Is a set of dental picks the best way to remove the covers so you can wash out the bearings? Thanks.
A good fishhook locked in a pair of vise-grips also works really well for me.
I generally do not replace the shields on the bearings I clean in the US cleaner —- just dry & repack with synthetic grease after dropping the bearing in a pimento jar of synthetic oil for 5 minutes before the grease application.
Mostly just take off one cover —- toss it in the trash —- then when reinstalling, the open side goes in towards the reel.
My easiest method is just a straight pick into the middle of the shield carefully and lightly to make a tiny hole —- then it just pops off.
Best, Fred
How do you repack if you don't take off the bearin covers?
I guess I wasn't clear —-
I always take off either one or both shields —- depending on the reel and the anticipated usage before repacking.
Also have one of Alan's excellent and clever bearing packing attachments for a grease gun.
Best, Fred
The shields do not completely seal the bearing, otherwise they would rub too much. That gap is where the grease goes in and out.
The easiest method to clear out old grease and insert new grease at the same time is to use a bearing packer and a grease gun to drive the new grease in and drive out the old.
You can hand clean with no -residue solvent (drop the bearings in a jar with some solvent and shake occasionally, then air dry) and repack manually (press the grease into the sides of the bearing, rotate and repeat) but it takes a bit more effort.
I would get a bearing packer and a small grease gun before getting into stuff like ultrasonic cleaners.
The shields helps the grease stay in the bearing, and keep contaminants out. It is fairly common among our reel repair experts to remove one shield on bearings that need to oiled (e.g. spool bearings on conventional casting reels), as the oil needs to be replenished more frequently, and they feel they can do a more thorough/faster job cleaning and re-lubricating. Also shields add a bit of friction, so removing them can provide a very minor performance benefit. Removing a shield one a greased bearing is less common.
I prefer to leave the shields on on all reel bearings. I don't have the experience level to challenge our experts on which way is best, but am reasonably confident that removing shields is not mandatory for maintenance.
-J
Thank you for the detailed info. What I did, since it's spinning and not casting, I left the bearings intact and soaked them for several hours in synthetic 5W-30 motor oil. I don't feel any crustiness or roughness, so I left the bearings alone. Maybe I took the easy way out, but casting distance is not affected at all by the bearings if it's a spinning rod. Reel is all back together and working well. I appreciate your information. Greatly.