Super Lube

Started by j28, July 14, 2011, 04:28:36 PM

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j28

Does anyone have any experience using a product called Super Lube?  I was at the local tackle shop and asked if they had any drag grease and the guy behind the counter told me they had Super Lube, And he used it for everything including Drag washers. I was gonna get some but saw "automotive" on the label and thought i should ask here first.


Thanks

Jim-

alantani

if it is a pure teflon lube, then it should be ok for drag washers.  um, ok, not great.  stick with cal's grease for drags if you have that option. 

you are looking for a grease that does not change in consistency or color over the years sitting in a reel.  if it changes color (lighten's) with exposure to salt water, that means that the salt and the water and being incorporated in to the grease.  it emusifies, like many hand creams that are an emulsion of water and petrolatum (vaseline).  notably, i have seen cal's grease harden a little over time.  that is one of the reasons that i would prefer a marine grade all purpose grease like the yamaha or evinrude products for general applications. 
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

Bryan Young

That grease is not very good on drags, as you may already suspected.  It can be used elsewhere though.  If Cal's Universal Grease or Shimano drag grease is not available, I believe that Steve-O uses Finish Line bicycle teflon grease with success as I've seen that grease at most bicycle shops, REI,...  I have a couple of tubes at home that I have used on my bikes, but have yet to try it on drags.
:D I talk with every part I send out and each reel I repair so that they perform at the top of their game. :D

inhotpursuit

i was using it untill last week  i fell into a river and totally submerged my reel i continued fishing all day and when i got home stripped the reel the grease had emulsified with the water to form an oleo with the consistancy of soft butter

Bryan Young

That doesn't sound good.
:D I talk with every part I send out and each reel I repair so that they perform at the top of their game. :D

Comedie

Quote from: j28 on July 14, 2011, 04:28:36 PM
Does anyone have any experience using a product called Super Lube?  I was at the local tackle shop and asked if they had any drag grease and the guy behind the counter told me they had Super Lube, And he used it for everything including Drag washers. I was gonna get some but saw "automotive" on the label and thought i should ask here first.


Thanks

Jim-
Yes I've used it. There are 2 different Super Lube greases I know, regular and EP. I have used the EP on drags with no obvious problems. The regular Super Lube I did not trust the temperature range on for drags. I use the regular for everything else tho. Both are synthetic based with teflon. 

inhotpursuit

#6
Quote from: Comedie on October 27, 2011, 04:03:09 PM
Quote from: j28 on July 14, 2011, 04:28:36 PM
Does anyone have any experience using a product called Super Lube?  I was at the local tackle shop and asked if they had any drag grease and the guy behind the counter told me they had Super Lube, And he used it for everything including Drag washers. I was gonna get some but saw "automotive" on the label and thought i should ask here first.


Thanks

Jim-
Yes I've used it. There are 2 different Super Lube greases I know, regular and EP. I have used the EP on drags with no obvious problems. The regular Super Lube I did not trust the temperature range on for drags. I use the regular for everything else tho. Both are synthetic based with teflon.  

I had been using it on all my reels for every thing including drag, if your reel is going to get wet i would advise against using it check out the pics it totally emulsifys with water my worry is that it absorbs the salt also,i have not lost fish or damaged reels with it but after stripping the submerged reel and seeing all this soft oleo i will not be using it again on my reels, i will use the remaining tub for household jobs.

Comedie

Yeah, I've noticed that the regular Suber Lube is fairly thin. Put it in a bearing a spin it a bit. and it begins to work its way out. The EP Super Lube is quite a bit thicker.
Haven't had any problems with the bearings I've packed with either, even tho I am constantly fighting with my open spool bearings which use CorrosionX, with a bit of TSI321 added lately. So the conditions seem to be there for the bearings to corrode, but the Super Lube'd ones have not suffered.
I'll probably migrate to the Yamaha marine grease Alan likes at some point tho.

PS... I will keep using SuperLube Anti-Corrosion Gel tho. Have been painting up all the interior surfaces and the reel foot pieces on my reels with it for some years now. Seems to work great.

