grease, an update - 4/6/2010

[alantani]

grease, an update - 4/6/2010

i've had so many guys ask, that i finally had my friend make up a bunch of adaptors for those small grease guns.   



i also ordered a whole bunch of inflator needles and cut the tips off with my dremmel. 









an adaptor and 4-5 inflator needles will sell for $5 with local shipping included.  these needles make quick work of greasing screw holes.

i've also come to realize how vulnerable bearings are.  a bearing with a seal or a shield held in by a retaining ring can be opened up, hand packed with grease and then re-sealed or re-shielded.  if your bearing has a pressed-in metal shield. the only way to pack it with grease used to require that you remove one of the shields and press the grease in with your thumb.  when you're trying to service a half dozen lever drag reels in one afternoon, packing bearings with your thumbs gets really old.  that's where a bearing packer comes in handy.  i had tom make these as well.  he wanted to make them out of less expensive aluminum, but i said brass.  i just like the look! 



i've been using these for the last month and have been actually quite pleased with myself!  the bearing packer on the left is stepped ever sixteenth of an inch and will accomodate a 1/16ths inch ID to a 1-1/8ths inch OD.  the bearing packer on the right is stepped every millimeter from a 2mm ID to a 26mm OD.  these are designed to accomodate all of the bearings sizes commonly encountered in fishing reels.



the standard bearing packer has a ring and the metric bearing packer is plain.  both are tapped on top to 1/8th inch pipe thread and have a zerx fitting (which i do not particularly like).



the bearings really fit nicely!  i think this is much better than the flat cone that is more commonly seen.





the 1/8th inch pipe fitting is common for small grease guns available in the united states.  i prefer to bypass the zerx fitting all together and just bolt the bearing packer directly to the grease gun.  these bearing packers allow you to force grease into a bearing without removing the shield.  it is MUCH quicker.  i'm going to sell the bearing packers for $25 each.  so basically, i am selling a metric bearing packer, a standard inch bearing packer, a nozzle adaptor, and needles for $60 with US shipping.  that's the cost of 5 average shimano bearings!



now for the mea culpa.  i've been using this yamaha grease for a long time now and i purchase it from the local grady dealership.  they had the big cartridges, the small cartridges and the 1 pound cans at the beginning.  for the last few years, they've only had the large cartridges.  so i finally asked the guy, "so what's up?  why don't you carry the small 3 ounce cartridges or the 1 pound cans anymore?"  the answer surprised the hell out of me.  apparently the marine grease is only packed in 14 ounce cartridges.  the others are not marine grade.  they're still blue, but they're intended for motorcycles and snow mobiles!!!!!! 



the greases are both the same, except that the marine grease has an additive that makes it salt water resistant. 





if you want a 3 ounce cartridge of yamaha marine, you have to take an old paper cartridge of any old grease, clean it out really well and then hand pack it with the grease from the 14 ounce cartridge.  trust me, it's a real mess.  your other option is this stuff.  this is evinrude-johnson's marine grease.  it's a little thicker and alot more tackier than the yamaha product, but you have none of the mess. 







here's what they look like side by side.  either way, they will both work fine.  alan

[Felton]

The bearing packer is way cool. I am tempted to start cleaning all my fishing partners reel just so I can verify buying it.

On an different note a couple days ago I cleaned some bearings with lighter fluid (three baths) then oiled them and put them back in the reel. Today (after buying CorrosionX) I used some industrial degreaser on the bearings and a lot more grit came out. Just thought you might want to try it. Its called ID Red made buy Zeps.

[alantani]

.... a couple days ago I cleaned some bearings with lighter fluid (three baths) then oiled them and put them back in the reel. Today (after buying CorrosionX) I used some industrial degreaser on the bearings and a lot more grit came out..... 

you've just made a strong arguement for opening up the bearings to clean them out properly...........

[turboal]

Hi Alan, how do i pay you for this greasser thing ?

[alantani]

send me a pm with your address and phone # and i'll mail it out.  when it arrives, send a check.  thanks!  alan

[Bill Allen]

Hi Alan & all.

