Reel tuning/maintenance 2024

shimmy reply :

Question and not sure if the answer is quick. I want to get better with reel maintenance. This is my first year trying to do maintenance on my reels. I have started with my Lews Tournament Pros. I have recleaned the bearings multiple times. Soaked in lighter fluid, on another round soaked in WD-40, then resoaked in lighter fluid. The bearings spun just fine after all the cleaning. My problem is, I have greased the gears pretty well, pinion gear greased decently, worm gear taken care of (on one reel I did oil, the other reel grease just to feel the difference), and have oiled side plate wherever there could be any type of friction. My problem is, even though I know the reel is oiled and greased well, why does it still make a bit of a noise while i reel? The spool and all the spool bearings are oiled (not greased), and it spins just fine. But, when reeling, there is still the subtle grinding noise. The noise is not bad, reel works perfectly fine, but it is not butter smooth like it is after i send it in for repair. For grease and oil, i use Arden reel butter and grease. I have also oiled, very very lightly the roller clutch bearing on one reel and slightly greased the other roller clutch bearing just to see if one would be more buttery smooth, but both reels still have that slight noise. I have taken the reels apart 100 times, but cannot with all my fine tuning get the reel to be butter smooth where there is no noise reeling. Again, spools are fine. Any advice? At this point I don't know what I don't know so I would love any feedback. I don't want to send the reels in and want to get more independent with this. Any tips would be great, thanks!

Shimmy

garroyo130 reply :

Im sure DVT will come to the rescue. But have you tried pinpointing the source of the noise? I would try removing parts to determine where it is coming from exactly.

shimmy reply :

On 2/7/2020 at 12:25 PM, garroyo130 said:

Im sure DVT will come to the rescue. But have you tried pinpointing the source of the noise? I would try removing parts to determine where it is coming from exactly.

I hope so! Yeh, i have tried to pinpoint the noise, but cannot. Driving me nuts. I started off by having all the bearings unrelated to the spool being oiled only. Then one by one, I added grease to each bearing, reassembled, and tried again. The quietest I got it was when I greased all the bearings outside of the spool and greased the crankshaft and drive gear pretty decently. Nevertheless, it is not butter smooth yet...I wonder if the grease from Ardent is less optimal or if I am doing this wrong.

Delaware Valley Tackle reply :

It’s hard to say without seeing it. Most reels aren’t going to be 100% silent after some use and Deep Cleaning. There’s no magic when it comes to lubricants, just use products appropriate to the application. Never grease an AR. I don’t like grease con level winds because it collects debris. The frame bearings are difficult and messy to pack properly so as a compromise I use heavy gear oil.

BaitFinesse reply :

Because it is a lower end Doyo. You are hearing the gears mesh. If you are bothered by that then stick to higher end platforms from Daiwa, Shimano and some Doyos. Ignore all the latest and greatest weight savings sales tricks and stick to aluminum frame and handle side plate with brass gears.

Tim Kelly reply :

Never use WD40 on bearings. It leaves a varnish on them that leads to rumbles.

redmeansdistortion reply :

Which grease did you use? Thinner greases, like PTFE for instance, do lubricate well but there will always be some noise from the gears. If you use something thicker, like Yamaha Marine Grease, you can quiet them down some but you'll never completely eliminate the noise.

OnthePotomac reply :

Another suggestion is to use Cal's drag grease on your gears. At least on the Shimano micro gears it works to keep them quiet. I agree on the WD 40...forget it. Another tip on cleaning bearings (not anti reverse). Get a tiny food strainer, lay the bearings in and spray them with CRC Electronic Cleaner with the red tube in the nozzle. This stuff eliminates grease and oil very, very fast, dries fast and leaves no residue. Finally, leave the roller clutch bearing alone and just run a Qtip around the inside with just a touch of bearing oil on it. Excessive oil, or grease and it will not do its job as it should.

Shimano_1 reply :

On 2/7/2020 at 4:48 PM, BaitFinesse said:

Because it is a lower end Doyo. You are hearing the gears mesh. If you are bothered by that then stick to higher end platforms from Daiwa, Shimano and some Doyos. Ignore all the latest and greatest weight savings sales tricks and stick to aluminum frame and handle side plate with brass gears.

