with the critical data absent you just can't tell, nor can you have much assurance in using them.

Thanks for the Mil-Comm pointer. Lots of data on their site: [www.hostonline2001.com]
I've been using Super Lube, which has specs scattered around it's site in a few spots. For example: [www.super-lube.com] ,,, (note that the EP grease is better on some points and not on that link... search arounf the MSDS and product bulletins to collect the full stats).

Both are full synthetics, and the numbers look good in a quick scan. I see Mil-Comm makes 'Reel Saver' as well, but they have no spec sheets on it. The TW25B you mention sure looks decent, but it is a light grease apparently, not a light oil for freespinning spool bearings. Their greases look outstanding, but the only light oil I see with specs is their MC2500... and it failed the salt exposure test. Immediately takes it out of my list for fishing reel usage.

On the grease front, looks like Mil-Comm is pretty comparable to the Super Lube I've been using. Some of the numbers are a bit better on one side and the other. One I am thinking about is the corrosion and salt test numbers. The TW25B seems to have an edge there. I already have a good supply of the Super Lube stuff, but certainly could see getting TW25B for the non-spool bearings

BTW,,,, have been doing this for awhile: Super Lube EP grease for drags, Super Lube grease for all moving parts and bearings except spool bearings, Super Lube oil for spool bearings, ad the Super Lube Anti Corrosion gel for sealing plates, screws, and reel feet. Using the oil applicator the oil comes in, but all the greases and gels I load into monoject curved tip #412 syringes for easier pinpoint application. Now must decide if TW25B is going to enter the fray by replacing my std Super Lube grease. WIll stick with the SuperLube EP for drags tho, as it seems to have a flash and boiling points off the scale and slightly higher load ratings than the Mil-Comm counterparts.

Thanks for the pointer Mick,,,,, keeps my head gears turning and lubed :-)

Removing the oil completely will speed the reel up. Of course now you'll have to deal with the issue of lubrication. You can try various oils - not only those thought of as "lubricants" - to find what works best for you. There are already oils on the market specifically designed for reel spool speed control. One oil is named "Rocket Fuel" and comes in the Red, Yellow, and Tournament varieties (thickest to lightest in viscosity). Whenever I was casting on a cold day I would go up to the thinner oil, on hot days to the thicker more viscous oil. It is amazing the control the different oils provide.

The I used this stuff on were highly tuned reels, no level wind, balanced. For fishing I use the oil from Abu that comes in the small white squeeze bottles or regular 3-in-1 lube oil. Reason: When you began to push the reel too much you approach the region where the reel begins to get squirrely leading to more backlashes and overruns. This gets to be no fun when you're fishing. I am not saying you cannot do it (Robert), but my having been there and done that I opted not to mess with my fishing in this regard.

Lou

These numbers came from tests done personally by Mark Gibson.
I hope they help.
Thanks.
Stan

Try this site for fishing reel bearings and oils [www.bocabearings.com]
Good Wraps Bob