Killerbug

#8
Quote from: inhotpursuit on October 29, 2011, 09:48:22 PM
Quote from: Comedie on October 27, 2011, 04:03:09 PM
Quote from: j28 on July 14, 2011, 04:28:36 PM
Does anyone have any experience using a product called Super Lube?  I was at the local tackle shop and asked if they had any drag grease and the guy behind the counter told me they had Super Lube, And he used it for everything including Drag washers. I was gonna get some but saw "automotive" on the label and thought i should ask here first.


Thanks

Jim-
Yes I've used it. There are 2 different Super Lube greases I know, regular and EP. I have used the EP on drags with no obvious problems. The regular Super Lube I did not trust the temperature range on for drags. I use the regular for everything else tho. Both are synthetic based with teflon.  

I had been using it on all my reels for every thing including drag, if your reel is going to get wet i would advise against using it check out the pics it totally emulsifys with water my worry is that it absorbs the salt also,i have not lost fish or damaged reels with it but after stripping the submerged reel and seeing all this soft oleo i will not be using it again on my reels, i will use the remaining tub for household jobs.


Most oils emulsifys when in contact with water, and can even absorb small amounts of moisture from the air. Have you tried making the same experiment with Shimano, or Call's grease?

The color change you see on the Super lube, could have something to do with the color of the silicone changing(Clear silicone turns white in contact with water), rather than a heavy washout/emulsification process.  Most synthetic Teflon oils like super lube are silicone based.  

In the theory Super Lube should be a good alternative drag grease, for a third of the price of Shimano's Teflon grease.  

To the question if water absorption of oils is a good or a bad thing regarding rust protection, are still being debated.  Some engineers and machinists claim that it prevents rust in closed environments if the grease has some water absorption, a reason why traditional oil thickeners like Calcium and Lithium are still the most frequently used.  But again theory is one thing, praxis another, or no theory without praxis, and no praxis without theory  ;D .
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-----------------------------
They say Catch and Release fishing is a lot like golf.
You don't have to eat the ball to have a good time

inhotpursuit

Quote from: Killerbug on November 24, 2011, 08:57:42 PM
Quote from: inhotpursuit on October 29, 2011, 09:48:22 PM
Quote from: Comedie on October 27, 2011, 04:03:09 PM
Quote from: j28 on July 14, 2011, 04:28:36 PM
Does anyone have any experience using a product called Super Lube?  I was at the local tackle shop and asked if they had any drag grease and the guy behind the counter told me they had Super Lube, And he used it for everything including Drag washers. I was gonna get some but saw "automotive" on the label and thought i should ask here first.


Thanks

Jim-
Yes I've used it. There are 2 different Super Lube greases I know, regular and EP. I have used the EP on drags with no obvious problems. The regular Super Lube I did not trust the temperature range on for drags. I use the regular for everything else tho. Both are synthetic based with teflon.  

I had been using it on all my reels for every thing including drag, if your reel is going to get wet i would advise against using it check out the pics it totally emulsifys with water my worry is that it absorbs the salt also,i have not lost fish or damaged reels with it but after stripping the submerged reel and seeing all this soft oleo i will not be using it again on my reels, i will use the remaining tub for household jobs.


Most oils emulsifys when in contact with water, and can even absorb small amounts of moisture from the air. Have you tried making the same experiment with Shimano, or Call's grease?

The color change you see on the Super lube, could have something to do with the color of the silicone changing(Clear silicone turns white in contact with water), rather than a heavy washout/emulsification process.  Most synthetic Teflon oils like super lube are silicone based.  

In the theory Super Lube should be a good alternative drag grease, for a third of the price of Shimano's Teflon grease.  

