Type of Grease Matters

[Midway Tommy]

Tin, since you use various oil weights could you explain the differences in their viscosities relative to your preferred applications?

[Midway Tommy]

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

Basic SuperLube grease is easy to find, their oils, not so easy to find places that stock it, especially in the various weights. On line is about the only constant source.

[Gfish]

For Saltwater reels I paint marine-blue on all non-friction internal surfaces. Cal's tan on carbon washers and Cal's purple on parts that gotta move. Marine-blue can  negatively affect little parts like dogs.

[JasonGotaProblem]

I can't seem to find super lube iso 10 or 22 anywhere. Also can't seem to find TSI 301 for sale anywhere unless it's by the gallon. I have more TSI 321 than I can ever use, but I want some thinner stuff for spool bearings.

There's a "redline iso 10" oil on eBay. Has anyone tried it?

[tincanary]

I can't seem to find super lube iso 10 or 22 anywhere. Also can't seem to find TSI 301 for sale anywhere unless it's by the gallon. I have more TSI 321 than I can ever use, but I want some thinner stuff for spool bearings.

There's a "redline iso 10" oil on eBay. Has anyone tried it?

It doesn't look like Super Lube sells the ISO 10 any longer.  I bought an 8 oz bottle a few years back.  Here is what they have now.  https://www.super-lube.com/multi-use-synthetic-lightweight-oil

TSI 321 is ISO 10, but keep in mind it is a thin film lubricant.  For best results, use 12 parts 99% medical grade alcohol and 1 part TSI 321 in a jar, shake it up, dip your bearings, and blow out the excess.  Bearings are very noticeably slower when it is applied like a standard oil.

[tincanary]

Tin, since you use various oil weights could you explain the differences in their viscosities relative to your preferred applications?

Pinion bearings, worm gears, and level wind bearings I like to use NLGI 0 or ISO 220 (90W) oil.  The NLGI 0 is a very thin grease and right at home in these applications.  If you need something a little more free feeling, then go to the 90W.  On my own personal reels, I use the 90W.  I also use the NLGI 0 for clutch cams, pinion yokes, and kick levers on baitcasting reels.  With spinners, the only area I use light oil is for the line roller.  The rest of the bearings get the 90W/220 stuff or the NLGI 0.  220 is also excellent for leather and felt drag washers.  The 220 makes a great oil for the Cardinal reel handle bushing.  It gives a feel lighter than grease, but free enough that the user can have a fidget spinner in the time off the water.

ISO 10, when a drop is placed on a pan, almost spreads like a drop of water.
ISO 220 is about like pancake syrup, I actually dispense it with a 14AWG needle dropper.  Speaking of, I use different gauges of needle droppers to go along with viscosity.  22AWG for ISO 10 and 22 oil, 20AWG for 32 and 68.  This helps ensure I am not applying too much. 

In the end, using higher viscosity lubricants in some areas will make for a smooth and quiet reel, while lighter stuff makes for a somewhat more noisy, but also airy feeling reel. 

[jurelometer]

I can't seem to find super lube iso 10 or 22 anywhere. Also can't seem to find TSI 301 for sale anywhere unless it's by the gallon. I have more TSI 321 than I can ever use, but I want some thinner stuff for spool bearings.

There's a "redline iso 10" oil on eBay. Has anyone tried it?

It doesn't look like Super Lube sells the ISO 10 any longer.  I bought an 8 oz bottle a few years back.  Here is what they have now.  https://www.super-lube.com/multi-use-synthetic-lightweight-oil

TSI 321 is ISO 10, but keep in mind it is a thin film lubricant.  For best results, use 12 parts 99% medical grade alcohol and 1 part TSI 321 in a jar, shake it up, dip your bearings, and blow out the excess.  Bearings are very noticeably slower when it is applied like a standard oil.

Agree Since it is a thin film lubricant (1 mil according to TSI), you don't need so much. And it spreads out well. I just try to dab the bearing with some 321 on a q-tip if I want low resistance, but I am not doing anything as light as BFS. 

I am not a huge fan of doing homemade solvent/lubricant blends, although reels are not very demanding, so we can probably get away with some pretty sketchy practices.

According to TSI, 301 (and presumably 321) is an ester based product.  Esters are made from a combination of alcohol and acids.  There is a history here of folk blending 321 with large amounts of isopropyl alcohol, so we know anecdotally that it has some value, but does anyone know from a chemistry standpoint if this "thinning" is a practice that does not permanently change the properties?

-J

[tincanary]

but does anyone know from a chemistry standpoint if this "thinning" is a practice that does not permanently change the properties?

-J

I am not a chemist, but my anecdotal evidence is the TSI doesn't mix with the alcohol.  After the jar has settled, the TSI sinks to the bottom and needs to be shaken again for future applications.  When shaken, the TSI is merely suspended in the alcohol and not mixing.  I experimented with different ratios, starting with 4:1, 6:1, 8:1, and settling on 12:1.  There was slight improvement in spin time as the TSI content was lessened.  I probably could've gone to a more diluted mix, but I'm happy with the 12:1 I ended up with.

[jgp12000]

I use Lucas reel oil,I have no idea the specs, but it's slick as Richard's hat band...

https://www.lucasoil.com/product/fishing-reel-oil/

[Midway Tommy]

My non-chemist common sense mind tells me that the alcohol-oil mix is a thinning process that after application the alcohol evaporates and what's left is then an ultra thin oil film coating. It sure doesn't take very long for alcohol to evaporate.

[foakes]

I blend synthetic oil and synthetic grease nearly all the time with great and long lasting positive, smooth results.  What the mix is, if any, depends on how and where the reel will be fished.

However, I never mix any oils or greases with solvents, lacquer thinners, etc.  Because it will dilute the grease as well as its  effectiveness —- as Dave alluded to.  Some of the synthetic oils contain solvent for rust and corrosion protection.  Some of these are the TSI's —- so check the ingredients.

Best, Fred

[tincanary]

My non-chemist common sense mind tells me that the alcohol-oil mix is a thinning process that after application the alcohol evaporates and what's left is then an ultra thin oil film coating. It sure doesn't take very long for alcohol to evaporate.

That's my exact logic. I've actually been doing this for a bit now with no ill effects on my own reels.  I was using 6:1 the last couple of years and thought this time I'd try a different ratio.  The alcohol is used to function as a carrier of the TSI. 

[JasonGotaProblem]

Are you using ethanol or isopropyl? And for that matter, does it matter?

[tincanary]

Are you using ethanol or isopropyl? And for that matter, does it matter?

99% isopropyl.  Ethanol will often have methanol in it to discourage consumption and it does evaporate much slower.  Contrast with isopropyl, the remaining will be water.  So 70% isopropyl alcohol will have 30% water content and so on.  Since we're on the subject of alcohol, the absolute best bearing cleaner I've used is reagent grade ethanol.  It leaves zero residue behind.  I've put a drop of ethanol, a drop of naphtha, and a drop of acetone on a steel tray and let them all evaporate.  Ethanol was the only one that didn't leave anything behind.  Reagent grade is food safe and contains no methanol.  It's 200 proof straight ethanol.  I'm not sure why they call it food safe, because buyers are often hobby perfumers.

[tincanary]

Here's a jar with TSI settled to the bottom.  Interestingly enough, some did stick to the glass.


And here it is after a shake.