Penn Precision Reel Grease: Buyer Beware!

exp2000 · June 05, 2019, 08:43:20 PM

I have made a number of posts documenting my experience of Penn Precision Reel Grease turning into concrete when exposed to salt water.

Some forum members have challenged me regarding this because they have not experienced this themselves and some have stated that Penn would never release such a product despite the first hand photographic evidence I have provided.

So it is with great interest that I stumbled upon this post in another forum revealing that
this is not the first time that Penn have done this:

Penn 5500ss clean up and buyer beware!

https://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/topic/513378-penn-5500ss-clean-up-and-buyer-beware/

https://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/topic/15501-reel-packing-grease-ever-try-this-one/?page=4

"whatever you do don't use the white lythium grease or whatever it was that penn was using for a while....
once wet with saltwater or even rinced it will turn to powdery clumps and grind apart your gears inside"

See attached photos from these posts:

sabaman1 · June 05, 2019, 11:42:09 PM

Penn precision reel grease is blue and not a white lithium grease. I use the Penn precision and have not ran into any problems with it. I also use Cals grease for the drag system. I believe most of the Ohana on this site use the Yamaha grease also in the maintenance of our reels. Looking at the pictures you posted also, it looks like salt crystal or corrosion from the salt water settling in an area where there would be electrolysis from the bimetal of the gear and housing, corrosion starts immediately once it enters the reel. Just saying!

George6308 · June 06, 2019, 12:06:06 AM

Penn was marketing a blue Greece in the early 70's. I still have a 2 once cup in my tool box. I used it to lube my Penn 704's and it got mixed with salt water and it became very thick. A trip to my favorite reel manufacturing plant was made. I spoke to their repair person who stated than Penn no longer used this blue grease and had switched over to Muscle Grease make by the Muscle Grease Co. It's tan in color and holds up very well in their reels. I still have the two 2 once containers I purchased that day. I have also purchased the grease directly from Muscle Green in one pound tubs.
I use the newer XR7 sourced blue grease and oil. I have found both products, Muscle and XR7 aka Penn, give good service. See catalog 89b on Mystic's site for the listing for the original Penn blue grease.

Dominick · June 06, 2019, 12:35:48 AM

EXP2000, I don't doubt that you experienced problems with the grease in that reel. However, you are not clear about where the grease came from in the first place. If you bought the reel directly from Penn or new from a Penn dealer and found that problem then you can assume that Penn used a poorly formulated grease. However, I disagree with the way you are knocking Penn products. If you feel that you do not want to use a Penn lubricating product for personal reasons you have the right to do so, but I think you should be clear as to what you experienced but with the disclaimer that you do not know where the grease that was in the reel originated. I use Penn grease regularly and have not had a problem. On the other hand I don't have Penn lithium grease (if such a thing ever existed). I do have lithium grease that I use on my garage door hardware. It works well for the purpose it was manufactured. Dominick

Bryan Young · June 06, 2019, 01:22:29 AM

Hey, guys, exp2000 is only stating a factual experience he is having with the reel grease. Isn't this what our website is all about? I now you guys have brand loyalty, but this is his finding that he supported with pictures. I have no problems with reviewing and clarify the findings, but attaching him based on his experiences is out of line.

exp2000,

I have several questions. But first, would you please provide a photo of the grease and grease container? I wonder if it was a lot or the formulation as the formulation of greases tend to change periodically.

1. Was the grease blue to start and did it turn white when exposed to salt water?
2. Is that salt accumulation in your reel photo or is it grease and salt?
3. How long was the reel fished and not serviced? I know you fish the surf pretty hard and Penn SS series does not seal well.

Thank you. I'm looking forward to your response so that I can grasp my head around the context of the grease going bad.

Bryan

exp2000 · June 06, 2019, 01:22:52 AM

Yeah sure, no problem!

Bryan Young · June 06, 2019, 01:27:51 AM

I read the post and it said that the reel was submerged...to me it looks like salt accumulation but I wasn't there so I don't know.

Second, like all reel mfgs, they all lack the ability to apply grease everywhere it is needed. This is why we do a pre-use service. So I cannot really make a full informative decision based on the information provided.

