UCSD fishing team needs help with Okuma spinning reels

[fishucsd]

Well there you go Richard, the videos, that Festus,( Chester ) have placed on here for you covers it all, just remember, reel oil, is only a light synthetic oil, you can buy it in a 500Ml container @ most auto shops for much less costs, I transfer it into a serynge as I need it, also CALS grease, it has teflon in it to handle heat much better than most greases, thats why they recommend it for Drag washers, specialy carbon fibre, washers, it keeps them cooler, & also gives the reel drag a smooth start up, it is to costly to use on gearing, I use Yamaha marine grease, you can thin it with some oil, as Alan Tani said, yamaha marine grease never dry`s out like a lot of the old type greases, now man we want to see photos of the fish, please keep us updated, & good luck, & merry Xmas to everyone, cheers Don.

WOW!! alright my dad is actually friends with some auto shop guys so i'll give them a holler if they have any light synthetic oil laying around. syringes can be found in my sister's old baby stuff haha

thanks Donnyboat! hope Christmas is putting you in the fishing mood up in Australia

Yes from above Philaroman and I have deduced these drag washers are graphite so i'll have to look into the Cals grease

Yamaha lube sounds like the one most are fond of especially in the tools&lube section. i'll have to take an even closer look! For the fish....i'm always looking for those see you around Donnyboat!

[fishucsd]

Richard,

I usually just grease spinning reels. I don't use oil in spinning reels except for the handle knob.

I take them apart and clean them out with carb cleaner or mineral spirits depending on how dirty it is. If packed heavily with sand, I would rinse and then carb spray out all the oily sand.

The drags I grease with Cals drag grease or if when I can't find it, I would very lightly rub some marine grease on them (Yamalube blue).

The videos that others have posted here are a good reference for that reel you have. I couldn't find a schematic for you. Most spinning reels are very similar in configuration.

I am in SD also and fish that area you fish at all the time. If I'm around, I can always help you out on that. I like to service all my reels especially the beginner budget reels that I let people borrow when they fish with me to last a few life times, LOL. Some actually have lasted 6+ years of continued use by everybody including kids. I have a few Okuma Safinas like that.

Take care and Happy Holidays!!

HEY REEL HACKER!! i am so happy to know a fellow San Diegan on this forum, let alone one that fishes at Black's beach too!!

we'd love to have you come out when the weather starts acting normal again!! especially when the best thing about fishing black's is... there's alot to look at hahaha

Thank you for the kind gesture!!! i'll keep it in my back pocket in case i ever need help

Where do you suggest i get the mineral spirits?? seems like mineral spirits clean pretty intensely, either that or my organic chemistry senses tingling are lying to me i've also lost hope in schematics but all these tips the Ohana have been telling me seem like the right things to do, guess i'll have to try!

Wow! didn't know the Cal's grease and yamaha marine lube were interchangable like that, as others have suggested both to me. but it seems like the lube is much more heavy duty LOL

Happy Holidays! and i hope you are enjoying time with family fishing or not fishing haha

[fishucsd]

The folks above have given plenty of sound advice and experience - I have learned much from them and you are in good hands on this forum.  And don't get discouraged if you have to do multiple assemble/disassemble/reassemble exercises - the only people that has never happened to are ones who have never taken apart reels  .  One other thought that may seem REALLY obvious but I wanted to throw out there - finish this first reel before you get ambitious with the others.  That way if you get it back together and something doesn't seem quite right, you can take apart one of the other "untouched" reels alongside of it for comparison to make sure that every little washer, spring, etc is in the right place with the right orientation.   It's not a perfect solution - as one of the Ohana pointed out above, it's not uncommon to find the same year and model of a given reel assembled slightly differently or using slightly different parts (using up the last parts of a previous model run, for example) but it is a good way to double check if things don't seem quite right.  Heck, there's folks here that can have 10 reels exploded on the workbench and all 10 go back together flawlessly - but I'm not one of them!  Good luck with your reels, your club, and the fishing! (Now that I think about it, my daughter is going to be looking at "school shopping" in a year or so - UCSD suddenly seems to have an edge) - john

HI JOHN!! I wish you and your daughter a very merry holiday season!! i'm very happy your daughter is already looking ahead at colleges! but just letting you know now fishing is not an official major here

hahahaha TOO TRUEEEEE i'm sitting here with all the parts scattered... like WHAT HAVE I DONE!!! glad to know i'm not the only one doing everything twice

yes! i'm glad i have some spares to use as model pieces any time i'm confused...but i'm so scared if i touch them they'll freeze too LOL
but forreal tho i'm looking forward to actually cleaning them out(even if it takes a couple of times) and letting our new members use them. knowing that i was apart of their first fishing experience!!

