North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

I’ve received questions from several places pertaining to removal of ball bearing shields. Firstly, my purpose for removing the shields are so that I can (a) clean off old grease and repack with new grease, or (b) remove old oil and relube for better casting ability.

For high speed bearings (those on the baitcaster's spool shaft), I will usually remove and discard the shields and use a very light viscosity oil, so that the spool need very little torque to activate spinning. I do this as I’m in the habit of casting light finesse lures with the baitcaster. Yamaha Synthetic Valve Oil (Light) is a very low viscosity oil that permits the bearing to spin on very low torque. Remington’s REM Oil, used for lubricating rifles is also a very low viscosity oil that I like.

For low speed applications (eg crank shaft, level wind worm gear and handle knobs), I usually fill the bearing up with light grease (I cut Cal’s grease with CorrosionX oil till it’s thinned to my preferred consistency), then fit back the shields to retain the grease inside. For those who are thinking of cutting grease with oil, do test a small batch first. Cut your grease a week or two in advance, then set aside in a sealed container and check for chemical reaction. If it turns to slush, or it becomes gum, or it hardens, or it separates back to grease and oil means that your combo is reacting and cannot be used.

So if your purpose for removing the shields are for service and maintenance, I’ve reproduced below, my reply to one such request...

https://gaspinggurami.wordpress.com/201 ... d-removal/

I hope that helps,

LL

Thanks lawrence very informative

cheers Craig

craig.g wrote:Thanks lawrence very informative

cheers Craig

Hope that helps!



Best,

LL

I use rocket fuel. The brand of oil and find a drop or two every few trips keep my reels casting beautifully. Tournament grade is superb if you use it regularly. Got mine from UK.

Joe

joesgotone wrote:I use rocket fuel. The brand of oil and find a drop or two every few trips keep my reels casting beautifully. Tournament grade is superb if you use it regularly. Got mine from UK.

Joe

You might wanna give REM Oil (Remington Gun Oil) or TSI-301 a try after you have mastered the speeds that Rocket fuel gives you. TSI-301 is a dry lube and will give you much higher spindle speeds than Rocket Fuel can achieve. And REM Oil has one of the lowest viscosities among all oils that I've tested. WD-40 has a much lower viscosity than Rocket Fuel. Yet REM Oil is even lighter than WD-40. Besides running the bearings totally dry, I've yet to find any oil that's able to give me better speeds. You'll find that casting a light 2.5g jig becomes a normal thing.

But warning: Do not try these if you have not mastered the speeds that your present oil can achieve for you. If you are mainly relying on your reel's brakes to control your reel, you are not quite ready to going up to the higher speed oils. Simply put, the lighter the oil, the faster the bearing can spin. If you aren't able to control the higher speed, the birdnest you get as a result will be more stupendous. Also, the lighter the oil you use, the lower the protection it gives your bearings. That means, you have to take them out after every outing to saltwater, rinse them off completely, and relubricate. And even with this last step, your bearings will wear out faster than with regular oils.

In conclusion, know what you need and use your lubes with care. Do not be tempted to chase after the absolute number, when it serve no purpose in your fishing. Eg, you can make your bearings so smooth that it can spin for over a minute. But when you get on the boat, you have to cinch down harder on the brakes to cast. In such a case, you are really taking a step backwards. Because not only are you not being able to cast any further than before, nor any lighter than before, you now have a ball bearing that need more maintenance and will wear out faster than before.

Cheers,

LL

Don't know if I want to try the lighter lubes. Casting 200m makes your bearings scream loud enough. But on the little bait casters 100m is usually plenty. When you can cast the whole spool of line no point pushing for more. Might try when I run out of rocket fuel but will be a while though. Got my torium to spin for 2 minutes and cast about 150m, until the biggest birds nest ever. Spool still spinning while thumb clamped down hard. Had to hold the line whole winding up the slack below and then still spent an hour unpicking the rest. Mainly casting sinkers for distance.

Joe

When you start casting ultra light lures, you will find a need for a lower viscosity.

I do pretty well with some very small lures but still like hunting big fish. Little lucifers and baby gold bombers are my lower size limit here and I still get very good distances as I love lure casting. I can cast a small DOA prawn past most people and do go weightless on plastics occassionaly. Would love to try out the difference to see if it really improves my casting. I'm sure my technique is good but don't bother with high end bearings. Family still comes before fishing (most of the time).

Joe