I found this cool video on RC Bearings Oil and it looks like it great for REELS!

[pointbob]

I was on youtube and ran across this interesting video on lube oils for RC bearings; they look like fishing reel bearings and the author put a lot of work and testing to find out which oil made the bearings speed the fates. I looked up the top 3 oils and the y are pretty affordable at $6 or so or less on ebay. Take a look and maybe it can work for you.

[JasonGotaProblem]

TSI321 is all you need.

[boon]

TSI321 is all you need.

I think TSI321 is great, but it's worth paying attention to what else is out there.

The same attitude is why there are anglers out there tying antiquated knots that are far weaker than new ones. "I've always used this and it works for me" - sure, but keep an open mind.

[Brewcrafter]

Pointbob - Thanks for thinking out of the box and sharing; I spend a lot of time commuting (and some of it actually thinking) and watching your video stimulated my few brain cells, kinda like what Boon was saying.
Now I have been around this site long enough and have such respect (and am grateful) to so many here for what they have shared, and for years I now treat bearings as appropriate for the intended application with appropriate lubricants.  But I also will say NEVER HAVE I EVER (game my teenagers play) taken brand new bearings straight out of the package and then cleaned them prior to use.  Check them to make sure they are not defective (learned that from The Boss!!!) but never have cleaned new bearings before using.  Just this weekend replaced a set of factory defective bearings in a virtually new reel for a neighbor - replacements showed up, treated them appropriately (it was a freshwater baitcaster so I used TSI321) slapped them in and good to go.
The research in this video shows a clear improvement from "out of the box" to "out of the box and cleaned, but not lubricated".  Then he dives into the merits and pitfalls of the various lubes.  But it has caused me to think if maybe proper procedure for me going forward with new bearings will be a quick soak in Brakekleen, etc, THEN a proper lube and install.  It would make sense that when these bearing leave the factory they are treated with "something" to give them corrosion resistance until they make it to market (Cosmoline?  yeah, I'm that old.  I remember all of our Exacto blades in my previous life were coated in the stuff.  Had to wipe them with alcohol before you used them to keep from contaminating your working material).  We may all be super OCD about our choice of bearing lubes (there are whole threads on the subject) but I for one have never given thought to "what may be in there to begin with?"
I don't think I have ever seen anything from the Guru's regarding this (I have learned plenty about flushing used bearings) but am thinking there may be something here.  Admittedly, it may be an unnecessary OCD step that has no serious real world applications but thank you for sharing it with the group; I am looking forward to seeing what other may have to say on the subject, thanks again Pointbob for sharing. - john 

[pointbob]

Pointbob - Thanks for thinking out of the box and sharing; I spend a lot of time commuting (and some of it actually thinking) and watching your video stimulated my few brain cells, kinda like what Boon was saying.
Now I have been around this site long enough and have such respect (and am grateful) to so many here for what they have shared, and for years I now treat bearings as appropriate for the intended application with appropriate lubricants.  But I also will say NEVER HAVE I EVER (game my teenagers play) taken brand new bearings straight out of the package and then cleaned them prior to use.  Check them to make sure they are not defective (learned that from The Boss!!!) but never have cleaned new bearings before using.  Just this weekend replaced a set of factory defective bearings in a virtually new reel for a neighbor - replacements showed up, treated them appropriately (it was a freshwater baitcaster so I used TSI321) slapped them in and good to go.
The research in this video shows a clear improvement from "out of the box" to "out of the box and cleaned, but not lubricated".  Then he dives into the merits and pitfalls of the various lubes.  But it has caused me to think if maybe proper procedure for me going forward with new bearings will be a quick soak in Brakekleen, etc, THEN a proper lube and install.  It would make sense that when these bearing leave the factory they are treated with "something" to give them corrosion resistance until they make it to market (Cosmoline?  yeah, I'm that old.  I remember all of our Exacto blades in my previous life were coated in the stuff.  Had to wipe them with alcohol before you used them to keep from contaminating your working material).  We may all be super OCD about our choice of bearing lubes (there are whole threads on the subject) but I for one have never given thought to "what may be in there to begin with?"
I don't think I have ever seen anything from the Guru's regarding this (I have learned plenty about flushing used bearings) but am thinking there may be something here.  Admittedly, it may be an unnecessary OCD step that has no serious real world applications but thank you for sharing it with the group; I am looking forward to seeing what other may have to say on the subject, thanks again Pointbob for sharing. - john 

"But it has caused me to think if maybe proper procedure for me going forward with new bearings will be a quick soak in Brakekleen, etc, THEN a proper lube and install. "

That caught my eye as well John; I always taught about just adding lube to new ones and then using.... We learn as we get older is a good thing lol

[JasonGotaProblem]

I realize my first post didn't actually contribute in any meaningful way and for that I apologize.

What I've noticed is that there's quite a few of these bearing oils, especially in the RC market, that are just TSI bought in bulk and divided into smaller bottles with eye catching names and extra fancy labels.  And that annoys the heck out of me. I think thats why I wrote the dismissive post above.

And really for performance I'm not aware of any oil that out-performs TSI. So my assumption is these RC oils are all either overpriced TSI or overpriced products that don't perform as well as TSI. Neither appeal to me.

[thorhammer]

Comparative data is always good, especially if objective. I just saw an old video from John Holden, where he advocates for 3-in-1 in bearings,and threw further with 1980's gear than 99.999 percent of the population can throw today.

[jurelometer]

Good tip to remind that bearings come packed with grease.  So if you plan to oil them or grease them with your favorite product, best to prep them to get rid of what's there.

But the tests did not do much for me. I admit to not following the video closely, as the methodology was just too weak for me to get enthused, so I may have missed something useful that the rest of you caught.
 
To do it right, you need to fully clean the bearings, swap bearing/lubricant pairs, and get better repeatability in the spin test. I understand why this is a lot of work, but otherwise, as they say in statistics - garbage in, garbage out.

Most importantly, I would argue that this type of test is just a roundabout way of discovering which oil was thinnest.

In general, the thicker the lubricant, the longer it will stay in place, the thinner the lubricant, the less it will act as an adhesive between the races and the balls and any shields.
So the thinnest lubricant should  be the "fastest" right after application on freshly cleaned new bearings.  The other useful properties of the lubricant need different tests ( wear, heat resistance, oxidation, etc.).

For example, TSI is a thin film lubricant.  I think it is a dry film, but I could be wrong.  Thin films that bond to the surfaces are fast because they are thin and often are dry after the solvent evaporates. The tradeoff is that a thin film is going to wear out more quickly from friction and does not  "heal" the way a liquid lubricant or grease would by flowing back over the wear points.  Faster bearings, but you need to re-apply more frequently.  No free lunch. Is a thin film the "best" lubricant?  Depends on what you are looking for.

-J