Favorite Reel Grease?

**what Kerry & Greg said.**

nothing else for me.....Boeshield to coat things, Hot Sauce to grease things....
 
I mostly just use silicone grease, because it is compatible with nearly all greases and it won't deteriorate plastics. The only exception is my Danielsson reels; I use Mobil 1, because that's what the owner said they use and he's actually involved in the manufacturing. Of course, I still only use silicone grease on the O-rings.

Grease compatibility is complicated and you're not likely to find many reel manufacturers that will tell you what grease was used in your reel; most of them probably don't even know. A lot of grease manufacturers also don't disclose what their products are made of, such as Hot Sauce, which is moronic.

Some folks "clean" out their reels, with WD40 or similar, before applying a different grease. As far as I'm concerned, given the complexity of a lot of reels (and bearings), all that does is make a cocktail of random chemicals.

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I gear fished the salt for many years and have some definite opinions. First off the best way to prevent corrosion is to thoroughly clean a reel and rod in fresh water and use a tooth brush to scrub with running water. Spools need to periodically be stripped and scrubbed and then wiped with a light coat of Rem Oil. or any other light oil and wiped nearly dry. Just rinsing is not enough alone and taking apart and scrubbing occasionally is needed.

I have reels I have used for nearly 40 years and are still free of any major corrosion.

In my opinion greases and heavy oils and especially WD 40 are the enemy and actually capture water and salt. WD40 is a displacement type of oil and does little to protect surfaces by binding to them.

Gear designed for salt water use has a purpose and very little of it use aluminum. Brass and stainless steel is the rule for longevity, with proper cleaning and maintenance.

I have Penn reels more than 50 years old that are still in working order and have more hours in the salt than many people on this forum can imagine. And they are still more than operable!

Dave
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Neatsfoot oil for cork drags.

Penn used to sell a tube of red grease. Down to my last squeeze. It's been reliable.
 
I know I posted this on that other site which I can't recall its name. Had an interesting chat many years ago with an employee from a former reel manufacturer in Ashland, OR. Basically saying....Do not use neatsfoot oil, we service a number of reels every year damaged and gunked up by the use of neatsfoot oil. He said it actually oxidizes and decays damaging the cork, but is also a bigger dust and grit attractant. Use only synthetic, and we provide a tube with every reel. I have read that neatsfoot oil is known to ruin leather making it brittle over time and can decay stitching in leather products....I guess there are different quality or grades of neatsfoot oil, and some damage is probably caused by operator error, but why even use it? I strongly adhere to the advice I was given some eons ago and not one iota of an reel issue since. Synthetic = Cork
 
MarshRat said:
Favorite grease for springs/pawls/dogs? Looking to prevent saltwater corrosion.
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Well, for fly reels, Penn Real Lube or Loon lube. For spinning reels, used about everything synthetic on my favorite Okuma reels. Nothing seems to work with plastic gears and the stupid plastic washers and bearings always fails after about a year....even when washed after each use. Used to just order new parts, 50cent plastic washers plus another cheap part, then add 8 bucks for shipping, then figure crap I can just order a new one from Amazon and have here in two days. I have a collection of them now, each with different issues that just dont feel the same. Back to the reel lube. On one part order for Okuma, they sent be a little cheap plastic tub of some ALMAPLEX 1275 Grease by Lubrication Engineers as a bonus gift. This stuff works great! Google Okuma fishing reel parts, then go to stores.tunareeltroubles.com They have a few different lubes, but this grease is good stuff. For reels, I finally just broke out and purchased a good salt water rated Penn reel, Battle 3. End of issues so far, rinse after each use so hoping for more than an Okuma year.
 
Porter2 said:
I know I posted this on that other site which I can't recall its name. Had an interesting chat many years ago with an employee from a former reel manufacturer in Ashland, OR. Basically saying....Do not use neatsfoot oil, we service a number of reels every year damaged and gunked up by the use of neatsfoot oil. He said it actually oxidizes and decays damaging the cork, but is also a bigger dust and grit attractant. Use only synthetic, and we provide a tube with every reel. I have read that neatsfoot oil is known to ruin leather making it brittle over time and can decay stitching in leather products....I guess there are different quality or grades of neatsfoot oil, and some damage is probably caused by operator error, but why even use it? I strongly adhere to the advice I was given some eons ago and not one iota of an reel issue since. Synthetic = Cork
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Interesting, and thanks. I've used it on my two Islanders for about 15 years on one and 5 on the other without a problem. I only use these in salt and they get a good rinse each time. And a periodic treatment when I think it's needed.
 
I have never used it, but one product I have seen discussed in the past is ReelX. Bauer Reels recommended using ReelX to lubricate its reels with a cork drag. I believe they presently only sell reels that have a sealed carbon fiber drag.
 
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