Soaking your reel in water versus spraying down?

[jplee3]

Hey all,

So I've read how some people prefer to soak their reels entirely in water after hard usage particularly in the salt. Wouldn't lightly spraying it down initially be a better idea? I feel like you run the risk of getting water trapped inside and various internal components rusting/oxidizing during a full soak, no? Also, if you were concerned about saltwater corrosion inside the reel, wouldn't you want to just tear it down and clean/grease/oil anyway?

Would love to get some thoughts around this.

[PacRat]

I don't recommend soaking. My brother use to soak our reels while my dad and I washed the boat...big mistake! This will ruin your bearings and water will be trapped in places you don't want it. I like to tighten the drags down so water won't get in between the washers and spray them down. Try not to direct the spray between the spool flange and frame. Spray your drag star and handle knob but try not to blast water in around your gear sleeve where it exits the frame. Many people might disagree with me here but Shimano recommends wiping the whole reel down with WD-40 on a soft rag. The WD-40 won't damage your line. With mono I like to spray line conditioner on the line as a final step.

[jplee3]

I don't recommend soaking. My brother use to soak our reels while my dad and I washed the boat...big mistake! This will ruin your bearings and water will be trapped in places you don't want it. I like to tighten the drags down so water won't get in between the washers and spray them down. Try not to direct the spray between the spool flange and frame. Spray your drag star and handle knob but try not to blast water in around your gear sleeve where it exits the frame. Many people might disagree with me here but Shimano recommends wiping the whole reel down with WD-40 on a soft rag. The WD-40 won't damage your line. With mono I like to spray line conditioner on the line as a final step.

These were my suspicions exactly - getting water into places you shouldn't be and unknowingly letting it sit there until things start rusting out. Blasting water onto the reel doesn't seem like a great idea either, which I'll admit I have done. Fortunately none of my reels have died as a result of any of that. I tend not to be super aggressive when hosing them down though.

[boon]

Ideally salt water shouldn't be getting in anywhere that can't be removed with a light spray/misting and a wipe down with a cloth after fishing.
If my reels get so wet that I would even consider soaking them (basically if they get dunked) then they get stripped and serviced anyway.

[Shark Hunter]

I put mine in the shower for a few minutes. Very light spray, you don't want to blast them.
Wipe them off and drip dry. Make sure you do the rod too. Salt eats up everything.
I've taken this reel to the beach at least two dozen times with multiple long drops and it still looks like new.
Of course, a complete teardown is done annually. Spool waxed, parts cleaned and fresh grease and oil applied.
I also Use Pledge on the rods.

[SoCalAngler]

Salt water getting inside of a reel is not uncommon here. With nasty weather or an overzealous deckhands washdown hose water can be pushed inside of a reel. Most of the newer design reels used in salt water have drainage holes just for that reason. I normally spray down my gear after every trip with a hose and a light spray on the reels. Every year or two my reels get opened up and checked out and do any maintenance that may be required depending on how much I use that reel for that year.

[foakes]

I agree with Mike (PacRat) —

For a quick and dirty preventative maintenance after fishing —

Compress the drag, let fresh water from a hose just flow over the reel — no pressure.

Wipe it down with a dry, clean rag —

Spray and wipe with WD-40.  This was invented for the military as a Water Displacer, protectant, and somewhat of a lubricant for mechanisms, tools, and machinery.

This was the 40th attempt at a formula.

With our knowledge on Alan's board — I would also recommend if on multiple day trips — to just pop off a sideplate — remove the spool — wipe down the gut surfaces — apply some TSI321to the bearings, gears, etc. — along with a marine grade grease if possible.  I always have a squeeze bottle of TSI321, and a grease gun full of Yamaha Marine handy.

Only exception would be a Newell Reel with mostly SS and graphite parts.  Carl always recommended compressing the drag stack and dunking in a bucket of fresh 💧💧💧 water for a few minutes.  Then a wipe down, and a spray and wipe with WD-40.  This was not a shortcut for good maintenance — it was for when on a long range you could reasonably maintain your reels for the duration of your trip.

Just my opinions...

Best,

Fred

[Caranx]

I have been filling up a bucket of fresh water and submersing and shaking the reels one at a time, then shaking them dry and setting them on the tail side plate in a soda case box/tray and air dry out on the lanai.
A couple hours later shake em again and place them on the reel seat/foot for the rest of the nite.
Next day let it get some sun and finish drying out completely. Never had any problem with corrosion on any of my senators in over thirty years.
Now, I add some Salt-Away solution to the bucket of water and then dunk them, then rinse under the faucet.
My only tip: Never store away a reel that is still wet after rinsing.

