Hey all,
My friend brought me her spinning reel from a GX2 combo (closest schematic I could find is this - https://www.ereplacementparts.com/shakespeare-gx35-ugly-stik-2008-reel-parts-c-186371_186374_186689.html) and was saying that it just wasn't spinning anymore. I opened it up and all the bearings were in awful shape.... some of which I'm pretty sure show signs of rust. I initially have sprayed Corrosion X on these and also many parts of the reel while opening up to help loosen anything that might be 'locking' things up. And then sprayed some of the Penn Reel Spray as well. I'm guessing these products are explicitly intended for removing rust, so with that in mind I'm wondering what products (and process) would be recommended. The drag washer stack is pretty rusty as well - I'm thinking fine grit sandpaper might be OK for those? Is there a good way to remove the rust stains from the felt washers too? The reel seems serviceable but I don't think my friend wants to spend any $ to replace any internals. So I'm just wondering if I can restore everything "as-is" and have it functioning again without the overhead of ordering parts, etc. I would be most inclined to order carbontex but don't even know if that would be worth while.
Likely just surface rust jplee3 —
I just soak the bearings and metal parts in Metal Rescue for an hour, or overnight.
Then soak in white vinegar for an hour, or so.
Rinse with fresh water — dry and apply CorrosionX or TSI321.
Any surface rust still evident can be removed with light scraping, plus a burnishing fiber wheel, and "0000" steel wool for a final smoothing.
Basically, it is what ever you want to do — since she doesn't want to spend any money — you are in charge.
Just my opinion.
Best,
Fred
Sandpaper is not the way to go. Get some 0000 steel wool & a small wire brush. It sounds like the reel got rode hard & put away wet. If the bearings are rusty they are scrap. If your friend doesn't want to spend any money on the reel then you might as well return it to your friend and say that you can't fix neglect without parts. I know that is a little harsh but your friend might get the message to take better care of thier equipment. You can scrub everything with the steel wool & grease it up but it's not going to be right but it might work.
I agree with Fred's assessment. You can more than likely get it working and passable if it has a little corrosive rust. Surface rust, especially if it came from some other source like a tackle box or bucket, should clean off easily with a good soak & rub. I wouldn't use anything courser than 800 - 1000 grit wet/dry if I was going to try sanding. Soak & buff would be much better. I would think the bearings would be salvageable unless they're totally locked up.
Good luck & keep us posted on your progress with some photos.
Check the bearing 1st, if it's toast no point in cleaning the reel up if new parts aren't in the cards
I've been soaking the rusty parts in white vinegar. Only one of the bearings was stuck but I just took it out after soaking for an hour or so and was able to break it free. It spins but not nearly as free as the others. I was able to wipe the rust off some of the drag washers but will probably need to rub with steel wool. I may have a metal brush somewhere. If not, Harbor Freight it is!
I guess the rust stains on the felt drag washers aren't that big of a deal then? I have some Cal's so I'm assuming as long as I apply a thin layer especially on the metal washers it should be OK. Assuming I can get the previously stuck bearing to spin a little better, should I pack it and the other bearings with grease (Yamalube)?
She has never opened it and is unlikely to ever open it so the only thing that matters is shining up the plastic and aluminum on the outside and getting the gears and bearings cleaned up enough so they do not grind. Soak the bearing in oil, put it on a mandrel and spin it with a cordless drill. After a few minutes the balls and races will have somewhat polished themselves and be good enough for a spinner.
-steve
Quote from: oc1 on July 08, 2018, 05:50:34 AM
She has never opened it and is unlikely to ever open it so the only thing that matters is shining up the plastic and aluminum on the outside and getting the gears and bearings cleaned up enough so they do not grind. Soak the bearing in oil, put it on a mandrel and spin it with a cordless drill. After a few minutes the balls and races will have somewhat polished themselves and be good enough for a spinner.
-steve
Thanks! What oil would you recommend soaking these in? One of the bearings is pretty smooth but the others you can 'feel' slightly even though they do spin.
About anything would do. People here like TSI321. A solvent like kerosene might actually work better but you will need to keep reapplying because it will spin off the bearing.
-steve
I have been cleaning bearings by blasting with WD-40, and it does a great job of carrying out the debris. It is a solvent, so all rust is removed. Then I flush the bearing with oil. Don't worry about it gumming to a residue in this application...that only happens when something is coated with WD-40 and left to dry. 8)
Try Breakfree CLP it removes dirt & rust from firearms while leaving a coat of lubricant. I use it on Penn's ball bearings.
Its more than likely a freshwater reel used in saltwater. Its not going to last long in this environment. The metal parts were not made for saltwater and they rusted.
Why not replace any bearings you feel are bad? If their rusty outside I bet the inside is as well.