I dont think I'd call a tournament pro a lower end doyo. In my experience they are some of the smoothest quietest reels I own. A lot smoother than any daiwa or shimano I've owned in that price range. If it's just a little noise its probably where you've cleaned all the bunked up grease out of it do naturally it's a little louder. If its something that is a big deal to you send it to DVT and let them figure it out.

diehardbassfishing reply :

Does this reel have a spool shaft that turns against a spacer under the spool tension cap?

If so, try grease on the end of the shaft (or on the spot where the spool shaft rides on the spacer).

I've had ugly sounds coming from this if it's left w/o regular cleaning and greasing.

Karl

BaitFinesse reply :

On 2/8/2020 at 5:03 AM, Shimano_1 said:

I dont think I'd call a tournament pro a lower end doyo. In my experience they are some of the smoothest quietest reels I own. A lot smoother than any daiwa or shimano I've owned in that price range. If it's just a little noise its probably where you've cleaned all the bunked up grease out of it do naturally it's a little louder. If its something that is a big deal to you send it to DVT and let them figure it out.

It certainly is not a higher end Doyo platform. If one is going to have the sort of tastes that do bot allow for any gear noise ro be heard then that person needs to stick to higher end platforms from Daiwa, Shimano and Doyo. Most if them are deathly silent and butter smooth even in a heavy use state

shimmy reply :

On 2/8/2020 at 5:06 AM, diehardbassfishing said:

Does this reel have a spool shaft that turns against a spacer under the spool tension cap?

If so, try grease on the end of the shaft (or on the spot where the spool shaft rides on the spacer).

I've had ugly sounds coming from this if it's left w/o regular cleaning and greasing.

Karl

I have tried that as well. One interesting note which may help isolate the noise in both reels, when I completely loosen the drag till it can't loosen anymore, it still has barely enough pressure to turn the spool and is butter smooth. It feels perfect. But then when I tighten the drag to a realistic setting, the noise increases, which makes me believe it is the gears. While some are saying this is a lower end reel, every time I sent it in to be serviced, it returned butter smooth. So it is user error and not the reel. With this, maybe other people's suggestions that it is the Ardent reel grease that is not good enough to give that butter smooth feeling in the gears?

jimmyjoe reply :

On 2/8/2020 at 7:33 AM, BaitFinesse said:

It certainly is not a higher end Doyo platform.

Could you please tell us, what IS a higher end Doyo platform? jj

FrankN209 reply :

On 2/8/2020 at 2:50 AM, OnthePotomac said:

Another suggestion is to use Cal's drag grease on your gears. At lease on the Shimano micro gears it works to keep them quiet. I agree on the WD 40...forget it. Another tip on cleaning bearings (not anti reverse). Get a tiny food strainer, lay the bearings in and spray them with CRC Electronic Cleaner with the red tube in the nozzle. This stuff eliminates grease and oil very, very fast, dries fast and leaves no residue. Finally, leave the roller clutch bearing alone and just run a Qtip around the inside with just a touch of bearing oil on it. Excessive oil, or grease and it will not do its job as it should.

I just figured this out the last time i had my Antares apart. Cal's grease works great.

BaitFinesse reply :

On 2/8/2020 at 8:22 AM, jimmyjoe said:

Could you please tell us, what IS a higher end Doyo platform? jj

Their top of the line is the Coba. It's all aluminum. Both side plates. The new shiny top of the line Lews is most like the current Coba III or something similar. I have JDM Revo 3 IB7 that is absolute butter despite being a turd gen. It is also all aluminum and might be similar to an older Coba. Interestingly they still make the gen 1 Coba for all you gen 1 revo premier fans. For the BPS PQ1 fans think of a really really high end PQ1.

http://m.doyofishing.co.kr/goods/catalog?code=0007

VolFan reply :

1. Cal's is the bees' knees.

2. I think the better reel services (cough...dvt..cough) have a feel for optimum performance when putting them back together. There's a sweet spot for every gear, bearing, and screw, and I think only experience can find it every time.

3. Drive it like you stole it...and then get the next one.

jimmyjoe reply :

On 2/8/2020 at 11:05 AM, BaitFinesse said:

Their top of the line is the Coba. It's all aluminum. Both side plates. The new shiny top of the line Lews is most like the current Coba III or something similar. I have JDM Revo 3 IB7 that is absolute butter despite being a turd gen. It is also all aluminum and might be similar to an older Coba. Interestingly they still make the gen 1 Coba for all you gen 1 revo premier fans. For the BPS PQ1 fans think of a really really high end PQ1.

http://m.doyofishing.co.kr/goods/catalog?code=0007

Ah, I see. Not USDM. I had thought you were talking about products on the US market. ???? jj

BaitFinesse reply :

On 2/8/2020 at 1:07 PM, jimmyjoe said:

Ah, I see. Not USDM. I had thought you were talking about products on the US market. ???? jj

I know. I really want one of those older Cobas. I've heard nothing but great things about that platform and even owned the low end Lubina/PQ1 which was a tank.

