Is it ok to dunk reel in freshwater

Started by Realfunone, May 21, 2019, 02:06:54 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

farnorthlbg

No, it's not okay.  The only circumstance it would be acceptable is if the reel had been completely submerged in saltwater by accident and was dunked in freshwater several times afterwards to dilute the saltwater contained within the reel in order to minimise corrosion damage prior to a complete teardown/rebuilding

Keta

I just stumbled into a Accurate Reel article recommending misting and wiping and discouraging dunking.  Soaking has worked for me and I will continue to do it.  The article insinuated dunking forced salt/saltwater into a reel but the air coming out of the reel would do the opposite.  The next time I soak my reels I will take one or two down after a day or so of drying and see how much water is still in the reel. 

Just for the heck of it I put a new degreased bearing in a glass of freshwater and will monitor it for a few months.
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

farnorthlbg

Question:  why does one HAVE to DUNK there reels after use???




Keta

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

wfjord

#49
When I lived close to the coast (before the birth of internet) and fished saltwater regularly, I just rinsed my reels under a gentle stream of water from a spigot or hose after use in the salt.

That was long before the notion of disassembling my reels ever occurred to me.  But since discovering alantani.com a little over two years ago, I've disassembled, cleaned & rebuilt all of my 60+ reels about twice and found my heaviest used saltwater reels all had little corrosion.  Even so, now after a trip to the coast I'll still rinse them... and do a full break down if they've been excessively doused or dunked.

Even if one of my freshwater reels spends serious time under water I'll open it up and at least dry it out.

Alto Mare

Quote from: Keta on May 25, 2019, 02:07:49 PM


Just for the heck of it I put a new degreased bearing in a glass of freshwater and will monitor it for a few months.
Try to leave it half exposed to air, fully covered will be fully protected :)

This is one of the reason I love this site, someone asks one simple question and it will usually turn into a 5-10 page thread :)

Sal
Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.

Keta

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

philaroman

#52
no need to wait -- tap water is mildly corrosive
look what happens to the sacrificial anode in a water heater
Jul/Aug Philly tap water smells like a freakin' pool :(  better to soak your reel in a stream, LOL
conversely, Winter tap water is fine, while urban streams/ponds get a major dose of road salt
just sayin', not all "freshwater" is created equal
quite a range between distilled & just a few ppm's below brackish

Keta

Quote from: philaroman on May 25, 2019, 07:02:03 PM
just sayin', not all "freshwater" is created equal
quite a range between distilled & just a few ppm's below brackish

True, my tap water is mineral free and is Crater Lake snow melt water filtered through 25 miles of pumice.   Zinc is low on the nobility scale and it does not surprise me they go away in hard water.
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

Bill B

On the subject of water, I am a manager of the water treatment plant where I work supplying water for 3 facilities and about 12,000 people, our water process (ion exchange ) was so clean and pure the water was leaching the copper from our pipes and causing blow outs.  Funny how transite pipes (asbestos containing) pipes were not affected after 70 years. We now are doing a phosphate injection to coat the pipes to prevent the corrosion.  Bill
It may not be very productive,
but it's sure going to be interesting!

Maxed Out

#55
 I saw an episode of Seinfeld that showed even Joe DiMaggio liked to dunk  ;D  ;D

Personally, I'm not a dunker  ;)
We Must Never Forget Our Veterans....God Bless Them All !!

jurelometer

Quote from: Alto Mare on May 24, 2019, 11:07:39 PM
How sure are we that 304 is used?
There is 303, only one number away and yet will corrode much more than 304, but it's easy to machine.
You'll often see it in nuts and bolts, gears, fittings and bushings.

304 is popular in projects where aesthetics and cleanliness are key. These include:

Architecture
Kitchens
Food processing

Sal


I was pointing out that stainless bearings are 440c stainless which has about the same corrosion properties as 304.  But the less corrosion resistant the alloy, the more soaking should help.

I am not a metallurgist, but I think it works like this:   

Pretty much all the grades of stainless will not corrode significantly from contact with pure water.  Stainless forms a very thin self-healing layer of chromium oxide that provides corrosion protection.  Exposure to harsh chemicals can penetrate this layer and  form compounds on the surface that block access to oxygen, preventing chromium oxide from forming and resealing the part.    The less corrosion resistant the alloy,  the more important it is to remove certain corrosive compounds from the surface.  Chlorine bleach will corrode 304 stainless, but sinks don't corrode from bleach because the are constantly being rinsed with fresh tap water!  Cleaning is the key to preventing corrosion on stainless steel.

303 corrodes more than 304  because of the sulfur added to 303 to improve machinability.  When coming in contact with harsh chemicals, sulfides will form, causing pitting.  I would argue that 303 parts would actually benefit more from freshwater soaking.

Quote from: Caranx on May 25, 2019, 07:56:05 AM
My thinking is that when salt water gets on the reel either by misting or splashing, it has less surface tension than freshwater. It will creep into every crack and cranny and keep sleeping into the reel non stop.
Saltwater is actually sticky.
As to the way we wash our reels is up to us and our own maintenance habits.
I still dunk them into a bucket of fresh water and swish it around for a couple seconds and shake what I can out and repeat again with another fresh bucket of water and shake like crazy but hang on to it!
I then leave it out to dry under shade for a few days until I'm sure it's completely dried.

"Swish it in a bucket of water, shake it out and let it dry"
That's what Mr. Newell stated in his maintenance instructions years ago and I stuck with it ever since.


In addition to not being a metallurgist, I am also not a chemist,  but shouldn't the whole ion attraction thing mean that saltwater has greater surface tension than freshwater?

But I think you are on the right track.  The more salt (NaCl) molecules come in contact with water molecules, the more dissolving (and diluting) will occur. 

Also, a salt crystal dried into a pit or crevice will have more of its surface area blocked from contact with water, making dissolving take much longer.  I think this is why it is hard to soak the salt out of braided line.  My hunch is that if the "don't soak/dunk" crowd turns out to have a valid argument, it will be because these trapped crystals are getting wet, but not dissolved from the soak/dunk.

Just  finished a nice 30 minute soak for 6 reels, including some of my favorites.  Haven't had issues with corrosion since I started this practice.

-J

CapeFish

Out of interest, I took one of my regularly used reels apart. It has been through a lot of saltwater dunking and subsequent freshwater dunking and I cannot remember when last I opened it for a full service let alone a bearing lube............ :-\ Maybe 18 months ago or about a year. All I do after fishing is rinse it off or if it got in the salt then I will swirl it around in a bucket of freshwater. I leave it to dry on a shelf or on the rod rack. Sometimes it gets a quick spray on the outside with tackle guard. It is a Torium 20 and it is about 14 years old. By pure chance I found some TSI321 in a small seaside town so I thought I may as well service the reel and try it and just in case see if my dunking in freshwater has caused any problems. The reel had one drop of water inside. I should have tasted it to see if it was salt but forgot. There was no sign of any salt or crusting inside and no sign of corrosion at all. Not even at the driveshaft bearing or anti-reverse bearing. There was some fine sand under the star. But no corrosion. I cleaned it all up, cleaned out the bearings and lubed them with the TSI and it is spinning very nicely now.

Benni3

My pflueger patriarch's don't like water,,,, ??? if it rains to hard,,,,,sealed xt  >:( ,,,,,,it doesn't matter I'm giving some wd40 just to keep fishing,,,,,,, ;D