Type of Grease Matters

[MACflyer]

Serviced my Penn Baja and Jigmaster Jan 2024, and rarely used either since. Pulled out the Baja to set the drag last week for a fishing trip, and found the dogs weren't engaging. Looked inside later, and found both dogs were sticking to the bridge. Same thing happened today with my double dogged Jigmaster: both dogs sticking. I remember running out of Yamaha blue grease back then, and made a decision, a poor one in hindsight, to use some Mobil 1 synthetic red grease I had available. Rated NLGI and GC-LB, but not sure what that means. I don't usually apply a lot of grease, so a bit surprising. Even looking at the bridge and dogs today, the grease wasn't very visible, but it felt sticky. I'd like to think it melted off from somewhere else, found its way to the bridge, and hardened again? But most likely I was either sloppy or grease happy that day. If I didn't set my drags before a trip, I'm sure I would have learned a harder lesson on the boat.

[foakes]

Yeah, when I get low on grease, it has always been good to just reach under the bench for a fresh supply can.

Yamaha Marine is my go-to for salt Conventionals or HD salt Spinners.

Always and only use Cal's on the drags.  Primarily the tan, but sometimes the purple for reels that I know will be used in very cold salt water conditions.

For spinners, the grease is primarily SuperLube synthetic clear.

My oil of choice is synthetic WRL191S.  Sometimes I mix a little of this with the Cal's purple for certain spinners.  It also mixes well with the SuperLube.

None of these will harden on us after storage.

And that is basically all the types of lubes that are needed.

There are many, many others —- but when I find something that works consistantly on reels sent around the globe —- I stick with it.

Best, Fred

[Bill B]

Strange it went sideways after a year. 

[jurelometer]

Separation.

Grease is a combination of oil (the actual lubricant) and a thickener that keeps the oil where you want it.  The oil can separate from the thickener over time. Incompatibility with the grease that was already there is another possibility.  Gravity can cause the separated oil drip off and pool, so all you are left with on the part surfaces is the thickener.

NLGI GC LB means that the grease meets the NLGI performance requirements for automotive chassis and bearing use, IOW, a general purpose grease. From what I have read, greases rated for bearing use tend to bleed a bit more readily, as they need to bleed in order to do their job on a high speed bearing surface.  Fishing reel bearings do not do this kind of sustained high speed.

Cals's separates like crazy just sitting around in a tub in my hot garage, but folk here swear by it.  I guess it doesn't bleed out completely.

-J

[MACflyer]

Bill I was surprised too. But like J pointed out, the grease separating makes a lot of sense. As I recall, it was an opened tube of Mobil 1 that I had sitting in my garage for at least 1 year prior to using. It follows that the thickener was most likely causing the stickiness. In all likelihood, I was probably applying mostly thickener. I like Fred's idea of a backup, so time to order some extra Yamaha blue.

[boon]

I've moved away from heavy marine/automotive greases. They're all too tacky for optimal performance in something as small and low-force (comparatively) as a fishing reel, in my opinion. There are much more slippery greases out there that are still good at staying where you put them, and make reels feel slightly nicer.

[Midway Tommy]

I've moved away from heavy marine/automotive greases. They're all too tacky for optimal performance in something as small and low-force (comparatively) as a fishing reel, in my opinion. There are much more slippery greases out there that are still good at staying where you put them, and make reels feel slightly nicer.

Amen! That's why I stick with SuperLube. I remember how skeptical people were years ago when I first brought up SuperLube and recommended its use. As I remember, the go to reel greases back then were almost always various marine blues. I have spinning reels that have seen little use that have had SuperLube in them for ten to fifteen years and their lubrication is just as good today as it was when they were originally serviced. All it usually takes is a few cranks of the handle on both directions to loosen everything up.

[foakes]

I started using SuperLube on Tom's recommendation for spinners a few years ago.  Just cracked open my 3rd large tub.  Got one more in reserve. When that is opened, I'll order two more.  It is really not expensive —- $16 on Amazon, and free shipping.

Best, Fred

[MACflyer]

Just ordered some Super Lube too. Appreciate the insight from everyone.

[jurelometer]

I've moved away from heavy marine/automotive greases. They're all too tacky for optimal performance in something as small and low-force (comparatively) as a fishing reel, in my opinion. There are much more slippery greases out there that are still good at staying where you put them, and make reels feel slightly nicer.

Amen! That's why I stick with SuperLube. I remember how skeptical people were years ago when I first brought up SuperLube and recommended its use. As I remember, the go to reel greases back then were almost always various marine blues. I have spinning reels that have seen little use that have had SuperLube in them for ten to fifteen years and their lubrication is just as good today as it was when they were originally serviced. All it usually takes is a few cranks of the handle on both directions to loosen everything up.