Just joined after reading several of your tutorials on other sites over a period of time.
A little background 1st I 'spose.
I'm from Melbounre Australia. Auto mechanic by trade but now working in admin for a major truck component manufacturer. Like all mech's I've been doing 'home work' for years but have been heading away from cars, 4wds, etc as I get a little older (auto stuff dont seem to have as much room under em as they used to - I dont fit too well these days). Now do a fair bit of work with outbaord service/maintenenace & have been slowly getting into reel maintenance. Untrained (not much formal training for reel techs available over here) but have good general mechanical knowledge/experience. My own 'toys' include Tiagras, Penn Inter's, TLDs, Penn Jigmasters & Senators, as well as quite a few others.

I have been very interested in your list of lubes. Shall start checking on availabiltiy over here over the next few weeks. Have been using a Teflon based lube called 'ZEP45' for most of my work & love it. Not the most water resistent lube but quite ok as long as it doesn't get exposed/diluted. Magic for making stuff slide/spin easilly (really easilly actually). excellent lube for aluminium (I used to use it on ambulance stretchers years ago). Also use a lot of Castrol APXT blue grease as it is one I am very familiar with from the 4wd industry (where I did most of my training). Excellent hi-temp lube with brilliant water resistence (obviously why it's recommended for 4wds). VERY tacky stuff (sticks like s_ _t to a blanket) & not too thick. I find it's great for bearings, etc.

I'll also be having a serious look at some of your lovely looking tools over the next week or so. You've got some great stuff there by the look of things. Tuna season is just kicking off down here as we head into Autumn (your fall) so most service work is already done with for a while. Sthrn Blue Fin up to 130+kg (approx 280lb) are the major species most chase as well as Mako sharks, Dolphin fish & a few others. Tiagras, Penn Inters & TLDs are favoured 'tools' by most.

Anyway, enuff for now. Thanks for the great info. Look fwd to keeping in touch.
Bye fa now.
Bill.

[Norcal Pescador]

A couple of notes/questions on grease. 

I tried to get 3 oz tubes of the Evinrude grease today at our local Evinrude service and they only carry the 14 oz tubes and squeeze tubes. Neither one appealed to me. Any possibilities other than shopping out of town? (I'm landlocked in Redding, CA.) Also, the Yamaha dealer said he will be getting 1# tubs of the waterproof grease in, I hope he's able to. We'll see what shows up.

Is cost the main factor for not using Cal's drag grease for all greasing?

Thanks

[broadway]

Good question Norcal, I too am curious...is it too thin?  If it's warm out will it "melt" (lack of a better word)? Hmmm?  Thanks
Dom

[dylan]

Is the salt water resisting additive worth it? 

I am, for the time being, using plain grease.  Just wondered. 

Thanks,
Dylan

[turboal]

I was in the Auto Zone parts store looking for a grease gun and they sell small
tubes of syn grease its green in color. for boat trailers and stuff that goes in
the water.It's listed as waterproof.

[Norcal Pescador]

Turboal, I saw that grease, too. And yes, is the saltwater corrosion inhibiting so important? I've been using the teflon-based reel greases so far and would be concerned about mixing or congealing of lithium- or petroleum-based greases. Good point, Dylan.

[alantani]

the light blue trailer bearing grease is just horrible to work with.  it sticks to everything and never comes off. 

so, the problem with cheap greases is that they harden over time.  i use an old toothbrush and rub in a light coat of grease on all the internal surfaces.  what's on the toothbrush?  yup, it's a mix of all the greases that are inside of all the odd reels that i've been working on.  so you see, it really does not matter that much.  still, for general purpose use, i seriously like the consistency of the yamaha marine grease.  i've been working with the omc triple guard for the last month and it's just too tacky for me.  i guess the point is to use something, anything, and use a light coat.  that way "hardening" will not be that much of an issue.  don't overthink this one too much.  it's not that complicated.  alan

[Norcal Pescador]

Thanks Alan.
This stuff is good to know. Those of us (speaking for myself ) with too much time on our hands and/or lacking the depth of experience get too analytical at times.
If my local Yamaha dealer can't get the marine grease in a 1# bucket or 3 oz. tubes I guess I'll have to go for the 14 oz tubes.

[alantani]

actually, just get the marine grease in the 14 ounce tube.  that going to be the best stuff.  alan

[broadway]

Do they sell 3oz. empty grease cartridges to replenish with your grease of choice? Do I have to buy a new 14 oz. grease gun because I can't find the yamaha goop in 3 oz. cartridges?  That would suck due to the fact that I just bought a 3oz. for Alan's new grease packers (That I'm dying to try out!)  Ugggh!  Thanks
Dom