bearings

[MarcosG]

You folks are awesome. As a newbee here I've learned a lot.
I finished both reels today and followed the good advices.
I improvised a bit. I used some empty prescription botles and placed the bearings inside with mineral spirits odorless. I then close with the lid shoked and waited 30 min.
Lot of crap came out of them. Instead of firing up my air compressor I use my small electric air dust to dry. After applying the marine grease with the reelx I noticed some stiffness but it went away after awhile.
I now have 3 more penns 550 to do and after that my shimanos which is a different story I guess (bantam oil for bearing, permalube grease and star drag grease). Never opened my shimanos before but I see some tutorials here. Thanks again guys.
By the way, this is the electric air duster that I used. It is a great tool if you also work with computers also and I don't work for this company.

[Tiddlerbasher]

Bryan my cleaning process is the same as yours solvent+bearings/gears/other parts in a jar placed in ultrasonic cleaner. The only difference is I use IPA instead of acetone (less toxic).
I also use hot water in the ultasonic bath - it helps to breakdown hardened grease 

[Jighead61]

My best results have been using brake cleaner.

[Shark Hunter]

Me too. Brake cleaner does the job quick.