How detailed do you get for seasonal maintenance?

Started by grekim, January 19, 2019, 04:55:10 PM

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grekim

Well, this will be one of the few weekends of the year that I will not be out fishing.  Time to do some maintenance.  We all do some heavy cleaning when we restore a reel for the first time.  But after that, how much effort do you recommend putting in?  At a minimum, I will remove the old grease with a paper towel.  All the reels I have to work on do not have saltwater intrusion (if that happened they get worked on immediately).  So, I am thinking of skipping any kind or soapy soak because it adds a lot of time for parts to dry out.  But, if you think it is a good idea (to remove more grease and any traces of salt) then I will stop being lazy and do it.  I know a lot of you guys use some serious solvents and ultrasonics, but isn't that more just for the "first" service.  Just curious.
Educating fish on every trip

alantani

you know the thing about the cobbler's children having no shoes? 

the maintenance for my own local gear is pretty slim.  i go through it at the very beginning, then just have the kids give it a hose down and maybe a towel dry after every trip.  then i only pull a rod out of the rotation if there is a problem. 

for long range gear, i repack the braid and redo the topshots before a trip, and check to make sure it cranks ok and that the freespool is ok.  i only pull them apart if there is a problem.   :-\
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

grekim

Quote from: alantani on January 19, 2019, 05:09:12 PM
you know the thing about the cobbler's children having no shoes? 

the maintenance for my own local gear is pretty slim.  i go through it at the very beginning, then just have the kids give it a hose down and maybe a towel dry after every trip.  then i only pull a rod out of the rotation if there is a problem. 

for long range gear, i repack the braid and redo the topshots before a trip, and check to make sure it cranks ok and that the freespool is ok.  i only pull them apart if there is a problem.   :-\

Ha!  Well, I'd like to say your secret is safe with me.  On a related note, I only fish with my worst looking reels.  I know the insides are good  ;) 
Educating fish on every trip

Reel 224

I'll admit my reels don't get much attention either, because I'm working on other peoples reels or rods. I have two blanks waiting for me to build for myself for the last year and a half, can't seem to get to them. With the business coming this year it even worse to get to my own things.

Joe

P.S I would try to give your reels a going over at least before the season.
"I don't know the key to success,but the key to failure is trying to please everyone."

Rivverrat

#4
I have 4 reels that get used most every day outside of blizzard, arctic type weather. Side plates are removed on two of these every 3 weeks. Every thing that can be reached is cleaned & lubed. These are used mostly in fresh water but get dunked fairly regularly. Once a year I do a complete strip replace worn parts & usually spool bearings are replaced in my main reel used for casting.

This is a bit much for most but since doing this I have never lost a fish do to reel failure. Catching issues before they become a problem. Like to keep it this way... Jeff

Reel 224

I forgot to mention I have two Penn reels that need attention that I bought here. If you brake down your reels every year your doing better then I do.

Joe
"I don't know the key to success,but the key to failure is trying to please everyone."

foakes

Generally just a quick check of all functions and smoothness before the season.

For most of us, since we understand and have gone into the reel previously — used good grease, oil, and drags, and properly set them up — little is typically needed unless there is an issue — which most of us can detect and correct fairly quickly, anyway.

If used, each year — I do however switch out the line if it is mono — and has been used hard the year before.  I do not switch out braid until needed, or leadcore — just fresh topshots.

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

oc1

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
-steve

steelfish

Quote from: alantani on January 19, 2019, 05:09:12 PM
you know the thing about the cobbler's children having no shoes? 

I dont now if that made me laugh or cry

most of my closed fishing pals use "custom rods" or full restored customized rods handcrafted by me and I only have one rod build for me and that happened 1 month ago still havent used it.


about the regular maintenance for own reels, well seems that everyone does the same, full and deep clean-up and change of broken parts and bearings, later just shower with the hose with no much water presure, towel and after 3-4 trips a drop of oil here and there and only check it out again if it starts to make "funny" sounds.
but I do recomment my friends and rest of local fishermen to send me their reels off-season for the annual maintenance and avoid any expensive problem later and thats not a lie, thats just cobbler's children Syndrome.

The Baja Guy

grekim

Okay, thank you.  Looks like I am overdoing it once again by taking off last year's grease. 
Having had a loose handle-side bearing in the surf, I am getting in the habit of doing a quick check on all the external parts - side plate screws, bridge screws and bearings before each outing.  You might say I have a few screws loose anyway.

Educating fish on every trip

Gfish

I don't think takin off last years grease with a paper towel will do anything but good for your reels. I even use a small artists paint brush, wiping it constantly on the towel. The grease traps alotta dirt, carbon fiber particals, salt crystals, etc. Perhaps without all that crap in there, the reel will wear slower...
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

Cor

With my older generation reels I just did as Alan, when I notice something not 100% I would check it out and fix.
Did do a decent service once a year, or so but I used the stuff so much that was essential, if only to replace grease on gears.

My more modern reels I need to attend to so regularly that it has become a pain in the butt and in the wallet for all the spares required! ???
Cornelis

Keta

#12
I usually inspect and re-oil bearings that were not greased when doing a in season service.  AR bearings really need more "service time" than most people will do, I've replaced several ignored ones in the last few weeks.

Quote from: alantani on January 19, 2019, 05:09:12 PM
you know the thing about the cobbler's children having no shoes?  

I hear ya here Alan, I lost a handle side spool bearing on the last SOA trip that should have been replaced before I headed south.  It was on the MX (30#) that I chased the BFT around the boat 4 times with.  The bearing came out in pieces when I opened up the reel.  This has prompted me to go through my LR gear for the next SOA trip.

Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

David Hall

seasonal  :D
this really depends on how much I used them the previous season. this past year my salmon gear didn't get that much use so just a clean and light corrosion X wipe down. if all functions are in good working order I defer maintenance until a future date for my reels.  I know that if I need to tear one down it will be a 30 minute to one hour project so I don't think its a big deal.
takes me a lot longer and costs a lot more money to get the boat and its gear ready to go.  Downriggers need attention every year.
this year I have to upgrade the trailer too, new tires and rims, service and clean all the brakes, repace the brake lines, add an electric over hydraulic actuator, upgrade the lights.  Im not letting another season go by without being able to make a couple runs to San DIego and get out after those BFT that have been making regular visits the past few years.
Its always something.  if not my toys its the house, new roof, new front yard, new driveway, plumbing is all messed up, microwave blew a fuse, toilet wont flush.
And this year I promised to help a friend replace the fuel tank in his boat, thats gonna take us a month to complete.
I better get motivated pretty soon or Im gonna miss part of the salmon season.

Brewcrafter

In my situation I have a problem that most on this forum do not seem to suffer from - I have too much gear and don't go fishing enough! :D  Using a setup only 2 or 3 times in a year just doesn't warrant a full teardown unless it "exhibits symptoms".  I also have a questionable memory, so one thing I am really anal about is that I have tags on all of my gear, for two reasons.  The main one is that it reminds my feeble memory of what was done when, what # of line, drags, on what date, etc,  The second reason is I put a brief summary of the history and origin of the rod/reel.  If something were to happen to me, my family is going to have to sort through a serious volume of stuff, and it will help them if they or my fishing buddies know they are holding something that has been in the family for 4 generations vs. something that I found a Garage Sale deal on and cleaned up, then they can decide what to do with it.  Several times I have helped non-fishing friends sort through their parents estates, and we have all had that "if this rod/reel could talk" episode.