anti reverse bearing lubrication

[Pro Reel]

I've been having problems with anti reverse bearing clutches slipping. The most common have been with Shimano fresh water reels. It seems that Shimano doesn't use as good of a clutch as some other brands do. Many Shimano casting reels come with a back up anti reverse dog.The core however doesn't have the backup. I assume they didn't use it in the core reels to cut weight and make the reels crank smoother. Many of my customers want the backup dog removed from other Shimano reels to make them crank smoother and to get rid of the clicking noises they make. Doing that makes them prone to occasional slipping. The reels come from the factories with the clutch packed with grease. As the reels get broken in, they start slipping occasionally. Shimano reps recommend only using a small amount of oil on the clutch after the first service. I've tried it both ways and still getrreports of slipping. I've even tried roughing up the AR sleeve with fine sandpaper to help the needle rollers grip. That seems to help but still have had some continue to occasionally slip after that. Has anyone here had this same problem and have you found a solution? I would try using them dry like Shimano spinning reels clutches are, but then they wouldn't have any corrosion protection. Is there a good corrosion protection that we could put on the clutch sleeve and rollers that would wouldn't be a lubricant it would be like they were dry?

[Tiddlerbasher]

On all AR bearings  I use ReelX - haven't had problems with that and it provides protection against corrosion 

[DanteV]

Hey, great timing! I just pulled apart a couple CVL-400's last night and the AR bearings are trashed! Have to order a couple new ones, didn't realize they were so expensive!

[SoCalAngler]

I clean my ARB's right out of the box then moisten a cotton swab with TSI and rub it on the rollers and ARB sleeve. I use to use CorrossionX and have not had failures with either but I don't fish Shimano reels that have ARB's.

[Pro Reel]

I clean my ARB's right out of the box then moisten a cotton swab with TSI and rub it on the rollers and ARB sleeve. I use to use CorrossionX and have not had failures with either but I don't fish Shimano reels that have ARB's.

I've been thinking about trying TSI on them, but not sure it's a good idea. The 301 would be thin enough to use there, but I'm worried about the effects of the solvent on the plastic fingers. The 321 doesn't have solvent, but it's a full thickness oil so it could still make the rollers and sleeve too slick.

[SoCalAngler]

I clean my bearings with a brake/parts cleaner first so I don't use the 301 just the 321. I use the 321 so I don't get any issues with plastics or anything else.

[Bryan Young]

I try to get out as much shimano grease as possible then lube with TSI321 or CorrosionX.  I blow out excess with light compressed air.  I haven't had any issues of slipping.

[johndtuttle]

Shimano barrel clutches like you find in a bait caster or Trinidad are fine with oil/light grease that is plastic safe.

Shimano Roller Clutch Assemblies found in their spinning reels are best completely clean and dry.

[DanteV]

This was the worst one, a friend's reel that went a season fishing saltwater, then stuffed in a corner in the garage. He said if I can fix it, I can keep it.

Amen Brother!

[thedw]

flush clean
dry completely

TSI(without solvent) or light oil!

no sandpaper as tolerances will get affected.

[franky]

I've been having problems with anti reverse bearing clutches slipping.

Many of my customers want the backup dog removed from other Shimano reels to make them crank smoother and to get rid of the clicking noises they make.

Thats spooky.

As the reels get broken in, they start slipping occasionally. I've tried it both ways and still get reports of slipping. I've even tried roughing up the AR sleeve with fine sandpaper to help the needle rollers grip. That seems to help but still have had some continue to occasionally slip after that.

I've had this same exact experience.  At this point, I would just change the ARB and the Roller Clutch Inner tube and chalk it up as...its worn and its time to change to a new one. 

Has anyone here had this same problem and have you found a solution?

I've also used a light coat of Reel X and it worked pretty good.

[alantani]

if they fail once, i would consider them damaged goods and replace them.   

[Pro Reel]

if they fail once, i would consider them damaged goods and replace them.   

