Bearings Prices

[ExcessiveAngler]

what is the knock on chromed bearings?

2 words. Salt water.

Not sure, if this is the correct place to ask, but you don't know unless you ask lol?
So recently, I've been wanting to order some Abu 4x10x4 bb's, so I went to do a search, and was completely overwhelmed with the amount of companies and products as well as prices all over the board lol!
I was thinking about using Acer racing co. Looks like you get 10 of them for about $14
Then I saw this and went to  Ali express, It looks like you can get 10 bearings for less than $7 from a few different manufacturers!
Is there really that much of a markup? or are these just junk?
And if I can get better bearings for the same price of less quality ones, I would love to be able to do that!

You need stainless bearings for salt water, from what the more established forum members say.  The cost for stainless bearings seems to be 3-4 times the cost of chromium steel bearings.  I screwed up.  I bot bearings from Fast Eddy and paid five bucks each for chrome.  Dope.  Did a search and bot EZO stainless bearings.  The cost of being a cheapskate is expensive in the long run.

Were they regular bearings or were they ceramic?
I think I'm going to take a shot, on the ones I've been looking at for a few months now from AcerRacingCo.com!

[ReelClean]

The ARB acronym is also used by Shimano for their "anti-rust bearing", which is just a normal ball bearing that corrodes just like a normal ball bearing, but  has some sort of treatment that Shimano claims will slow corrosion somewhat.

-J

I thought Shimano's ARB acronym translated to "Accelerated Rust Bearing"?

[JasonGotaProblem]

...Already Replaced Bearings

[philaroman]

what is the knock on chromed bearings?

2 words. Salt water.

Not sure, if this is the correct place to ask, but you don't know unless you ask lol?
So recently, I've been wanting to order some Abu 4x10x4 bb's, so I went to do a search, and was completely overwhelmed with the amount of companies and products as well as prices all over the board lol!
I was thinking about using Acer racing co. Looks like you get 10 of them for about $14
Then I saw this and went to  Ali express, It looks like you can get 10 bearings for less than $7 from a few different manufacturers!
Is there really that much of a markup? or are these just junk?
And if I can get better bearings for the same price of less quality ones, I would love to be able to do that!

You need stainless bearings for salt water, from what the more established forum members say.  The cost for stainless bearings seems to be 3-4 times the cost of chromium steel bearings.  I screwed up.  I bot bearings from Fast Eddy and paid five bucks each for chrome.  Dope.  Did a search and bot EZO stainless bearings.  The cost of being a cheapskate is expensive in the long run.

Were they regular bearings or were they ceramic?
I think I'm going to take a shot, on the ones I've been looking at for a few months now from AcerRacingCo.com!

here's a thought:
find a forum for S/W RC boat  enthusiasts
do they use same BB's as land/air RCV's???

[wolvie]

I have several Penn Battle II 3000s that exclusively see saltwater (Tautog, King Salmon, Black Sea Bass and Fluke along with the occasional unintentional Bluefish and Striper), so I would like to get some sleeves of 10 bearings from aliexpress for replacements, as they age.  (one is feeling a bit crunchy at this point) I don't have a tool to measure them, however, so I was wondering if anyone knows the sizes of the 4 bearings?  I figured someone who services these spinners regularly may already know it from ordering them in bulk.

20-CFT3000
20a-CFT3000
20D-5000BTL
20D-3000BTL

[foakes]

I have several Penn Battle II 3000s that exclusively see saltwater (Tautog, King Salmon, Black Sea Bass and Fluke along with the occasional unintentional Bluefish and Striper), so I would like to get some sleeves of 10 bearings from aliexpress for replacements, as they age.  (one is feeling a bit crunchy at this point) I don't have a tool to measure them, however, so I was wondering if anyone knows the sizes of the 4 bearings?  I figured someone who services these spinners regularly may already know it from ordering them in bulk.

20-CFT3000
20a-CFT3000
20D-5000BTL
20D-3000BTL

Hi Wolvie —-

AliExpress is a good source for fishing reel bearings. 

I would encourage you to get a digital caliper for measuring OD, ID, and thickness of your bearings.

Anyone here, will be more than glad to help you measure bearings.

But you should invest $20, or so —- and be able to measure your own bearings accurately.  The more folks the communication goes through —- the greater the chances of it becoming not exactly accurate.  You don't need to buy something from Asia that is the wrong size —- and difficult, expensive, time-consuming, and potentially impossible or not worth it to return.

I recommend that you get a set of calipers for your own first hand knowledge and experience.

You may find excellent bearings at a local hobby shop, RC shop, skateboard shop, or?

And a set of calipers will help with many things on reels and around the house.

You are not working on the Space Shuttle —- just fishing reels.  These, or similar —- will do very well.

Best, Fred 

[ReelClean]

...or something like these
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005375925968.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.63.29727a9agu4jBv&algo_pvid=48ddfcfa-a5ce-447c-90b4-b317f39fbc8a&aem_p4p_detail=20230717213559756228654760320022504405&algo_exp_id=48ddfcfa-a5ce-447c-90b4-b317f39fbc8a-31&pdp_npi=3%40dis%21AUD%2138.21%2119.48%21%21%2125.65%21%21%40211be3d216896549590902587d0780%2112000032799758653%21sea%21AU%21859348964&curPageLogUid=5u40VOaz1b77&search_p4p_id=20230717213559756228654760320022504405_32

I use stainless manual calipers because I get sick of changing the batteries in the digital ones; most of the cheap ones seem to eat LR44 batteries faster than I consume scotch! 

[jurelometer]

I use stainless manual calipers because I get sick of changing the batteries in the digital ones; most of the cheap ones seem to eat LR44 batteries faster than I consume scotch! 

Many of the digital calipers turn on automatically when you open them, but don't do such a good job of turning off automatically. So if you nudge the storage case, it is enough to turn it on.  I found that if I tighten that jaw locking screw before storage, it doesn't accidentally turn on, and the battery lasts a lot longer.

-J

[oldmanjoe]

I use stainless manual calipers because I get sick of changing the batteries in the digital ones; most of the cheap ones seem to eat LR44 batteries faster than I consume scotch! 

Many of the digital calipers turn on automatically when you open them, but don't do such a good job of turning off automatically. So if you nudge the storage case, it is enough to turn it on.  I found that if I tighten that jaw locking screw before storage, it doesn't accidentally turn on, and the battery lasts a lot longer.

-J

I do the same /and turn it off manually when i set it down , other wise it stays on for a few minutes .

[wolvie]

Thanks for all the feedback!  I will proceed accordingly.

[JasonGotaProblem]

When I first saw the post I was going to say roughly the same as Fred. But he says it far more... Intelligently.

The other resource is fast eddy bearings. Now to be clear I do not recommend using his chromed steel bearings in saltwater reels, that would go terribly. But he does us the wonderful favor of listing the sizes and quantities of the bearings in his reel kits. Sizes I'll take to places with quality stainless bearings.

[kevin cozens]

Todd:  I looked at that Ali Site.  Looks like nothing to do with fishing, but will check it out.

they sell EVERYTHING. even sex aids (honest)
just search for what you need

[SevenYearsDown]

This is a good site too for bearings.

https://www.fasteddybearings.com/