Bryan Young · June 06, 2019, 01:28:45 AM

yeah, looks like salt is mixing in with the grease. That is a problem...

oc1 · June 06, 2019, 01:47:01 AM

Grease is so myserious. I always heard that you should not use lithium grease because it has poor water resistance. No you're saying that Penn grease is lithium based?

I've seen salt crystals stuck in grease like that. It's one of the reasons I now try to avoid grease and just apply oil more frequently
.
-steve

Donnyboat · June 06, 2019, 04:11:26 AM

Brett, Thanks for the warning, I will check all of my reels, often, to see if they are okay, thanks & cheers Don.

alantani · June 06, 2019, 05:14:29 AM

ok, i am really not up to speed on the entire discussion, so there are things that i may have missed, but i've read the posts and i think i have an idea of what is going on. i'm going to jump in here because i would like to take this in a more positive direction. in any professional discussion, it is important to identify the possibilities. so, in that spirit, let's talk about what we may have going on.

first, there are the starting ingredients. there are several dissimilar metals, from cheap pot aluminum to high grade stainless steel, there may be any number of grades of hydrocarbon, lithium or teflon greases with any number of additives, then there is water, there is salt, and there is air. second, there is some sort of chemical or electrochemical reaction over some period of time. and then third, there is a visual of the end result. note that i say visual. we do not have a chemical analysis of the end product. ok, it's white, but lots of stuff is white. salt is white, lithium oxide is white, aluminum oxide is white.

gentlemen, you know mostly what's inside the reel, and you know the process has to be chemical or electric or both, but you don't know for sure what the white stuff is, do you. if someone here knows for sure what the whate stuff is, then tell us and, in the spirit of professionalism, tell us how you know. if you believe that the white stuff is something in particular, please tell us what you think it is, and why you think it is, but please be honest enough to admit that you are not sure. and yes, wild guesses are not helpful. a little more of a scientific approach would be appreciated.

and while were on the topic, does anyone know the chemical make up of this stuff, where it comes from and how it's made. and could it be the same junk that we are looking at in the reel? consider the possibility that the grease caused the corrosion that you saw in the reel. consider also the possibility that it was the grease that failed to prevent the corrosion in the reel. and how many possibilities have we not considered?

i welcome further constructive discussion.

Riy2018 · June 06, 2019, 01:47:57 PM

your information regarding Penn Reel Grease has point. In my local fishing store they are few dollars per small can.
Im originally from Asia, old day the scammers in my old country used to mix Vaseline and squise blue inq from BIG ball pen into jar and mix together so it will look blue. they even did this for cars grease.
Im personally using original Yamaha marine grease or bike blue grease for older reels(bike reels are good too, they dont wash off easy).

JRD · June 06, 2019, 10:42:26 PM

I use Penn Precision Blue grease purchased in one pound tubs. I've never seen it turn white but I can tell you with a lot of salt water contact on my kayak and skiff reels it does turn brown after a period of time and will emulsify to a really light blue until the water evaporates off. I still use it just with the knowledge that vulnerable components need to be examined a few time a season at least.

SoCalAngler · June 06, 2019, 11:19:24 PM

exp2000,

I take it this the grease your talking about, right?

You said something about the grease being sky blue. Was that before it was applied or after the contamination inside of the reel? Because the Penn grease I have is much darker than sky blue.

I'm wondering if is the same grease.

When I worked in a tackle shop around 12 years ago the Penn grease looked the same as this one I bought around a year ago.

exp2000 · June 07, 2019, 12:44:48 AM

Quote from: SoCalAngler on June 06, 2019, 11:19:24 PM
exp2000,

I take it this the grease your talking about, right?

You said something about the grease being sky blue. Was that before it was applied or after the contamination inside of the reel? Because the Penn grease I have is much darker than sky blue.

I'm wondering if is the same grease.

When I worked in a tackle shop around 12 years ago the Penn grease looked the same as this one I bought around a year ago.

Yes that is the stuff.

It was marketed as a new product here in Australia circa 2013.

The stuff we received arrived in 1kg? bulk containers from Pure Fishing.

But, back then I think that it was a lighter color out of the jar.

For reference, here is a picture of some which was over-applied to a clients reel.

I now have a current jar fresh off the shelf. When I have time, I will do some exposure tests and see what the result is.

I hope that it has changed for the better because what this stuff did to reels made the life of a service tech just miserable.