Greased sealed bearings vs oiled opened bearings.

[Alto Mare]

I finally got a chance to hit the water yesterday, I was fishing the noerthern part of the Chesapeake Bay with my brother. I took a couple of Penn 650SS reels, some had the opened bearings ( fully cleaned)with a drop of  TSI 301 and some had shielded bearings packed with grease ( also fully cleaned).  It was a slow day so I decided to fish the channel, which drops about 60 feet in depht, we cought 8 cat fish ranging from 22" to 25", I'm a saltwater fisherman and I'm not used to them, those fish are heavy for their size; when we where reeling them in we both  noticed that the reels with the shielded greased bearings where much smoother than the  opened oiled bearings . I think Nessie mentioned in one of his posts that he only likes greased bearings on spinning reels. Nessie, you might have something there, to me it's all about reeling the fish in.... not distant casting. Just wanted to mention it, Sal

[Nessie Hunter]

Right on.....
Speed on casting reel go OIL...
Cranking in a non casting reel go Grease!!!

Oil doesnt last long or provide the protection of Grease, but its Fast!!!

Grease will keep it feeling smooth (mostly cus its thick) and stay in there a long time and give you more protection...

Thats my story and Im stickin to it.....          

[JGB]

Sal,

TSI provides a very thin molecular film under pressure and the thinness is smaller than the pits and bumps on the ball bearings. The overall result is the bearing is still protected but the pits and bumps are not cushioned very much. Grease on the other hand uses particles and long polymer chains that form a crisscrossed mat under pressure that is much thicker than what oil produces. The result is a smooth cushioned bearing that feels and sounds smooth. Grease also spreads the load on the balls over a larger area producing better high load protection but does not roll as freely.

You can upgrade the quality of the bearing and get better smoother high load performance while using oil.

Analogy:
skiing on powder vs icy or corn snow.

Jim N.

[Alto Mare]

Thanks for the info Jim, all makes sense to me.

[mako42]

Which would be better for the bail bearing the line runs over?   Open with ts 301, open with grease, or shielded with grease?

[JGB]

This is a very good question and has not been discussed enough to give it justice.

Here is my personal take:
Fresh water - clean + oil (TSI) shields left on to prevent dust intrusion and help keep oil on place.
Salt water - Clean and grease - light grease (Cal's grease) for light test line (under 16# test) and heavy grease  (straight Yama lube)for heavier line.
For salt any water that gets in around the bearing stays put and the line roller has lots of water contact. When I use oil for surf casting it gets washed out after 30 min of use (grub fishing for perch). If I use a light grease it seems to last several trips but the line roller offer some extra resistance during retrieve. For the heavy gear the resistance it not very noticeable. The line will slip on the roller under light loads but does it's job under heavy loads when it is needed most.

It's all a trade off - performance vs reliability,
Jim N.