I would agree with you, but the problem is, these are sometimes on almost brand new reels. It seems so strange that the factory can pack the ar clutch with grease and not have problems, but once you clean them, and then use a small amount of oil or just a finger print of grease, they can slip when they suposedly were not slipping before. This isn't just me thats experiencing this. It's a common issue discused on tackle tour and on texas fishing forums. Dan, the reel tech from shimano factory says that they rinse out the grease on the ar when they service reels and then just use a Q-tip to wipe a thin amount of oil on the rollers when they do the first service of reels sent to them. Thats the same thing i do and 95 out of 100 don't have any issues. It's that 5 or 6 reels that go back to a customer and then end up slipping backwards during the first few weeks of use that bugs me. I do about 1200 reels a year and I should probably be happy with 95% satisfied, but I'm not. I have tried every way I can think of to test reels after I'm done with them. I spend about 2 to 4 minutes cranking the reel and trying to back reel it to see if I can get it to slip. I do that around the full rotation of the handle to see if there is one little spot that makes them slip. I even started tossing them in the freezer for awile to get them super cold to see if they only slip at cold temps. Most of the time, if one is worn, I will catch it during this testing, then take the reel back aprt and replace it. When they don't slip at all during all that testing, but then slip while the customer is fishing, well thats not good for the reputation. I believe that it would be best if we could run them dry, the same way you have to run the clutch in the spinning reels. With casting reels, that area is to prone to get wet to be able to do that. Thats why I'm looking for alternate methods of lube/corrosion protection of that area. I'm just not sure what to try.

[johndtuttle]

I would agree with you, but the problem is, these are sometimes on almost brand new reels. It seems so strange that the factory can pack the ar clutch with grease and not have problems, but once you clean them, and then use a small amount of oil or just a finger print of grease, they can slip when they suposedly were not slipping before. This isn't just me thats experiencing this. It's a common issue discussed on tackle tour and on texas fishing forums. Dan, the reel tech from shimano factory says that they rinse out the grease on the ar when they service reels and then just use a Q-tip to wipe a thin amount of oil on the rollers when they do the first service of reels sent to them. Thats the same thing i do and 95 out of 100 don't have any issues. It's that 5 or 6 reels that go back to a customer and then end up slipping backwards during the first few weeks of use that bugs me. I do about 1200 reels a year and I should probably be happy with 95% satisfied, but I'm not. I have tried every way I can think of to test reels after I'm done with them. I spend about 2 to 4 minutes cranking the reel and trying to back reel it to see if I can get it to slip. I do that around the full rotation of the handle to see if there is one little spot that makes them slip. I even started tossing them in the freezer for awile to get them super cold to see if they only slip at cold temps. Most of the time, if one is worn, I will catch it during this testing, then take the reel back aprt and replace it. When they don't slip at all during all that testing, but then slip while the customer is fishing, well thats not good for the reputation. I believe that it would be best if we could run them dry, the same way you have to run the clutch in the spinning reels. With casting reels, that area is too prone to get wet to be able to do that. Thats why I'm looking for alternate methods of lube/corrosion protection of that area. I'm just not sure what to try.

What may be underestimated is fatigue of the springs and how the customer is using the reel. I am no reel tech seeing hundreds of reels at all but did a service post on a Daiwa Saltist spinner and got some feedback before and after. Some users reported failure of the AR bearing due to the their own prematurely closing the bail, fishing a lot of "jerk" techniques and driving with heavy plugs on rutted roads all abusing the springs and causing them to fatigue.

Throw in any kind of tolerance issue be it the finishing of a spring steel or the curing of nylon springs and it seems they can all fail early at times and eventually all will fail regardless, in time. They all have an elasticity that is finite.

I think all of the basic and sound lubrication principles discussed of the various clutches is up to the task, it is merely the tolerances and durability of a cheap part and users that I think are the variables.

[Unutt]

I had the same problems with my Calcutta's.  I spoke to a Shimano rep. at a tackle show, and he told me the antireverse bearings in my Calcutta's should be run bone dry (his words).  I tried flushing out the bearings, but I did not like the noise they made, and the problem never completely went away.

The failures occurred primarily when the temperature dropped close to freezing, but sometimes it's cold when I go fishing.

My solution was to switch to Abu Garcia.

I still have 9 Calcutta's.  I might be able to use them now with the onset of global warming.