Reel Servicing

I have been servicing my own reels for a few years already, tried a few of the specialty product for fishing tackles. While most works but which one suit your application best is what you will need to find out. It irks me to see in forums where some contributors will slam one product and proclaim another product better. For me, it is to understand what the specific part you intend to oil/ grease and it's function. One very important point is how often do you service your reels.

In almost all reels, the first thing to go is the bearing. Most reel comes equipped with steel bearing, which will corrode over time. So most of the time, when servicing reel, bearings are changed and oil (will touch on that later). But given the types of bearing available these days what type of bearing to change to?
Manufacturers corrosion resistance bearing - Example Shimano ARB (Anti Rust bearing), SARD (Shielded ARB), Daiwa CRBB (Corrosion Resistance Ball Bearing). These bearing DO rust as well, BUT will still continue to rotate as it is claimed to be. But usually, will change it when it rust as I cannot take rusted bearings.
Steel / Stainless Steel / Precision Bearings - Widely available, relatively cheap, comes in shielded and unshielded. Easy to rust, but again cheap to replace. I use them mainly as I service my reels on a regular basis and oil these bearing often as well. Most works well to 3000rpm and above, fast enough even for surf fishing for me.
Ceramic Hybrid Bearings - Expensive, while the ceramic balls does not rust, the inner and outer race which is usually stainless steel will still rust. Used in application where HIGH speed is important. Usually it is TOO fast for most, so oil it lightly to SLOW it down.
Full Ceramic, SIC bearings - Super Expensive, super fast, and will not rust. Too expensive for me to try out and use it. If you have money to burn, replace all the bearings in your reel and you will never need to worry about rusted bearings again.

Bearings - Dry, Greased, Oil? Open, Shielded? What type of oil to use?
I will talk about NORMAL steel bearings only. Let's talk about the easier topic first, Open or Shielded.
Personally, I prefer to use Open type (I remove the shields of those shielded), as visually it is easier to identify which bearing is dirty or rusted. But if you seldom service your reels, then it is better to keep them shielded as it keeps out dirt and water. Also with Open bearing, it is easier for me to clean them using a pressurized degreaser to clean them. I do packed some with grease and put back the shield for some specific bearing and model of reels when I find it extremely rust prone and where rotating speed of the bearing is not important.
Dry, Greased, Oil - Most bearing usually have grease or oil when you purchase them. So clean them off using some solvent like Lighter Fluid. Now to lubricate them, what type of oil or grease should I use? Before you do anything, let's understand for that bearing, what is it's function and is speed important, where will you be using the reel mainly?
Let's take an Abu 6500 series BC reel as an example, there are just 3 bearings, 2 for the spool and one for the handle. For the 2 spool bearing, speed is pretty important obviously (if you are doing surf casting), so use a thin oil to ensure it will spin fast. For the handle bearing, speed is not important at all, so use a thicker oil for more protection. However, I usually open the shield and pack it with grease and put back the shield as I find the Abu 6500 and 7000 series handle bearing rust easily. BUT if you want to get a very smooth cranking feeling when you retrieve your line, you can use thin oil for the handle bearing as well, however it will provide less protection.
Spinning reels bearing does not need speed as most supports and provide a smooth cranking feeling only. So thin oil for smoother operation and thicker for protection make your own choice. For me if I use the reel for freshwater luring only, I will use thin oil as I want the smoothness as I cast and retrieve a lot.

Grease - Gears and drag are the 2 main thing we will be greasing. Some grease 'stick' better then others, thus will take a bit more effort when cranking. Let me share with you this experience I have, the Daiwa SS700 that I have been using for freshwater luring are greased using Teflon grease, which is smooth and cranking back the lures takes little effort. One day, because I need to use the reel for some Saltwater usage, I greased it using ZPI grease, which I know 'stick' better to the gears. The reel is still as smooth but it takes a bit more effort when retrieving, more torque required to work the reel.
As for the drag, I usually give it a thin coat of Cal grease, only grease I have for drag material. There are other drag grease available, pick one you like. Reason why I grease my drag - I prefer smoothness to raw power of dry drag.

One more item I miss out here, level winder worm shaft and paw. Grease or oil? I leave it to you, smoothness or protection. For me, usually I oil it as it is usually exposed and grease will pick up too much dirt.

Quick summary in my own view of type of fishing and type of oil to be used for conventional reels.
Boat / Bottom - Thicker oil for protection, spool speed not critical.
Surf - Thin oil for spool bearing, surf caster are suckers for distances (me inclusive)
Luring - Thin oil and Teflon grease preferred, as a lot of casting and retrieving required.

Click on the thumbnail below for the product I uses for reel servicing, I will give a quick run down for each of these product. More details on the product please Google yourself.


TG Rocket fuel (Yellow) - I use it mainly for my surf reel bearing. Specially created for surf casting, also comes in Red and Tournament.
ZX1 Oil - Very thin and smooth oil, I use it for BC reels for luring. Like this oil a lot, except that it makes the bearing goes too fast for me usually.
Corrosion X - Thin oil and suppose to repel water and thus it rust proof. I use it on roller bearing (extremely easily to rust), and spinning reels handle bearing for SW luring. Some use it to coat their spool before spooling up with line, as it is suppose to provide a rust inhabitant properties.
Abu Teflon oil - Think oil but with Teflon thus makes it pretty smooth on bearing. Use in mainly for my spinning reels handle bearing for FW luring as I find that it kind of dry up pretty fast.
ZX1 Grease - I use it for SW reels, as I find that I 'sticks' very well to the gears and over long period of time. Because it 'sticks' well, retrieving takes a bit more effort. I also use it to coat my spool before spooling in line, give the spool a layer of protection as I seldom remove the lines when washing the reel.
Cal Universal Grease - Good for all application and for drag too. Using it for drag material for now as I have a hell lot of grease to use.
Abu and Supergrease Teflon Grease - I find these 2 grease thins out pretty fast, although it still give the gears a layer of grease after it thins out, I don't trust it enough for SW application. Thus use these on my FW outfit only. However, these teflon grease are the smoothest grease in my arsenal right now, and I love them, only if they can come up with a new formula that does not thin out too easily.
Luthium Grease (in red small container) - My GP grease, I use them for the screws and screw holes, coat the interior metal parts with this grease and also pack bearing with this grease. cheap for one big tub.
OWS degreaser - Use it to clean those Open bearing as it is faster then soaking it in lighter fluid and dry it, also use it to remove old harden grease esp in old never serviced reels (which I help friends to do it sometimes).
Local Anadoize solution (not in picture) - For spool with some form of corrosion like pits of deep scratch, I use it anadoized the exposed aluminium and stop further corrosion.