I am servicing a few pretty old penn international reels for a friend, looks they have never been serviced till now. What do you guys use to clean off all the dried up grease? I have a spool bearing stuck to the shaft that a cant get off.
hi david i have a glass rectangular bowl with wd40 , i soak and wash my parts with a stubby acid brush. you will get at least 10 different solutions the guys use, i buy the wd40 in a gallon can at home depot. if it's really tough grease ,i use a very fine wire brush in my dremel, the wire brushes i got on ebay, pack of 12. hope this helps, there will be more postings to follow from other members. harryk
dave when the wd40 gets old and yucky, i pour it in a rigid plastic soda bottle using a small funnel, wipe out the bowl and pour an inch of fresh stuff and keep going.
I, too am a fan of wd-40.
I use it in my parts washer, and have been known to leave reels in there overnight with the pump on and the spray nozzle filling a container I place with reel parts in it. It overflows into the washer and gets pumped back through again...
For the stuck bearing...I use an ultrasonic cleaner with mineral spirits and some mild heat applied...
Then rapping the sideplate hard onto a countertop helps to dislodge it...
On the hardest gunk I am a big fan of Hoppe's #9. Works on guns and reels!
Ron
Wd40. Good solvent for the price if you buy it in the gallon.
What does everyone think about boiling parts that can be boiled.. IE metal.. I've had real good luck about it getting that hard dried up lubes and then clean with a cleaner and toothbrush
A 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF (automatic transmission fluid). Dunk the parts for about 10 minutes then massage with a toothbrush. Or just dip the toothbrush and scrub away. Low odor, not too harsh.
Quote from: Norcal Pescador on June 29, 2013, 03:24:16 PM
A 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF (automatic transmission fluid). Dunk the parts for about 10 minutes then massage with a toothbrush. Or just dip the toothbrush and scrub away. Low odor, not too harsh.
Don't smoke around the acetone.
Quote from: Pescachaser on June 29, 2013, 03:47:51 PM
Quote from: Norcal Pescador on June 29, 2013, 03:24:16 PM
A 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF (automatic transmission fluid). Dunk the parts for about 10 minutes then massage with a toothbrush. Or just dip the toothbrush and scrub away. Low odor, not too harsh.
Don't smoke around the acetone.
Don't smoke around any chemicals. Better yet, don't smoke. :-\ Unless it's a good cigar. ;D
I use a witches brew for the tough stuff. Left over brake and carb cleaner (I collect it when cleaning bearings) mixed with lacquer thinner, kerosene, ATF fluid and WD40. It will quickly release rust and melt that thick crust PENN grease thats 20 years old. Keep in mind that this will attack many plastics and paint. Use it mainly for gears and nasty side plates. Totally reusable - let it stand a couple of days till it clears and save the clear stuff and toss the sludge. Replenish with the run off from bearing cleaning. Works good on wheel bearings.
I also hear that BIODIESEL is an excellent cleaner and relatively easy on your skin as well as a good lubricant.
Jim N.
Hello Jim, nice to see you here, you should visit more often ;D.
I've been using this stuff to clean bearings and dried-up grease for two years now and wouldn't use anything else.
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g431/pescatore1/IMG_20110902_1730571.jpg) (http://s1101.photobucket.com/user/pescatore1/media/IMG_20110902_1730571.jpg.html)
When I first mentioned it here they made funny comments about being a tool cleaner.
I would really like for you to give it a shot and let me know what you think, I could treat you ;D.
Squirt this stuff on an opened dirty bearing, no need for brushes, and watch that baby spin.
I purchase mine at Home Depot, it's about $3.50 a can.
Take care.
Sal
I know I am getting in late, but this is my favorite parts cleaner. It was a watch parts cleaner the first 50 years of it's life. Only recently did it get re-purposed to clean reel parts. Lots-O-agitation.
mike
That looks cool. Would love to see a video of that in action.
I am a firm believer in pure white vinegar and soft bristle brush on metal parts and orange based cleaner on side plates. Vinegar makes chrome like new.
I use a combination. Like Norcal Pescador I soak the part or bearing in a 50/50 mix of atf and acetone. Then I use electronic contact cleaner like Sal recommended to blast out the remaining grease. With the little straw attachment you can get inside the bearing good. I use a generic brand but I will try the Paslode next time I go to Home Depot.
i opened up my ma20 finnor the other day
after 3or 4 years.grease had settled,sprayed some
inox m3 on the grease,good to go again,no cleaning necessary.
My most recent reel service was a new 750ss spinner with decades old grease in it. I wanted to speed up the process compared to the cleaning of my other Penn SS reels which took days for soaking parts so I decided to "heat" things up a bit. For the main body parts I used some "in-service" simple green that I had around in use. Only difference this time is that I heated the simple green in the microwave till it was nice and "HOT" (not boiling hot but enough). Let the parts soak in the hot simple green and the grease just dissipated with a toothbrush. Did something similar with the bearings. The bearings were the type with the non-removable shields; so I soaked them in a shot glass of hot WD40 first. Then several cycles in a shot glass of carb/brake cleaner surrounded by hot water in my sonic cooler. Heating up the mediums was a tremendous help, and I think worked out better than what I was originally thinking of using my heat gun to heat up the parts to get the grease flowing out. I got this idea from heating cosmoline from gun parts prior to introducing solvents.
Leo
Leo, careful you don't mistake it for soup. ;D
Straight Kerosene works great in a large glass jar with a screw on lid. You can shake the jar to agitate the parts in the Kerosene and it works like magic on old grease. The parts look like new in about 60 minutes or less.
I second the 50/50 acetone ATF mix. Read an article a while back where they described a test done by a reputable tech/science group (can't remember who). It measured the amount of torque required to remove a corroded bolt after applying different penetrating oils (including PB blaster, WD-40, Liquid Wrench, etc) and measured them against the homemade 50/50 mix. Acetone/ATF won by a considerable margin.
I have had good results using Birchwood - Casey "Gun Scrubber". They used to market "Reel Scrubber", but I haven't found that for some time.
Another concoction
I use Keresone and Gunk heavy duty cleaner in a parts washer. It works great and removes corrosion too. 4 parts Kerosene to 1 part Gunk. The Gunk has to be diluted per the instructions.
A little side bar guys: All of these chemicals are great cleaners or solvents yes, something we should practice always, use protection on your hands, eyes,and skin. And wash you hands well after using this stuff.
I know a lot of guys will say, we know that but I just felt the need to mention it here because of all of the different chemicals that are mentioned.
Joe