The new high end Lews Ti Pro looks like it may be a Coba III branded as a Lews. It has the mentalic finish and dual aluminum sideplates like the Coba reels.

http://www.tackletour.com/reviewlewsprotislpcasting.html

Michigander reply :

Was the noise present before the cleaning? Or has it appeared since the cleaning?

dodgeguy reply :

On 2/7/2020 at 4:48 PM, BaitFinesse said:

Because it is a lower end Doyo. You are hearing the gears mesh. If you are bothered by that then stick to higher end platforms from Daiwa, Shimano and some Doyos. Ignore all the latest and greatest weight savings sales tricks and stick to aluminum frame and handle side plate with brass gears.

So far from true it's not funny. I have that same reel and it's smooth as silk. It's as smooth if not smoother than my friends Diawa and Shimano reels and I outcast them constantly with it.

BaitFinesse reply :

On 2/9/2020 at 1:26 AM, dodgeguy said:

So far from true it's not funny. I have that same reel and it's smooth as silk. It's as smooth if not smoother than my friends Diawa and Shimano reels and I outcast them constantly with it.

Guarantee it is not as smooth and quiet as a Bantam or Steez.

shimmy reply :

On 2/9/2020 at 1:02 AM, Michigander said:

Was the noise present before the cleaning? Or has it appeared since the cleaning?

after a year's worth of use, it got pretty loud. After I cleaned it, it quieted down in both reels, but still has the geary noise inside that will most likely not hurt the performance whatsoever, but is still less buttery smooth than when I have it serviced. Since i have the exact same issue in both reels, it makes me feel like it is the gears which are just slightly louder than they should. I guess my next experiment is trying a different grease with the gears.

Michigander reply :

On 2/9/2020 at 3:43 AM, shimmy said:

after a year's worth of use, it got pretty loud. After I cleaned it, it quieted down in both reels, but still has the geary noise inside that will most likely not hurt the performance whatsoever, but is still less buttery smooth than when I have it serviced. Since i have the exact same issue in both reels, it makes me feel like it is the gears which are just slightly louder than they should. I guess my next experiment is trying a different grease with the gears.

Ok, well at least it wasn't a problem you introduced during maintenance. ????

You could try polishing the gears:

Shimano_1 reply :

On 2/9/2020 at 2:46 AM, BaitFinesse said:

Guarantee it is not as smooth and quiet as a Bantam or Steez.

And it's also a 200 reel that can be had for 140. I would hope that 350 dollar reels would be smoother.

FishTank reply :

On 2/8/2020 at 8:16 AM, shimmy said:

I have tried that as well. One interesting note which may help isolate the noise in both reels, when I completely loosen the drag till it can't loosen anymore, it still has barely enough pressure to turn the spool and is butter smooth. It feels perfect. But then when I tighten the drag to a realistic setting, the noise increases, which makes me believe it is the gears. While some are saying this is a lower end reel, every time I sent it in to be serviced, it returned butter smooth. So it is user error and not the reel. With this, maybe other people's suggestions that it is the Ardent reel grease that is not good enough to give that butter smooth feeling in the gears?

I have been using Ardent reel grease and oil for years on all of the reels I have and the ones I service for friends with no issues. I have worked on pretty much all the major manufactures. Like DVT has said though, without seeing it, it's hard to say what it is exactly.

If you have two reels that are exactly the same I would start swapping parts to see if it follows any of them. I would start with the spools and work you way to the main gear and the pinion. It also could be something simple, like one of the washers under the drag star being backwards. I would also check the spools and side frames of the reels for nicks.

iabass8 reply :

On 2/9/2020 at 4:04 AM, Michigander said:

Ok, well at least it wasn't a problem you introduced during maintenance. ????

