Upgrading Bearings - Shimano Reels, What Is In There Originally 2024

Mossyoakglock reply :

I am looking into upgrading the bearings on all my Shimano reels with Boca Bearings but want to know what bearings the reels came with from the factory. Is there a way to tell? Is there a stamping on the bearings themselves?

I currently have a Chronarch (purchased December 2012), Castaic (5 or so years old) and a Stradic (probably 6+ years old). I have some others spinning reels that me and the wife use but I'm not looking at upgrading those since they are only ultralites.

I'm also waiting on BPS to get their new Curados back in stock so I can get one of those so I might upgrade those bearings if it's a good idea. They got 400 in for the Fishing Classic and sold all of them in two days.

iabass8 reply :

Go to bocas website and look up the reel you want to upgrade. It will list the kit and the bearings needed.

webertime reply :

Size is 3x10x4

I've read that the stock bearings are ABEC 3ish (Japan doesn't use the ABEC scale). The S-ARB ones (corosive resistant bearing) are slightly nicer.

Mossyoakglock reply :

I checked Boca's site earlier today. I would be about $100 to upgrade the Chronarch, Castaic and Stradic with the ABEC 5 sets.

I thought I read somewhere that some of the newer Shimanos come in ABEC 5's but they didn't specify models so I wasn't sure if there was a way to tell by just looking at the bearings themselves.

J Francho reply :

I'd be looking at Hawgtech if I absolutely felt the upgrade was necessary. I have several Chronarch Es, and a good flush and lube with good bearing oil gives me more performance than I've needed. I have other reels with Bocas, ZPI, and Smooth Drags. The net gain over stock in these reels is nil over a properly oiled stock bearing. When I think of upgrading reels, I generally look at the drag washers and a CF handle with bearing knobs before I consider a bearing upgrade.

Mossyoakglock reply :

Thanks, J Franco.

My plan was to do a thorough cleaning tonight on all my reels, including soaking the bearings in some acetone or lacquer thinner, then rubbing alcohol and reoil.

I'll then see how the feel and upgrade if I feel it's needed.

Delaware Valley Tackle reply :

Bearing upgrades are more of an enthusiast project unless maybe you have to replace a bad one anyway. There are no markings on the stock bearings and I've never been able to get anything more than conjecture as to the specs or ratings.

.RM. reply :

On 3/21/2014 at 1:15 AM, Delaware Valley Tackle said:
Bearing upgrades are more of an enthusiast project unless maybe you have to replace a bad one anyway. There are no markings on the stock bearings and I've never been able to get anything more than conjecture as to the specs or ratings.

X2....

I have had exstensive talks with a service tech friend at Shimano (not Bantam1).

The stock bearings are ABEC3 used to be stamped but we haven't seen any stamps on my supplies of 3's and 5's.

You will find some of the really higher end Shimano reels (DC's come to mind) that do use 5's in the spool support train.

Before I would change any of the bearings in those reels, I would deep clean them and properly lubricate as Mike stated. You will see a giant chnge in the feel and castability.

Also I wouldn't wast any monies on bearings in a spinning reel unless the bearings are toasted, and then only with stock's.

Just this service techs .02¢

Tight Lines!

.ghoti. reply :

Most of my Daiwa baitcasters have ABEC7 stainless steel spool bearings. I can't sit here, and with a straight face, tell you that it was money and time truly well spent. The reels cast a little bit better, mostly a case of less effort rather than incredible distance gains. Most of the performance upgrade is used up with increased thumb or braking pressure. You need to be a very experienced caster to realize the small improvement provided by upgraded bearings.

You've just had three experienced service techs before me tell you to properly clean and lube your existing bearings first. Do that, and see what happens. You may very well be impressed.

Now, a drag washer upgrade(carbontex) and a four bearing handle are both valid improvements. I'd do those before ever upgrading bearings.

Your choice of lube for the spool bearings is critical. There are some very light, low viscosity oils available which will yield performance improvements. If you're one of those people who service their reels once per year, these oils are not for you. Use something heavier, and thus longer lasting. You won't get an entire season's performance with any of the really light oils.

tomustang reply :

Yup, a proper cleaning and relub might be just what you need to have better results. Much cheaper too.

QUAKEnSHAKE reply :

On 3/21/2014 at 4:35 AM, .ghoti. said:

Most of my Daiwa baitcasters have ABEC7 stainless steel spool bearings. I can't sit here, and with a straight face, tell you that it was money and time truly well spent. The reels cast a little bit better, mostly a case of less effort rather than incredible distance gains. Most of the performance upgrade is used up with increased thumb or braking pressure. You need to be a very experienced caster to realize the small improvement provided by upgraded bearings.

You've just had three experienced service techs before me tell you to properly clean and lube your existing bearings first. Do that, and see what happens. You may very well be impressed.

