TSI on drag

[jurelometer]

is one of those 4 still going unexamined on original oil from 6 months ago?
or are you still in new-toy stage -- tweaking, tuning, adding a drop here/there?

Sort of both. I used it on the new carbon drags in my SS700 which has seen both SW and FW use. And truthfully I have not opened the drag since then, despite doing a full interior service after it saw a few good salt splashes a few months ago. So I'll crack open the drag assembly this evening and take some pics in the name of science. (Salt crystal presence would disprove viability of TSI on drags, but clean drags on this reel wouldn't necessarily be conclusive confirmation).

If there was salt buildup in the carbon weave, the drag would be sticky.  Corrosion on the metal parts would be more of a concern, but TSI will probably do a decent job of protecting parts that are not rubbing  on other parts.

The most difficult test for TSI will probably be under a heavy rubbing load.

  A bit about thin film lubricants:  I keep making the mistake of lumping all the different types together, but I think that most of the thin film lubricants  that we are talking about are categorized as dry film.  They go on as a liquid, but leaves behind a thin dry coating that sticks to the surface. Unlike oil or grease coatings that are mobile and can replenish the lubricating/protective layer, a dry film only works until is is worn away.  And a dry film layer has to be very thin in order to not become an obstruction.  The diameter of a small ABEC 1 outer ball  bearing race can only vary by 5/1000  of an inch, and 1/1000 for an ABEC 7. That gives us an idea of how thin  (and consistent) a dry film coating has to be to not hinder perfomance.  One dry film product may be thinner, harder, smoother, or adhere /penetrate into to the surface better than another,  but in the end it is always a very thin coating.

I would speculate that the best stress test for a dry coating on a drag is to crank up the drag, tie the line to a truck/car tow hitch, and pull  off a hundred yards or so at 10-15MPH.   If the performance is better than raw or greased drags after three or four pulls, then you are on to something.   

But of course, if it works for how you are using it, then it works for how you are using it.

Man, you guys make me glad I stopped using grease.  Grease is so mysterious.

A nice oil by itself is enough to make a bearing or a pair of gears run smoothly.  Right?  A nice oil will coat everything and stay put for a little while.  When a part is coated in oil it does not corrode or wear prematurely.  Right?   But oil seems to disappear from the bearings and gears over time because it is displaced by the whirling parts, or just drips off, or dries, or something.  Right?  So, the solution is to use grease that will stick longer and does not drip or whirl off.  Right?

Another solution is to just use oil more often and forget the grease.  When the oil starts to disappear just replenish it.  But, you say, that will mean more servicing.  Yes, so the service must be really really quick and easy.  If you do not have factory oil ports then you would need to drill holes so you can easily drop/squirt oil on the gears, the bearings, the clutch, the AR.  You end up with four to six holes to drop/squirt oil into.  But, it only takes abut fifteen to thirty seconds to drop/squirt oil into all the holes.  You have to "service" your reel a lot.  Service is probably needed every trip.  That is a lot of oil.  It takes so much oil that it might even drip out sometime.  But, that's OK.  It is carrying grunge with it. 

Now do the math.  How much time does it take you to crack open a reel, clean it, relube, and do the usual routine?  How often do you need to do it?  What is the maintenance time per year or per hour of fishing?  For me, frequently oiling without grease is easier and saves time.

I'm a conventional baitcaster.  What I do is pretty much what all baitcasters did a hundred years ago.   Everybody had an oiler in the tackle box.

I don't know what is mysterious about grease.  It is just oil mixed with a soap or other thickener that keeps the oil plus additives where you want it.  Too thin and it won't stay in place, too thick, and it acts too much like an adhesive.  In terms of porting a reel until it resembles Swiss cheese, well they do that with modern fly reels, and it really sucks when a gust of wind blows a bunch of sand into your reel and it mixes with the wet lubricants.  Grease is bad, but oil is not that much better.   I am mostly a sealed reel H8er, but limiting  hard particle intrusion is a useful feature.  Drilling a couple holes into a reel and regularly pouring oil into some while it continuously drips out of others seems an unlikely candidate for a universal reel design feature.  But I am glad that somebody is trying it and advocating for it.  Yo never know...

In terms of maintenance intervals with grease,  I have successfully gone up to two years of panga fishing  ( maybe  60 fishing days) without disassembling  unsealed conventional reels for service.  Small wet boats, so plenty  salt spray crusting and getting  inside the reels.  I do soak the reels regularly in a bucket of  fresh water and let them dry out.  Two years is pushing my luck, but once a year servicing at the end of fishing season does not worry me at all.  The grease is very protective.   And fresh water is an excellent solvent for salt.  Oil, not so much.  And my reels are not dripping oil on my clothes and the boat.

But I will concede that it would be nice if it were easier to get to the casting bearings for oiling on some reels.  Like some of the old Newells that had removable caps on both sides.

YMMV

-J

[JasonGotaProblem]

Hey now. If I'm still entertaining TSI on drag its in the name of science since its already been done. However I'm not gonna beat the crap outta my favorite reel in the name of better science. Both Cals and superlube are already on the way.

[Brewcrafter]

I am loving this thread - again the only way we learn is by trying.  And we learn the most through "destructive testing" (just kidding!!!!).  Random thoughts:  I like OC Steve's approach.  All of the "old school" Penn's had their oil ports with the spring loaded ball - shoot oil in, and hopefully the check ball keeps most of the contaminants out when fishing.  (And again, GUM Brand dental brushes are awesome for cleaning out the oil ports especially the one that lubes the gear mesh in your old bakelight side plates - no I do not own stock).
With regards to oiling the drag stack after assembly, I have to wonder how effective it would be.  Let's say my son and I are both having pancakes for breakfast.  As we stack the pancakes together on his plate, we put butter and syrup on each layer.  When done we then pour syrup over the stack, and for the most part it...runs off and makes a pool on the plate and really doesn't penetrate.  On the other hand on my plate I stack my pancakes dry, and pour the syrup on them.  And for the most part with the exception of the outside edge of the pancakes and the top surface, if we "deconstruct" the interior surfaces will be dry.  Guess I am making pancakes in the morning, now I'm hungry... - john

[philaroman]

I'm hungry too, but not for pancakes -- I'd rather eat crepe   

anyway, try spinning yours & son's plates while applying top-pressure to pancake stacks,
and please report results...  in the name of science
perhaps PB thinned with pecan/hazelnut oil could mimic grease & provide interesting snack
I know    it's late

[oldmanjoe]

  I wish i opened this post sooner , i could have been part of the test .

[RowdyW]

Maybe try Super Lube, it's food grade & Kosher certified.    I just got an email from Super Lube that it is impervious to saltwater & resists washout. It can be used on propeller shaft splines. Now that's a tough place for any grease.       Rudy