You could try polishing the gears:

Don't ever...ever...ever do this. It does absolutely nothing performance wise.The less you touch the gears when doing maintenance, the better. either use the softest brush you can find after soaking them in a degreaser/ultra sonic cleaner or use brake clean/qc cleaner on them and rinse/diry. The less you touch the gears aside from relubrication, the better for your DIY folk. I can't stress this enough.....Gears aren't made of indestructible metal. When these gears are indexed for reels, they're done post coating or cut. For you folk that take a tooth brush or scrub the gears and then wonder why something doesn't feel as smooth or the reel is "loud" (this applies to non mag frame reels), this is often why. This is imperative for reels that use duralumin gears or anything non brass. Brass coated gears are also susceptible to having this happen as well.

dodgeguy reply :

On 2/9/2020 at 2:46 AM, BaitFinesse said:

Guarantee it is not as smooth and quiet as a Bantam or Steez.

I have friends with Steez reels and we have swapped and we would disagree.

Michigander reply :

On 2/9/2020 at 5:57 AM, iabass8 said:

Don't ever...ever...ever do this. It does absolutely nothing performance wise.The less you touch the gears when doing maintenance, the better. either use the softest brush you can find after soaking them in a degreaser/ultra sonic cleaner or use brake clean/qc cleaner on them and rinse/diry. The less you touch the gears aside from relubrication, the better for your DIY folk. I can't stress this enough.....Gears aren't made of indestructible metal. When these gears are indexed for reels, they're done post coating or cut. For you folk that take a tooth brush or scrub the gears and then wonder why something doesn't feel as smooth or the reel is "loud" (this applies to non mag frame reels), this is often why. This is imperative for reels that use duralumin gears or anything non brass. Brass coated gears are also susceptible to having this happen as well.

So I take it you're against supertuning? Or at least for the gears part. Too bad this guy never updated with the results of his experiment with polishing the gears: https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/supertune-baitcaster.html

Quote

I have an experiment running right now. I polished the gear teeth on one reel. I went through about a dozen fiber brushes and polishing compound to smooth out the gear teeth. I am not recommending this just yet. I’m going to use the reel all season, then tear it down to carefully inspect the teeth to see how they held up. I will tell you that the reel is noticeably smoother on the retrieve. Only time and use will tell if the improvement is lasting, or if it was truly worth the time and effort involved. I spent quite a bit of time on this little experiment, and used up a bunch of brushes. Those gear teeth just chewed them up.

iabass8 reply :

On 2/9/2020 at 6:58 AM, Michigander said:

So I take it you're against supertuning? Or at least for the gears part. Too bad this guy never updated with the results of his experiment with polishing the gears: https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/supertune-baitcaster.html

No, I'm very, very for it. I do it to most reels or if people ask me to on their own. However, "polishing gears" isn't considered a "supertune" or anything more beneficial than a cosmetic upgrade. Unless you're bruce lee /w a dremel, stay away from gears. supertuning is polsihing friction points, spool ends, shafts, spacers and drag washers. f If you watch more of this guys videos,he also makes claims that polishing spool shafts and the inside of a pinion "does nothing" to a reel....which couldn't be further from the truth. For example, polishing the internals of of a pinion gear and the spool shaft on the E series curado makes a huge difference. Free floating spools benefit much less than a through shaft design however. this guy whose video you posted knows his stuff for spinning reels but listening to his claims on casting reels and watching some of the things he does maintenance wise is hard to watch and "cringeworthy" to say the least.

Michigander reply :

On 2/9/2020 at 7:30 AM, iabass8 said:

No, I'm very, very for it. I do it to most reels or if people ask me to on their own. However, "polishing gears" isn't considered a "supertune" or anything more beneficial than a cosmetic upgrade. Unless you're bruce lee /w a dremel, stay away from gears. supertuning is polsihing friction points, spool ends, shafts, spacers and drag washers. f If you watch more of this guys videos,he also makes claims that polishing spool shafts and the inside of a pinion "does nothing" to a reel....which couldn't be further from the truth. For example, polishing the internals of of a pinion gear and the spool shaft on the E series curado makes a huge difference. Free floating spools benefit much less than a through shaft design however. this guy whose video you posted knows his stuff for spinning reels but listening to his claims on casting reels and watching some of the things he does maintenance wise is hard to watch and "cringeworthy" to say the least.

Very interesting! I am certainly not going to be cast for 'Rotary of the Dragon', so based on your advice I wouldn't attempt it. I read in that Bass Resourxe article that the author claimed polishing the gears made the reel smoother which addresses the OP's problem. However, your knowledge eclipses mine, so I will defer to you. Thanks for explaining!