To the question if water absorption of oils is a good or a bad thing regarding rust protection, are still being debated.  Some engineers and machinists claim that it prevents rust in closed environments if the grease has some water absorption, a reason why traditional oil thickeners like Calcium and Lithium are still the most frequently used.  But again theory is one thing, praxis another, or no theory without praxis, and no praxis without theory  ;D .
Yes i tried adding water to the cals it did not seem to emulsify like the super lube,also tried mixing water to the yamaha marine grease and it just does not emulsify the water just beads on top of the grease and eventually evaporates,as far as the price goes, the 1lb tub of super lube was more than the 1lb tub of cals and the yamaha grease was a third of the cost,bottom line, reels are darn expensive why risk  having saltwater oleo rusting the innards

Killerbug

#10
I expected an answer like that, so I soaked some Call's grease in room temperature freshwater night over. And it absorbs some water also, as I said all oils does. If I have soaked the Calls in boiling water is has probably been gone by now, but that is irrelevant to us. 



The Calls grease at the top, has been soaked in still freshwater for 8 hours and shows clear signs of a color shifts on the edges, Actually it was all white, but i squezed it a bit to see how deep the water absorbtion was.

My little "experiment" is no prof whatsoever that Call's is a bad product for it's intended use, it just confirm my doubts, that it should have better washout properties than any other off the shelve Teflon(PTFE) grease.

As far as rust protection goes.

As I wrote before, in a close environments(line a bearing) there a many different ways of doing things.  In my previous job for the worlds largest producer of Marine engines(MAN) I have talked to many machinist about lubrication issues, and all have their own way of doing things, just like reel mechanics ;).

When you pack a bearing for a marine engine, you will never pack it fully with grease like Alan and most of you do, simply because it slows down the bearing too much, and can cause problems under extreme heat. Under "normal" circumstances the bearing is packed 1/4 with grease. In this case I would prefer a grease on Calcium base, that can absorb a maximum of moisture. Here I am talking about condensing inside the bearing, not water intruding.  I don't say that this is the right way of greasing bearings in fishing reels, just say that short term water absorption in oils are not always bad, but that it depends on the circumstances.   


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They say Catch and Release fishing is a lot like golf.
You don't have to eat the ball to have a good time

Keta

Reel bearings and industrial bearings are subject to far different loads and have different needs. 

Once upon a time, many years ago, I was a productive member of society and I installed and repaired large machinery and industrial facilities as well as supervised crews doing the same.  Sealed greased bearings never got packed more than 1/4 full and oil bearings never over 1/2 way up the bearing because oil and grease are not compressible and it causes heat build up and premature bearing failure.

Reels need grease for friction reduction and corrosion protection.

In the past I used a Teflon steam turbine packing grease (very high temp) for my drags, whatever water resistant wheel bearing grease I could get and turbine oil for the bearings.  Now I just call Dawn and get Cal's delivered in the mail in 2-3 days, I'm sure it's a bit longer for Copenhagen deliveries. 

The specs on the greases you have been researching appearer to be as good or better than Shamano or Cal's but there should be more testing (preferably in a saltwater environment) before I will change from the lubrication products I'm currently using.

Keep us informed on your future findings.
Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
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inhotpursuit

Having used the super lube exclusivly for both drive bearings and drags for over 4 years i can honestly say that i never experienced a breakdown or damage to any of my reels however the amount of water that was absorbed by the SL was suprising to say the least, it took minutes to emulsify, i agree that most if not all lubes and greases will absorb water, i was just alarmed at the speed of which it took place in the SL.
As for packing the bearing full i just do that to the drive bearings i doubt that i will ever be able to reel as fast as a steam turbine or as powerfully as a marine engine

Killerbug

#13
Call's does not provide any data sheets, but describes his product as a product FORTIFIED WITH TEFLON AND POLYMERS, so Magnalube-g should be identical to Calls grease apart from the color, costs 9,31 $ for one pound.  Remember, also mr Call uses water for cooking  ;D

http://www.magnalube.com/magnalube-g-technical-spec-sheet



http://forum.esoxhunt.dk
-----------------------------
They say Catch and Release fishing is a lot like golf.
You don't have to eat the ball to have a good time

Killerbug

Or a customized Calcium Polymer based grease, as the name point in that direction.

http://www.axelch.com/composite-140.htm
http://forum.esoxhunt.dk
-----------------------------
They say Catch and Release fishing is a lot like golf.
You don't have to eat the ball to have a good time