Worm Gear Bearings open or shielded ?

[Jayce]

Hi Guys,

Like to hear some ideas about the bearings on the worm gear (Calcutta CQ101 for example).
I sometimes fish in the rain and rain water will sometimes run down the worm gear (specially when lying on the boat).

In this conditions should I use a open or shielded bearings on the worm gear bearings ?

[sundaytrucka]

In general, for level wind reels, in my opinion, open and lubed bearing(s) if it is a plastic/jigging setup and greased/closed if it is more of a bottom fishing setup.

[alantani]

hard to say on this one.  if you are a tournament caster or fisherman, then it might be good to do a full teardown on all of you gear, cleaning all parts and then dipping these parts in TSI 301 prior to assembly.  open bearings would allow thorough cleaning because they are VERY tiny.  on the flip side, if you are going for longevity, it might be best to leave the bearings shielded and pack them with grease. 

it all depends on your application. 

[johndtuttle]

Rain water (fresh) is the least of your worries. Just regular application of corrosion-x from the outside is enough, imho.

[Bryan Young]

I've been dropping those metal sealed bearing in TSI301 and letting them sit in the solution for several hours, shaking the jar a few times hoping to get the air out of the bearings and filling with TSI301.  Not sure if I'm accomplishing this or not, but those seals are so tiny, I don't want to ruin the bearing trying to get the seals out.

By hand, the bearing seems to be easier to spin.  Not sure if it really made a difference in the whole scheme of the things.