Delaware Valley Tackle reply :

On 2/9/2020 at 7:30 AM, iabass8 said:

No, I'm very, very for it. I do it to most reels or if people ask me to on their own. However, "polishing gears" isn't considered a "supertune" or anything more beneficial than a cosmetic upgrade. Unless you're bruce lee /w a dremel, stay away from gears. supertuning is polsihing friction points, spool ends, shafts, spacers and drag washers. f If you watch more of this guys videos,he also makes claims that polishing spool shafts and the inside of a pinion "does nothing" to a reel....which couldn't be further from the truth. For example, polishing the internals of of a pinion gear and the spool shaft on the E series curado makes a huge difference. Free floating spools benefit much less than a through shaft design however. this guy whose video you posted knows his stuff for spinning reels but listening to his claims on casting reels and watching some of the things he does maintenance wise is hard to watch and "cringeworthy" to say the least.

Thanks for pointing this out. The internet can be as dangerous as it is helpful.

BaitFinesse reply :

On 2/9/2020 at 4:22 AM, Shimano_1 said:

And it's also a 200 reel that can be had for 140. I would hope that 350 dollar reels would be smoother.

Hence the comment that if the OP wants smooth and deathly silent reels then he should should stick to higher end platforms with metal handle side plates from Shimano and Daiwa. Some gear noise from a $200 reel with plastic handle side plates and an aluminum main gear is normal after some use. I avoid aluminum main gears altogether because I do not tolerate even the slighted hint of gear mesh in my reels be it vibration or sound. The Daiwa Steez is the only reel that I would consider smooth for an aluminum main gear reel. Even then in a high use state they can become more geary than other Daiwa higher end platforms with the same high use and brass gears. I've actually upgraded an old Steez to brass gears for this reason.

Shimano_1 reply :

On 2/10/2020 at 12:58 AM, BaitFinesse said:

Hence the comment that if the OP wants smooth and deathly silent reels then he should should stick to higher end platforms with metal handle side plates from Shimano and Daiwa. Some gear noise from a $200 reel with plastic handle side plates and an aluminum main gear is normal after some use. I avoid aluminum main gears altogether because I do not tolerate even the slighted hint of gear mesh in my reels be it vibration or sound. The Daiwa Steez is the only reel that I would consider smooth for an aluminum main gear reel. Even then in a high use state they can become more geary than other Daiwa higher end platforms with the same high use and brass gears. I've actually upgraded an old Steez to brass gears for this reason.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I in no way believe shimano or daiwa are superior no matter what price range. I've fished a ton of all of them over the years and the lews have held up and been just as good if not better than comparable shimano or daiwas. I do agree on the aluminum gear thing but when shimano and daiwa put them in some of their high end reels it's still a slippery slope. I just believe the guy wanted suggestions on how to get his reel back to feeling like it did...not the usual go buy shimano or daiwa. I get it...people are fans. I also know the more someone tries to brag it up the more it likely turns people away from them. In my experience daiwa had the worst customer service I've ever dealt with and lews has been the best. I'm sure a lot of guys can't afford to trash a 200 reel and replace it with a 400 reel. He likely needs to send it in and have it serviced. I would try the drag grease first and see if that helps. Seems to be what shimano recommends for their aluminum and micro gears. I'm sure the thicker grease helps make it quiter.

BaitFinesse reply :

Been down that path with a number and reels and realized my tastes required an aluminum frame, handle side plate and higher end cut brass gears. Magnesium frame and sideplate with brass gears is also acceptable but still a compromise. It's not just the higher Shimano and Daiwa reels. Doyo has some high end platforms that are smooth and silent as well. I have one with a Revo Elite IB and it is smooth and silent with dual aluminum side plates and brass gears. I don't mind paying the weight penalty. I want smooth and silent operation for years on end.

garroyo130 reply :

On 2/9/2020 at 5:57 AM, iabass8 said:

Don't ever...ever...ever do this. It does absolutely nothing performance wise.

I had an old Pinnacle that I decided to "supertune" after reading a book called BASS where they mentioned you should fill the case with toothpaste, remove levelwind, and use a drill to spin it. I honestly have to say it made a huge difference in smoothness. Im sure it wasnt the best idea and I sure as heck wouldn't do it again but that reel did get smoother.

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