Thank you John and i'll be coming back with a vengeance to these reels!!

[fishucsd]

Nice to see that a fishing club has sprung up in the UC system, you guys have it nice being so close to the ocean. It's that or UCSB with a beach right in front of campus. I can't say the same for UC Riverside, it takes me 5 hours to go to the LA coastline by bus. To add insult to injury that I can't go fishing, the food sucks here and there's not much to do. Doesn't stop me though, I'll still get up at 5 in the morning to go fishing in Balboa beach.

Knowing how broke we all are when tuition is about 30k a year, I'd just get the basics of reel maintenance, marine grease, oil, screwdriver with interchangeable tips, precision screwdriver, adjustable wrench, pliers, q tips, paper towels, wd40, dish soap, old toothbrush, and lighter fluid/ paint thinner/ white gas/ carb cleaner would be the absolute essentials. I'd say you could get all the necessary items for about $20 give or take. Use dish soap for lite cleaning, wd40 for light grease removal, and the last 4 solvents for heavy-duty cleaning(metals only for white gas and carb cleaner). You should start off disassembling in a parts tray, most new spinners are mostly the same internally and come back together fairly easily, but take pictures because sometimes there will be an extra shim somewhere and now your reel makes noise. Then start picking out as much grease as you can with a screwdriver, then to q tips and then q tips soaked in solvent. That should clean most of the reel body. The metal parts such as gears and bearing should be scraped clean then soaked in a little solvent and finished with a scrub with a toothbrush and dish soap. Bearings should be soaked in their own clean solvent and not touch water. Let all the parts dry and sort them out on a towel based on the schematic/disassembly order. Grease gears and moving parts liberally but not excessively. I use the cheapest blaster marine grease($4) and air tool oil ($4)there is at Lowe's. For these cheap reel bearings, I would prefer packing with grease and thinning with a little oil. It will be stiffer to reel if you only put grease in the bearings and it might feel weird. I do the same grease and oil thing for the main shaft. I would also try to pack the side holes where the handle goes to try and keep our as much sand/ spray there might be after you finish reassembly. That reel will probably have a felt washed drag, just wipe and oil those. These reels do not warrant a cf drag swap. If I'm not wrong these cheaper reels will have a silent ratchet anti-reverse with teeth that grab onto the rotor's inner teeth. I would just lightly wipe those parts with a greasy paper towel. The general consensus is that grease attracts dirt, but protects better than oil. Don't pack the reel with grease, it will be sluggish and a pita to clean the next time. Lightly grease the screws. Oil the line roller and handle knob, as was said, and check the bail mechanism to see if there is any sand in there. Grease that as well during a service, and oil for maintenance. A few things to watch out for, cross-threading is a PITA with graphite framed reels. Screw left until you feel a click and then screw the screw in to make sure it won't mess up the threads. Also the drag clicker, if the spring has fallen out, a lighter spring or pen spring will work. Get it oiled up if it isn't.

This is mostly general practice, don't lay your reel in the sand, don't let it get dunked, always rinse rods and reels afterward with plenty of low-pressure fresh water, and oil line roller regularly. Also, wax your rods and store reels with their drag loose to prevent drags from sticking. If you treat your reels well, they can last a good while. I have a Shakespeare reel from my childhood that I still sometimes use and it was from a $30 combo that was booth more than 10 years ago. If you maintain them, even the cheapest reels will last. Pic below.

Otherwise, good luck down there. What do you catch in sd? If you need to know anything else, I've still got some tips and tricks in the back of my head behind all the breadth courses, but not as much as what some of these old-timers have. A nice site is Pier Fishing in California. Ken Jones's collection of knowledge on that site will help you out a lot. I'm on there too, and the forum and species list are very useful at times. Anyways, take care man and good luck out there.

