About Tools
and lubricants

Tools for Reel Maintenance
Tools
A Vernier Caliper Mainly for measuring plastic bushing, bearings and drag pads.
B Screwdriver Different sizes and tip, for loosening and tightening screw.
C Art Brushes For coating and removing oil and grease.
D Gas Pipe Cleaners

For cleaning screw holes and tubes

E Pincers For picking up and holding small stuff and reaching hard to reach places.
F Adjustable Spanner Wrench For loosening and tightening nuts.
G Cotton Buds For cleaning and hard to reach corners.
H Ceramic Dish For containing lighter fluids or degreaser to degrease small reel parts.
I Small Round File For fixing bearings.
J Scissor For cutting stuff.
 
Lubricant for Reel Maintenance
Lubricant and Degreaser
A Marine Grease For general lubrication. Evinrude Johnson marine grease (blue)
B Ceramic Lubricant (for bicycle) Just bought this to experiment on places that need oiling. Exclude bearing.
C Lighter Fluid Degreasing. Any brand of lighter fluid will do, acetone can be use too.
D CorrosionX Don't use this much on reels, mainly for giving a light brush on outside of metal body reels and spool before storing. If I get to spool my own line, I will give the inside of the empty spool a thin brush to prevent pitting from future corrosion. This sometimes does give a little problem as the solution cause the line to slip along the reel easier. But the best use for this is to brush all my rod guides with a thin layer (after washing and drying) before I store then after a trip. http://www.corrosionx.com/corrosionx.html
E ReelX

I use this as general oiling inside the reel. Before I got (item H) that is specifically design for bearings, I used this too. http://www.corrosionx.com/reelx.html

I Sure Catch Super Gear Oil I don't use this that much now. General oiling.
J ZX1 Super Grease For Gears and general grease. http://www.team-zx1.com/Super-Grease
K Cal's Drag Grease Mainly for greasing drag. Can also used as gears or general grease.
H ZX1 Micro Lube/Oil For bearings http://www.team-zx1.com/Micro-Lube
G Penn Reel Lube For gears or general grease.
F Lithium Grease For general greasing, comes in a tub but I fill it into a syringe for easier management and better control.
     

These are the tools and lubricant I use when cleaning my reels. I will stripe my reels for a total clean up and re-lube after about 20 days of normal usage. The exceptions are when they get dunk in the sea or used on the beach, in those circumstances they they get attention sooner.

It doesn't mean that you need all the tools I have to be able to do the job, when I started cleaning reels during my school days, I didn't have the resources to get most things I have now, what I had were some rags, some screw driver and spanners of the correct size, a bottle of Singer Oil for sewing machines and some Castrol engin grease I bought for my bicycle. And that was it for years, but to be honest, the reels I had were much simpler then and got less parts, but the point is you only need a few basic items and the rest is just good to have or to makes life easier. As for the lubricants you really need an oil, a grease and a degreaser. What I have have been accumulated through years, and I general use only a few of them nowadays. Like Cal's for drag, Johnson for grease, reelX for oil, and ZX1 micro oil for bearing only recently.

I know many anglers who have used their reels for years on end without striping and cleaning them and these reels will still march on for the angler like the loyal soldiers. But trust me, after a good clean up this soldiers gonna sing for you too as they march on! :)

 
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