lubricants

[Lunker Larry]

We Muskie fish in to the second week of Dec and the temps and wind chill are most often below freezing.  I do a ton of reels and I've had no issues or had any reported to me and I use the tan Cals.

[ez2cdave]

PENETRATING OIL COMPARISON

Machinist's Workshop magazine tested penetrants for break out torque on rusted nuts. They arranged a subjective test of all the popular penetrants with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment. The results are as follows;

Penetrating Oil .......... Average load
None ........................... 516 pounds
WD-40 ........................ 238 pounds
PB Blaster ................... 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ............. 127 pounds
Kano Kroil ................... 106 pounds
ATF-Acetone mix.............53 pounds

The ATF-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50-50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone.

[Mechanos]

Excellent thread and site!  But I do have some questions about gear greases that I'm unclear on.

Firstly) Alantani likes Yamaha Marine, and I'm inclined to want to use something everyone has good luck with.  But people have mentioned it getting a change in recipe and color.  Is the newer stuff just as good, or acceptable at least?

Secondly) Some of you have said that just about any Marine Grease is fine and to not overthink it, and if you buy one that's too sticky on accident, to just mix some of your reel oil with it to the desired consistency.  I took that advice and while out shopping today I didn't see any Yamaha Marine so I picked up the first brand I recognized from the many posted here.  I almost bought it, but then I noticed it was lithium based.  Pretty sure I read somewhere that lithium greases in reels ends up hardening and super tough to clean out.  Is this something I should be looking out for?  Or should I have just bought it anyway?

Thirdly) Someone on reddit recommended that I use an orange colored marine grease that's used on oil rigs.  The idea of a grease that is designed to likely be cheap and able to withstand those conditions, caught my attention.  But the guy couldn't remember what the name of the grease was, and I wasn't able to find it by simply googling "orange marine grease".  Does anyone have any ideas on what he might've been talking about?

Lastly) Regarding the synthetic marine lubes.  Previous posts said that in theory they would last longer than the more common marine lubes.  But you guys also said it's no big deal because it's not a problem when you clean your reels more than once a year.  I happened to find some synthetic marine lube that was actually cheaper than the others though.  Like only a few bucks.  In a situation like that, is there any reason to not go with the synthetic?

[alantani]

in most situations, the coat of grease is very thin and you can hardly tell anything about the properties of the grease.  i usually just take an old tooth brush and spread around the grease that is already inside the reel.  nothing fancy.  yamaha marine is easy for me because i can pick up all i want at the local grady dealer that i take my boat to.

for a light oil, joey and i are pretty much just using TSI 321 now.  i still have corrosion x for applications that require an aerosol, like spraying down rods and reels after fishing. 

and lastly, the drag grease.  it's still cal's!

[nelz]

i still have corrosion x for applications that require an aerosol, like spraying down rods and reels after fishing.

Interesting, so no bad effects on the mono or rod finish with that?

[oc1]

I always worry that the fish are going to smell it if I get grease or oil on the line.  No evidence that happens though.

-steve

[mo65]

   I wouldn't worry too much about that Steve...many fishermen in my neck of the woods used WD-40 as an attractant...and it has been documented to work. I had a hard time believing a petroleum product wouldn't spook a fish til I saw diesel fuel used as a cover scent while deer hunting...sheesh...who'da thunk it?

[oc1]

Thank you for that Mo.  I've had some spool corrosion problems and need to be more careful about putting grease or wax on the spool before loading line.  Grease is easy and probably works better but I was worried about smell.

When hunting around corn and bean fields the best deer stand is a tractor left by the field overnight.  Hides the smell and is comfortable to boot.
-steve

[nelz]

I always worry that the fish are going to smell it if I get grease or oil on the line.  No evidence that happens though.

-steve

Actually, my concern is not about the smell. It is about whether the greases or spray lubes might weaken mono line?

[oc1]

Mono is nylon.  Here's a nylon compatibility chart:
http://www.calpaclab.com/nylon-chemical-compatibility-chart/

I'm no chemist but it should be OK with most oils.  The one that surprises me is that nylon is compatible with acetone and mineral spirits, but not isopropyl alcohol.

-steve

[steelfish]

I found an anhydrous alum. based grease manuf. by citgo and sold under the mystic label at our local farm and fleet store that meets these criteria - mystik high performance marine grease - $4.00 per 3 3oz. tubes.

buddy, are you still using the Mystik marine grease currently ? any pro or con additional detail that you want to share after this years of use on your reels.


for me yamaha marine is becoming harder to get lately, almost imposible in Baja and frequentely out of stock on Calexico, Ca (US city bordering with Baja) which I visit every 3 weeks, and getting yamaha shipped normally increase the price 80-90%, not that bad I know.

mystic marine grease is available in two different autoparts in Calexico, Ca. I can get it but I wanted to check to you before, my plan is to use it until waiting to Yamaha to stock up the marine grease again and save the mystic for cases like this.

[Bottoms Up]

So for 50 SW, Yamaha marine grease for all the internal moving part and bearings, Cal's for drag and everything else slathered with Corrosion X...?

[Smude442]

I'm so glad I found this forum. Wow, what a great thread! This is my first post (of many to come, I'm sure).  I'm in the process of learning my own reel repair and servicing. This site has been a gold mine. The collective experience here is second to none. Thank you all for your time and willingness to share with newbies like me.

After reading 20 of the 27 pages of this thread, I have come to conclusion that there are plenty of things that will work for different applications; however the main constant from the first of Alan's posts, to the last was the use of Cal's on the drag washers. I just looked it up online to see if there was any placed that sold it up here in Alaska, and the only thing I could find was Okuma Cal's universal grease.

Did Okuma buy the formula for this or the company? Is it the same grease that you all are talking about?

Just want to make sure I buy the right stuff.
Thanks again!!

Adam in Alaska

[ez2cdave]

I'm so glad I found this forum. Wow, what a great thread! This is my first post (of many to come, I'm sure).  I'm in the process of learning my own reel repair and servicing. This site has been a gold mine. The collective experience here is second to none. Thank you all for your time and willingness to share with newbies like me.

Adam in Alaska

Adam,

Welcome to the Forum . . . You are among friends here !

Tight Lines !

[foakes]

Welcome, Adam --

And good fortune with your reel repair endeavor!

Cal's sells in bulk to some wise manufacturers that repackage under their own label.

Okuma is very smart, progressive, and willing to listen to folks like Alan Tani, and others who use various products successfully -- that are proven and work well.  Why reinvent the wheel?

Cal's sells two kinds of drag grease -- regular tan formula for most applications -- and the purple for very cold weather use.

I go through about (3) tubs a year -- two tans and a purple.

At the Fred Hall show, they generally have a special going where if you buy 2 large tubs -- you get the third one free.  That is what I do.

Best,

Fred