The properties involved here are the viscosity, adhesion, and tackiness.

Viscosity (thickness) is measured, and if it is is not stuff that has repackaged and sold as "reel grease", you should be able to see the NLGI grade on the packaging.  NLGI 2 is by far the most common.  The thickener has to get pushed out of the way, so the greater the viscocity, the more resistance you are going to feel when cranking.

Adhesion is the ability to stay where you put it.  This is measured by water spray/washout tests. This does not directly affect resistance, because there is grease on both surfaces- which leads us to tackiness

Tackiness is the ability for grease to stick to itself, basically how sticky the stuff is, which is different than adhesion.  Tackiness will also increase resistance. There is no standard for measuring tackiness. You can get a rough idea by squeezing a dab between your thumb and finger. when you pull them apart, you can feel the resistance, and also see the stringiness. 

Playing with what I had handy, Yamalube Marine (blue) was clearly the most tacky, Cal's Universal was next, but still pretty tacky, and Super Lube Multipurpose was the least by a wide margin.  All of these are NLGI 2 thickness.


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There is going to be some correlation between these properties.  Super thin greases are less likely to have good adhesion, tacky greases will probably have better adhesion, and so on.

But now it gets more complicated.  Greases intended to be used in demanding situations can be designed to be quite tacky with high viscosity until reaching operating temperature, or subjected to higher pressure - all things that don't happen in any fishing reel. 

On a big classic star drag reel, none of this may be noticeable, but on a more modern reel with tighter tolerances, especially with low backlash, fine toothed gears, it is probably easier to notice, especially with the higher gear ratios and smaller form factors.

What we want is a grease that has reasonable adhesion, isn't too tacky at startup, doesn't emulsify easily if  some water gets in, and doesn't oxidize and separate easily sitting around exposed to air all summer in a hot garage. I am guessing that these are properties more likely to be found in products marketed for general household use, such as Super Lube, and less likely to be found in products optimized for highly demanding environments.  Different tradeoffs involved.

Disclaimer- I am also a Super Lube fan. I doubt that it is the only good non-toxic grease out there that works for both general reel lubrication and drags, but it is cheap, easy to find, and I have had good experiences with it, along with many other folk here that do a lot more reels than I do.

For folk that want even lower resistance, I contacted Super Lube a while back and they confirmed that you can lower the thickness by stirring in some of the oil version of the product as long as you don't overdo it.  The oil is also easy to find and inexpensive.

Boon:  I am curious as to what greases  you are liking nowadays.

-J

[tincanary]

Amen! That's why I stick with SuperLube. I remember how skeptical people were years ago when I first brought up SuperLube and recommended its use. As I remember, the go to reel greases back then were almost always various marine blues. I have spinning reels that have seen little use that have had SuperLube in them for ten to fifteen years and their lubrication is just as good today as it was when they were originally serviced. All it usually takes is a few cranks of the handle on both directions to loosen everything up.

I am also a big believer in Super Lube, even the oils are really good.  I keep NLGI 0, 1, and 2 greases on hand.  On the oil side, I keep ISO 10, ISO 22, ISO 68, and ISO 220. I use the grease on gears, drags, and sliding parts, ISO 10 and 22 for BFS spool bearings, ISO 68 for general baitcast spool bearings and spinning reel line rollers, and ISO 220 for disengaging level winds, support bearings, and spinning reel internal bearings.  My only gripe is the stuff has jumped in price the last few years.  Now a can is ~$25, close to $10 more than what it used to cost.  As far as the grease goes, Amazon only carries the NLGI 2.  Any other grades need to be purchased direct from Super Lube.

[MACflyer]

Tincanary, is there much difference in NLGI 0, 1, and 2? What do you use on the gears and sliding parts?

[tincanary]

Tincanary, is there much difference in NLGI 0, 1, and 2? What do you use on the gears and sliding parts?

I use NLGI 1 on gears for most casting and spinning reels.  Where I am, most of my customers aren't fishing big stuff unless they're bigger conventionals for trolling the Great Lakes for musky, walleye, or salmon.  On those I will step it up to NLGI 2 just because those reels are worked hard 8 months out of the year and take a lot of abuse.  I like NLGI 0 on the sliding components in clutch assemblies like the pinion yoke, kick lever, and clutch cam.  By having different consistency greases and various viscosity oils, I can tailor a feel the customer is looking for.  Some people like a light and airy feel to their reel and some like a smoother more connected feeling.  How a reel feels after service entirely depends on the lubricants used.  On the NLGI scale, 2 is the consistency of peanut butter, 1 is tomato paste, and 0 is like brown mustard.

[MACflyer]

Thanks for the helpful info. Might try some #1 next time.

[jgp12000]

Harbor freight sells Superlube in a tube now as well.Its food safe for kitchen appliances too.