Line roller bearings - oil or grease?

[Ruffy]

Hi guys,
I know it's probably been discussed but I can't seem to find any response. My question is do line roller bearings really need to be oiled as opposed to greased? Given that the line is run on them under tension wouldn't that be enough to get a grease packed bearing to turn without the need for an extremely free spinning oiled bearing? Just sick of dealing with frozen roller bearings that haven't had oil religiously after each outing...

Cheers,
Andrew

[philaroman]

I do frequent oil...  extra thin in freezing weather / a bit thicker in summer heat

really love & hoard Shimano's dark-brown solid SiC rollers from early 90's -- even the small ones w/ bushings give me no trouble...  vastly superior to the modern nonsense w/ grooves for alleged twist reduction, IMHO

[Bryan Young]

I use oil.  Greased bearings doesn't seem to spin.

[Crow]

I use oil, on my fresh water stuff, and on my "surf fishing" reels, I "flush" them with WD 40, when i'm back from the beach (gets a lot of the sand out, and helps to displace the water from the after fishing wash-down), then, I lube them with Lubri-Plate "Chain & Cable" fluid. That "goes in thin", and then thickens up a bit  (to the consistency of either a "thick oil", or a "thin grease"). Bear in mind, most of my stuff is "cheap", so it's mostly "bushings" on the line rollers...not actual"bearings"....but the ball bearings get the same type treatment.

[Tiddlerbasher]

Oil for me - grease is too thick - anything that may stop the roller from spinning is bad news (line wear and extra twist). I usually apply a single drop of TSI321, it just seems to last longer than other oils IMHO.

[FatTuna]

I always do oil. I tried grease on some in the past and it was too thick.

[exp2000]

I used to use oil but after seeing so many constant failures I decided that better protection was needed
so now I use a light CX grease mix. It will offer some spin resistance but most things in life are a compromise.

Shimano Japan actually markets a waterproof grease especially for line roller bearings but I have yet to try it.

I think that most service centers just use oil.
~

[oc1]

Take a piece of string and wrap it three times around the line roller.  Then grasp each end to the string and pull back and forth to free a stuck roller.  I then add a drop of Reel-X or TSI.
-steve

[ReelClean]

Grease for me, the slight extra drag is no problem when compared to the friction you are going to get when the LR seizes with salt.  As Steve said, wrap a few turns of line around a greased LRB and see how much friction there is : Nada  .
If you are worried about line friction around the LRB, then you better get a runnerless rod without a tip
It really only gets to work when you are "fish on", then it had better work well!
Severe cold may well be different, but in temperate/tropics "grease is the word!"    
cheers
Steve

[Gfish]

You'cn oil 'em inside, then cover 'em with grease outside.
Gfish

[ReelClean]

You'cn oil 'em inside, then cover 'em with grease outside.
Gfish

Yep, forgot to mention a drop of corrosionx first!

[Ruffy]

I used to use oil but after seeing so many constant failures I decided that better protection was needed
so now I use a light CX grease mix. It will offer some spin resistance but most things in life are a compromise.

Shimano Japan actually markets a waterproof grease especially for line roller bearings but I have yet to try it.

I think that most service centers just use oil.
~

There you go, I did not know that Shimano do line roller specific grease. Here is a link to an official youtube video of it, it's called DG-18 (). You can buy it online through various stores, hedgehog studio etc. I won't fork out the money for it just yet, will experiment with the few greases I've got (mainly inox MX8 and MX6). Here's what they reckon about using their products for fishing (http://www.inoxmx.com/inox-mx3-for-fishing/).

I've got to do something different though, the last roller I did had to be hammered out, when it finally gave it came out in a mush of corrosion. Not sure what kind of metal shimano uses in one of the sleeves but it doesn't rust, it corrodes to a white powder like aluminium and jams the whole thing.

[boon]

A drag style grease with low tackyness is what I use. If I use the same grease I use on larger bearings and gears it affects the spin of the line roller.

[handi2]

Its mostly Shimano reels that fisherman complain of noise when reeling a fish in. The line roller bearings and the reel bearings just dont last long.

When I grease the pinion gear with the bearing on I grease on top of the pinion bearing. (Its under the roller clutch). I do the same when changing the line roller bearings.

[happyhooker]

Whatever--keep it to the bare minimum.  On some older reels, the so-called roller doesn't really roll, it just inches it's way around over time to hopefully keep a groove from forming.  I might rarely use the smallest amount of oil, but usually go bare, as oil or grease both attract too much dust & defeat the purpose of the lube.

Anybody ever had any luck with any of the so-called "dry" lubes--just thinking about ways to not attract dirt.

Frank