Edit: grammar and left out info

Disclaimer: i'll be reading your post word by word as after i get all the essentials and get to cleaning the heck out of my reel. you are wealthy with knowledge my guy. THANK YOU!!

bro, NICE TO MEET UUUUUUUU!!!!!!! omg didn't think i'd find another fellow in the UC system bro and i hope i'm like the likewise to you 

honestly man that's DEDICATION, if you're ever in SD i'd be down to show you all the unmanned secret spots we been hitting up!! (reel cleaning not included LOL)

We luckily catch all types of species: Corbinas (my fav off sandcrabs mammamiaaaaa), yellowfin croakers (pics of both of them), perch, bone fish, smoothhounds, even bonito!! but thats off the yaks haha
Thank you again bro i hope to see you very soon again on this forum, and i'll check you out on Ken Jones' as well, hopefully before winter break ends!!!! TAKE CARE HAPPY HOLIDAYS TIGHT LINES!!

[fishucsd]

Nice to see that a fishing club has sprung up in the UC system, you guys have it nice being so close to the ocean. It's that or UCSB with a beach right in front of campus. I can't say the same for UC Riverside, it takes me 5 hours to go to the LA coastline by bus. To add insult to injury that I can't go fishing, the food sucks here and there's not much to do. Doesn't stop me though, I'll still get up at 5 in the morning to go fishing in Balboa beach.

Knowing how broke we all are when tuition is about 30k a year, I'd just get the basics of reel maintenance, marine grease, oil, screwdriver with interchangeable tips, precision screwdriver, adjustable wrench, pliers, q tips, paper towels, wd40, dish soap, old toothbrush, and lighter fluid/ paint thinner/ white gas/ carb cleaner would be the absolute essentials. I'd say you could get all the necessary items for about $20 give or take. Use dish soap for lite cleaning, wd40 for light grease removal, and the last 4 solvents for heavy-duty cleaning(metals only for white gas and carb cleaner). You should start off disassembling in a parts tray, most new spinners are mostly the same internally and come back together fairly easily, but take pictures because sometimes there will be an extra shim somewhere and now your reel makes noise. Then start picking out as much grease as you can with a screwdriver, then to q tips and then q tips soaked in solvent. That should clean most of the reel body. The metal parts such as gears and bearing should be scraped clean then soaked in a little solvent and finished with a scrub with a toothbrush and dish soap. Bearings should be soaked in their own clean solvent and not touch water. Let all the parts dry and sort them out on a towel based on the schematic/disassembly order. Grease gears and moving parts liberally but not excessively. I use the cheapest blaster marine grease($4) and air tool oil ($4)there is at Lowe's. For these cheap reel bearings, I would prefer packing with grease and thinning with a little oil. It will be stiffer to reel if you only put grease in the bearings and it might feel weird. I do the same grease and oil thing for the main shaft. I would also try to pack the side holes where the handle goes to try and keep our as much sand/ spray there might be after you finish reassembly. That reel will probably have a felt washed drag, just wipe and oil those. These reels do not warrant a cf drag swap. If I'm not wrong these cheaper reels will have a silent ratchet anti-reverse with teeth that grab onto the rotor's inner teeth. I would just lightly wipe those parts with a greasy paper towel. The general consensus is that grease attracts dirt, but protects better than oil. Don't pack the reel with grease, it will be sluggish and a pita to clean the next time. Lightly grease the screws. Oil the line roller and handle knob, as was said, and check the bail mechanism to see if there is any sand in there. Grease that as well during a service, and oil for maintenance. A few things to watch out for, cross-threading is a PITA with graphite framed reels. Screw left until you feel a click and then screw the screw in to make sure it won't mess up the threads. Also the drag clicker, if the spring has fallen out, a lighter spring or pen spring will work. Get it oiled up if it isn't.

This is mostly general practice, don't lay your reel in the sand, don't let it get dunked, always rinse rods and reels afterward with plenty of low-pressure fresh water, and oil line roller regularly. Also, wax your rods and store reels with their drag loose to prevent drags from sticking. If you treat your reels well, they can last a good while. I have a Shakespeare reel from my childhood that I still sometimes use and it was from a $30 combo that was booth more than 10 years ago. If you maintain them, even the cheapest reels will last. Pic below.

Otherwise, good luck down there. What do you catch in sd? If you need to know anything else, I've still got some tips and tricks in the back of my head behind all the breadth courses, but not as much as what some of these old-timers have. A nice site is Pier Fishing in California. Ken Jones's collection of knowledge on that site will help you out a lot. I'm on there too, and the forum and species list are very useful at times. Anyways, take care man and good luck out there.

