Morethan Branzino

[gretsch]

Hi Gyus,

As you may know, I am an expert in having big fish pull my expensive gear into the salt water and then retrieving said gear with a 1/2 ounce Nitro Jig head in Green/Yellow.

This happened again a couple of weeks ago whilst fishing for Jewies landbased at the Harbour.

When I got home, I disassembled the reel, rinsed it in fresh water for a good 20 minutes and then sprayed the shit out of it with WD40.

The next day, I contacted Daiwa who responded as follows:

Chris,

Not seeing the reel I can’t make a full statement on it, but issues may have occurred. Bearing are sealed, but water can get in, but do to its thickness, not oil. By using the WD40 you will have stripped the water and grease out, but not been able to get oil back in. we say never use WD40 around reels, just something to keep in mind. At the moment whatever damage that is done is done, I would just use the reel and see if any consequences occur.

So, WD40 is a NO NO!! Do you guys share this opinion? Slinky, I would be interested in your take on this.

[framedtrash]

went on a few charters a few months back and we where talkin about reel maintenance

and he said the very same thing about WD40

but then you get other ppl who say they have been using it for years with no problems

i dont use it just to be safe

[slinkymalinky]

From a lot of experience, Alan Tani has observed that WD40 eventually turns to varnish, so it's not good as a reel lubricant. To be honest, it's not really designed as a lubricant at all but as a water displacement product. It has short term lubricating properties but doesn't, in the opinion of a lot of reel experts much more experienced than me, have the protection or lubrication properties needed for reels. There is some well informed opinion, that in fact it shortens the life of bearings and parts rather than extending them.

Of all the thousands of uses it has, lubing reels isn't one of them (cleaning and outer protective spraying is another conversation)

I think your reel first aid was the right way to go though for an immediate fix... the priority was to at least get rid of the salt and water (hopefully now done).

Not knowing the Branzino, I can't say whether the bearing shields are removeable or not. You'll know if they are. If they are, Ceph, you can pull each bearing, open it up, clean it out with white spirit or carb cleaner, then grease or oil them. If not, you could measure them, get a replacement set (get bearings with removeable shields so you can service them later), and keep it on standby in case anything horrible happen. Or swap them straight in.

Having cleaned the reel out immediately, it's unlikely there's any 'damage' done but I'd certainly be completely relubing the bearings and reel.

Cheers, Slinky

[gretsch]

Thanks Slinky. Good advice. I will take it apart again and check those bearings. It is a bit daunting inside the body though.. lots of little pieces , springs, tubes, washers etc...... don't want to have a part left over on completion!!

Framed, interesting about the WD. I have never used it as a lubricant (which it is not - it displaces water) but I thought it would be the right product to get rid of the salt water out of the body..

Anyway, I will regrease and see how things go.

[slinkymalinky]

Don't play around with it if you're not confident. You might at least be able to get at the left side plate bearing easily and see what sort of shields it has.

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=46192

( I wouldn't recommend digging out pressed seals... I've only got about a 60% success rate... the other 40% end up with stuffed bearings!!)

[nosliw]

That's some interesting stuff! I was just curious does that apply to inox as well? Admittedly I have sprayed inox on the top and underneath spools.

[Anroco]

I was going to suggest INOX as well...

Something i was told to try was spray some WD40 on your finger tips then rub your finger tips together, you will feel small / very fine abbrasive bits in it (which will grind away (just for a visual) over an extended period of time with continual use at any thing that it is applied too that is moving) which INOX does not have... (although I am unsure if INOX is ok for reels)

Was advised this by a wise old owl when i was in the building trade ( Yes, a talking owl )

Thats my 2 cents worth, just passing on what i was told...Hope this helps

CHeeRS

Ant

*Thanks for the tip on carby cleaner, would never have thought of that!!

[frankp]

I agree with the Lanox and Inox statements. I got told that I could spray that stuff freely and as much as I wanted on any reel. Really good stuff.

[Little Hooker]

Back yrs ago when i first got my exist reel i had a little bream pulled my reel into the georges rivers which i had to dive into the pitch dark water and some how (thanks god) i manage to grab the end section of the butt with the fish still on it . The Reel was probably in the water for about 15ish seconds.... Straight away flushed with the fresh water i had on the boat and sent it away to daiwa to have a look at. They ended up changing the whole internals ( free of charge ) but since then the reel never felt the same and has been back to daiwa twice and currently has issues with a crunchy noise it made the other day. So im in the middle of pulling it apart and havin a go my self.

I hope your reel doesnt have problems like mine after the dump.

cheers.

[Scienceman]

To date I have used Inox on my reels but recently I had a good chat with a guy who has run a bike shop for 30 years and we go to discussing lubricants. Bikes need good lubrication and are at least as exposed to dust, water etc as reels. He said that he doesn recommend Inox because once the volitiles have evaporated the lanoloin attracts and hold dirt and grime. He recommended a good quality silicone spray. I picked up a can of for $20 and am now giving this a try.

[gretsch]

I haven't used that Branzino since its spell inthe water.. I looked at it a minute ago and it isn't silky smooth but still seems fine.

I don't like that Inox. Too thick and sticky. It attracts dirt and grime too.. I have found that a good gentle wash is really all that is needed. Also, I guess you can't expect reels to maintain their "out of the box" condition once they start getting used.

[Little Hooker]

Any one uses the Penn rod and reel cleaner?? I use it on my gear once in a while, spray and wipe off which leaves a shinny protective coat.

[sanger]

My 2 cents,

First ceph you are an expert at this!!!!!!!!!

You have lost more gear into the water than i own and i own a lot!

On a serious note all my reaserch has been no wd40, innox only!!!!!