If I'm going to that length on cleaning up a reel and I'd like to last in good shape the last thing I'd do is use the old rusty bearings even if I cleaned them. Bearings are not expensive so why use the old crappy ones?
It seems silly to me people would recommend cleaning most likely bad bearings, putting the reel back together and see how things are. Then in a year or two do the whole thing again, and then replace the bad bearings.
To me it makes sense to do a full cleaning of the reel, replace the felt drag washers and use new bearings. This way if simple maintenance is used moving forward the reel last many years without issue.
Quote from: SoCalAngler on July 09, 2018, 03:40:04 AM
Why not replace any bearings you feel are bad? If their rusty outside I bet the inside is as well.
If I'm going to that length on cleaning up a reel and I'd like to last in good shape the last thing I'd do is use the old rusty bearings even if I cleaned them. Bearings are not expensive so why use the old crappy ones?
It seems silly to me people would recommend cleaning most likely bad bearings, putting the reel back together and see how things are. Then in a year or two do the whole thing again, and then replace the bad bearings.
To me it makes sense to do a full cleaning of the reel, replace the felt drag washers and use new bearings. This way if simple maintenance is used moving forward the reel last many years without issue.
You have a good point! on most I toss them, but I'm finding on some reels...as the older Dam spinners, a good cleaning and they're good as new.
I'm thinking it might be related to the quality of the bearings.
Of course this is just my opinion and what I do for my personal reels.
Sal
It's a thirty or forty dollar combo. How much of that can the reel alone be worth? Half? If so, it's a fifteen or twenty dollar reel that he has already invested a few hours in repairing. Time has to be worth something and parts would be throwing good money after bad. By just getting it working the life of the reel has been doubled. The price of new parts for a junk reel would make a good dent in the cost of that DAM that would last forever.
-steve
Quote from: oc1 on July 09, 2018, 06:50:39 AM
It's a thirty or forty dollar combo. How much of that can the reel alone be worth?
This is why we clean bearings...
Quote from: oc1 on July 09, 2018, 06:50:39 AM
The price of new parts for a junk reel would make a good dent in the cost of that DAM that would last forever.
-steve
And this is a very good point.
Quote from: oc1 on July 09, 2018, 06:50:39 AM
It's a thirty or forty dollar combo. How much of that can the reel alone be worth? Half? If so, it's a fifteen or twenty dollar reel that he has already invested a few hours in repairing. Time has to be worth something and parts would be throwing good money after bad. By just getting it working the life of the reel has been doubled. The price of new parts for a junk reel would make a good dent in the cost of that DAM that would last forever.
-steve
Well put, Steve! Throwaway reels are just that, throwaways. They're not worth the money or effort it takes once they've been neglected. That's why maintaining and repairing the older quality reels is so-o-o-o important!
The reel is back in working order. You can hear the old bearings I'm pretty sure, so new bearings would make things much better but I think it'll be 'functional' - I told her just to use it in freshwater from now on, especially because she bought some new reels that are actually intended for saltwater use.
Even though this is a cheap reel, for me this was all worth it because I'm a noob and learning this stuff. Learning/practicing on a throwaway reel and potentially screwing something up there is a better 'investment' than learning on a Van Staal and screwing that up even worse ;) At least, that's the way I see it, and why I took the time to go through the trouble. On that note, I recently fixed my Shimano Sedona that recently took a sand bath and brought it back to life. That was definitely worth it because it's one of my favorites :)
Any time you thoroughly clean bearings they will make noise for awhile until the grease or oil coats/sets into the balls & races. They usually quiet down after some use.
Quote from: Midway Tommy on July 24, 2018, 03:45:30 AM
Any time you thoroughly clean bearings they will make noise for awhile until the grease or oil coats/sets into the balls & races. They usually quiet down after some use.
I just saw a video of a guy using a Wahl razor to 'sonically' clean some ball bearings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zihUftvqkyA
Wish I had seen that earlier as I would have tried doing that while soaking the ball bearings in the Breakfree. I'm tempted to tear the reel down again and try it out to see if it helps haha. At this point though the reel spins really nicely. It's just noisy. How long does it take before the sound settles down? I noticed after I packed the bearings with grease it quieted down much more than initially when I was just oiling them. The reel doesn't spin any less than it did when I was only using oil, so I figure it's OK at this point - the bearings didn't have shields, which probably didn't help as I'm pretty positive there was sand or some other sort of particles in them.
Poor Man's Ultrasonic Cleaner. Clever. ;)
Clever indeed!
I really want to try doing that now! I do have another reel in the queue to repair for the same friend (lol), so maybe I'll save it for that one!
"That guy" is Tacklejunky81 on YouTube, he's got lots of videos on his own channel here (https://www.youtube.com/user/TackleJunky81)