Bad Bearings?

[Sandbar33]

Broke one of my 6500 C3's down, cleaned it well and relubed. When I went to test her out I get an aweful whining/screeching sound when I cast. A sound that will wake the dead (lol). I cleaned the bearings well and lubed them with Superlube Oil and they didn't appear to be bad. I did leave the shields off of one side so  I could re-lube easier. Any ideas? The reel made this noise before I took it apart so I am wondering if the bearings are shot or if there is another problem.....

[Pro Reel]

You probably have one or more bad bearings. You should be able to feel a bad bearing by placing it on a tapered stick or end of a pencil. Spin the bearing with your fingers and if it's good it should spin smooth. If you feel anything rough at all, then it's junk.

[Sandbar33]

Pro Reel

They seemed fine to me but when I hit them with "light" compressed air they didn't seem to spin that well. I sprayed brake cleaner on them and even soaked them in NAPTHA so I feel like they were cleaned but that noise was just aweful even though the reel still cast Ok. I'm guessing that noise is due to the bearings not spinning properly. Could that noise be due to temperature (it was about 35 degrees) or too much oil? I put about 2-3 drops of the superlube oil.

[Sandbar33]

I am also wondering if I it could be the plastic gear on the outside plate......Should I oil that gear?

[Bryan Young]

The plastic gear is for the line guide.  That needs to be oiled as well.  But it may not be the cause of the noise if the line guide glides back and forth smoothly.

Open bearings are noiser, and you may not have bad bearings.  It just that the bearings does not have any shields keeping the noise in the bearings.  If the bearings are lubed, try spinning them with light compresed air and listen.  Multiply that with the sound echoing in the aluminum sideplates, and that could be your noise.

[alantani]

let's hope that it actually is the bearing and not the spool rubbing against the frame!

[Sandbar33]

I just cleaned 3 reels and I took the shields off of all 3 reels. One of the reels is running like a dream with no noise but the other 2 just sound aweful. I wonder if the break could be rubbing against the plate wrong........this is a very loud scrubbing noise that would wake the dead.

[Pro Reel]

Take the bearings out of the one thats running like a dream, and put them in one of the screechers, if they are the same size. Check to be sure the line guide is running smooth? Check for clearance of spool to frame? Bent spool shaft maybe?