A few years ago, I read about how Carl Newell suggested on how to rinse off his reels. Slosh it in a bucket of fresh water and shake dry. 👍🏼

[oc1]

Casting will fling water between the spool and the frame.  Even if you don't dunk it or douse it, saltwater will eventually get inside.  When the saltwater "dries" you get salt crystals but the crystals will stay damp forever just from the humidity in the air.  If they collect on stainless or aluminum parts it cuts off the oxygen and eats away the protective layer of oxidation.  Corrosion then begins.

A freshwater dunk will get rid of the salt.  Plenty of drain holes will then get rid of the freshwater.  You can add more drain holes if water is being trapped inside

What gripes me is that the freshwater is also coating the lubricant, be it grease or oil.  
The lubricant can either repel or absorb water.  It seems that the most lubricants repel most water but absorb some water. If your lubricant turns color (often grey and cloudy) then it has absorbed water.  When water and a lubricant are forcibly combined by moving parts like the gears and bearings it forms an oil/water emulsion.  This almost always reduces the lubricants corrosion protection, consistency, texture and adhesiveness.
-steve

[Caranx]

Great analogy!👍🏼👍🏼

[jurelometer]

I'm not going to argue with what works for folks, but here is my reasoning for joining the ranks of the soakers: 

By soaking  a reel in a bucket of fresh water, you will be taking out nearly all of the salt. As others have noted, salt is the enemy when fighting corrosion.

Sea water is about 3.5% salt.   So a liter of sea water will contain about 35 grams of salt.   Let's say the inside of your reel had about a teaspoon (.005 liters) of seawater that did not make it out and evaporated leaving behind .175 grams of salt (35*.005=.175).

Now drop that reel in a two gallon bucket of fresh water (about 7.6 liters).   After salt dissolves, it will diffuse immediately (fresh water is a terrific solvent for salt).  The salt content of the water is now  0.023 grams per liter (.175/7.6=0.023).  Now let's say we did terrible job of draining the reel and left two tablespoons of the now diluted water behind  inside the reel to evaporate.  How much salt is left inside the reel?

2 tablespoons = .03 liters  so that gives us about .00012 grams of salt remaining  from the original .175 grams  (.023 *.03=0.00012).  We still removed 99.93% of the salt from inside the reel...

... If I did my math right (odds = 50%  )

I don't buy the argument about the fresh water carrying salt throughout the reel.   Thanks to diffusion, there is very little salt left behind after a soak.

------------------

Now on to the relative risk of saltwater vs.  freshwater damage.

There are many materials and combinations of materials (galvanic corrosion, anyone?) that can be found in saltwater reels that will corrode quite readily when exposed to saltwater.  Often the high end reels are worse in this regard.   Most if not all of the same components are extremely resistant to freshwater corrosion.   Example:  one way bearings typically use 440 stainless for the rollers, because the rollers have to be very hard.  440 is a high carbon stainless.  It is rated low for saltwater corrosion resistance, but high for freshwater.

There should not be anything inside a halfway decent reel that will be damaged by exposure to fresh water.  I might have a bit of a concern about some proprietary drag materials, but haven't had a problem with the drag materials in the reels that I use (greased carbon fiber, cork, rulon).   You can clamp down on the drags to minimize freshwater intrusion, but then you lose the benefits of a freshwater soak,.

Steve makes a good point about emulsion, so it might be wise not to spin the gears and bearings right after soaking.

-J

[Shark Hunter]

Everyone has their own methods.
You have to do what is right for you.
Personally, I never would submerse any reel in fresh water for the matter of cleaning.
If it gets dunked in saltwater by accident. It happens.
Rinse off the outside and take it apart when convenience allows.
I give my reels a full service every year, whether they need it or not.
The maintenance in between relies on the circumstances.
Soaking it in a bucket of water and letting it dry is not the way to do it in my eye.
Proper and effective reel maintenance cannot be substituted for any wash, rinse or dunking.
It is just a temporary measure before the full service.
I have too much invested to not see what is inside, and do it right. JMO
Daron

[Caranx]

To add that I soak my Penn Senators and completely air dry them, I still take it completely apart, clean every single component by rinsing, sun drying and relubing. I do it at least three times a year.
Of course, I only fish with six or so reels, so it's not a big job for me.
None of my Senators have corrosion under the chrome or on the brass and steel parts.
I also take all of my line off the reel, wipe corrosion-x on the aluminum spool and wind the line back up using a rag or paper towel to dry it and take off any remaining salt on the line. I do it after every use which is between 1-4 times a month, because I don't know when I will be using that certain reel again.
I HATE corroded aluminum spools! 
Dunking and swishing works for me!


My 113HL about to get drenched

[Shark Hunter]

Sounds like you got it down.

[Caranx]

It's all good Shark Hunter, we just gotta do what we gotta do to keep our reels in top shape for the big one! 👍🏼👍🏼