Edit: grammar and left out info

also bro sick one with the Shakespeare!! i'd love to keep mines in mint like yours haha

[fishucsd]

Welcome.

Have you tried looking at https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=2675.0?  It's not the same Okuma reel but should be close enough.

In fact we have a whole section for spinners with many of the brands but may or may not have tutorials depending on the popularity of the brand and time of our members to take the hours and hours to post a tutorial.

We're you able to get the rotor off?

It is an honor to have you reply me Mr. Young!!

haha, i'm gonna go closely over that old Okuma spin reel post by plastic Tiki and see the parallels once i make my photobucket account!! TYSM it would very much be a diamond in the ruff if this one helps me out since we've been talking how NO schematic can found for this reel... its okay Ohana has been too good with the help recently;D

Yes!! omg making sure i have been using the right tools and screws kept me up that whole night haha i can't imagine even doing more than one at this point nonetheless a tut

And no sir, i'm waiting to get all the right sockets before i have another try at this reel. Christmas is taking too long this year!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND I'M LOVING THIS FORUM!!!

[fishucsd]

chances are that the bearings have seized up.  if that's the case, it might actually be cheaper to have the reels serviced by okuma.  800-466-5862.  at the very least, the might be able to send parts.  good luck!!!!

Thank you for all the good wishes Mr. Tani!! hope you're having some of santa's helpers helping you this year

Yes!!! at this point i'm not even sure how to diagnose this one... guess i just gotta clean and grease and follow the Ohana's orders

Thanks for the number, i'd much rather get free parts than no parts!!! but if i ever need some custom carbon fibre drag washers i'll make sure to email you! THANK YOU MR. TANI YOUR COMMUNITY IS AWESOME!!

[Donnyboat]

Sounds Good Richard, one more tip, I should have told you first, if your cleaning parts with a air compresser, feel first that there is know shims next to parts, as you will blow them to the never never, with out even realizing they were ever there.
     It is Xmas Day here now in West aussie, 7:40 am, yes like wise you & all the OHANA, have a merry Xmas, cheers Don.

[Reel_Hacker]

Richard,

I usually just grease spinning reels. I don't use oil in spinning reels except for the handle knob.

I take them apart and clean them out with carb cleaner or mineral spirits depending on how dirty it is. If packed heavily with sand, I would rinse and then carb spray out all the oily sand.

The drags I grease with Cals drag grease or if when I can't find it, I would very lightly rub some marine grease on them (Yamalube blue).

The videos that others have posted here are a good reference for that reel you have. I couldn't find a schematic for you. Most spinning reels are very similar in configuration.

I am in SD also and fish that area you fish at all the time. If I'm around, I can always help you out on that. I like to service all my reels especially the beginner budget reels that I let people borrow when they fish with me to last a few life times, LOL. Some actually have lasted 6+ years of continued use by everybody including kids. I have a few Okuma Safinas like that.

Take care and Happy Holidays!!

HEY REEL HACKER!! i am so happy to know a fellow San Diegan on this forum, let alone one that fishes at Black's beach too!!

we'd love to have you come out when the weather starts acting normal again!! especially when the best thing about fishing black's is... there's alot to look at hahaha

Thank you for the kind gesture!!! i'll keep it in my back pocket in case i ever need help

Where do you suggest i get the mineral spirits?? seems like mineral spirits clean pretty intensely, either that or my organic chemistry senses tingling are lying to me i've also lost hope in schematics but all these tips the Ohana have been telling me seem like the right things to do, guess i'll have to try!

Wow! didn't know the Cal's grease and yamaha marine lube were interchangable like that, as others have suggested both to me. but it seems like the lube is much more heavy duty LOL

Happy Holidays! and i hope you are enjoying time with family fishing or not fishing haha

Richard,

For sure we'll hook it up when the weather clears up a bit.

I get my mineral spirits from Home Depot. It is pretty cheap and it breaks down the old grease and grime that is in there.

Happy Holidays!!! I got a cold this year for Christmas so I get to just lounge around the house, LOL. It really sux but I guess I can use the break.

[oc1]

once i make my photobucket account!!

I can't believe I'm the first to comment on this, but while prowling around on the site, search for comments about photobucket.  You'll see what I mean.

It's a bit cumbersome, but you can upload photos to your Gallery here at AT and then paste them into your posts.  Also, Ted has a quick trick for inserting photos from your hard drive using the "Additional Options" button below the message window.
-steve