Now, a drag washer upgrade(carbontex) and a four bearing handle are both valid improvements. I'd do those before ever upgrading bearings.

Your choice of lube for the spool bearings is critical. There are some very light, low viscosity oils available which will yield performance improvements. If you're one of those people who service their reels once per year, these oils are not for you. Use something heavier, and thus longer lasting. You won't get an entire season's performance with any of the really light oils.

So why continue to do so?

With me yes less effort and longer distance. Over a whole days fishing & days in a row that less effort adds up on a body. Some say the less effort adds to better accuracy as well. So less effort longer distance better accuracy for $25. I feel a much better upgrade than having 2 bearing in each knob. There no perfomance gain at all with knob bearings it comes down to a knob that spins for 7 seconds vs 30 seconds and feel. A longer handle can make reeling easier for sure. If had to give up one of them Ill stick with abec7 over 4 bearings in the knobs.

J Francho reply :

Really, spool start up effort causing fatigue? I can honestly say that hasn't been an issue for me and was never a consideration when upgrading bearings. My biggest reason to upgrade bearings? Because it's cool to soup up a reel. I don't have any issue with guys popping the hoods on their cars, and showing off mods that don't get you from point A to point B and faster. Just call it what is. If you looked at many of my reels, you'd never know what I've done to them. I like the sleeper look. If you want to add new bearings, go for it. If the five minute swap and expense is worth avoiding the process to get the most out of stock bearings, that's ok too. To say its a must isn't exactly true. Not in my experience anyway, and I've had a few reels come across my desk. In the case of OS bearings, I've never understood why anyone would pay a premium for a sealed bearing, only to remove and discard the seals. Yet they are the most oft recommended bearing. Get a quality shielded bearing, and you'll be in business with a low maintenance, quality bearing.

J Francho reply :

As far as soaking your stock bearings, I recommend soaking in Perfect Solution, in a covered jar over night. Scrub any junk off the outside with toothbrush and warm water. Replace in fresh PS overnight, rinse in hit water until thoroughly cleaned. I use a hair dryer on low to dry mine. Give them a gentle spin test, if not smooth, repeat. Before replacing, use a single drop of oil in the gap near the races, gently spin and set on a paper towel for a bit. Put in the reel, but don't wing it full blast, let the oil disperse throughout the surfaces in the bearing with gentle rotation. Next day, and they should spin like crazy. For oils, bantam oil is a good gen purpose, Oust Metöl is a good performance oil, but needs to be reapplied frequently, after 12 hours or so of use.

John G reply :

To the OP, ghoti wrote a very interesting tune up article that you should find interesting.

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/supertune-baitcaster.html

He says in the article that it's hard to put too small of a drop of oil on your bearings. When I read that, I bought some needle drop oilers from Brownells. The drop was so small that I put another on my spool bearings. LOL

J Francho reply :

That's part if the reason I like to let them sit on a towel for a few minutes. It lets some of the excess drain out. It'll eventually drain out during use, but it can make a mess. If there's way too much, it can get to places it shouldn't.

rippin-lips reply :

I'm with J Francho 100% It's more about just being able to tinker with something.

I have boca abec 7's in a handful of my reels and the gains are hardly noticeable over a properly cleaned and lubed stock bearing. I will say that on my pitching reel is where I saw the most improvement. The easier start up of the spool makes pitching a bit easier but on any reel that I use to make longer casts with, I don't see any real gains.

BONZ reply :

On 3/21/2014 at 5:47 AM, J Francho said:
As far as soaking your stock bearings, I recommend soaking in Perfect Solution, in a covered jar over night. Scrub any junk off the outside with toothbrush and warm water. Replace in fresh PS overnight, rinse in hit water until thoroughly cleaned. I use a hair dryer on low to dry mine. Give them a gentle spin test, if not smooth, repeat. Before replacing, use a single drop of oil in the gap near the races, gently spin and set on a paper towel for a bit. Put in the reel, but don't wing it full blast, let the oil disperse throughout the surfaces in the bearing with gentle rotation. Next day, and they should spin like crazy. For oils, bantam oil is a good gen purpose, Oust Metöl is a good performance oil, but needs to be reapplied frequently, after 12 hours or so of use.

May be a dumb question but when you say the bearing must be smooth do you mean free spinning? Should you hear the bearings?

rippin-lips reply :

You'll hear it yes. It'll be noticeable louder before you add oil. Just watch it and make sure there is no glitches while it's spinning.

J Francho reply :

It's a faint hiss, with no skips.

jtesch reply :

Yup, the bearing upgrade is a coolness issue. I do think the one area it really helps with is pitching. Faster spool start up, less effort, same old argument. I've changed about a dozen reels and some see no improvement at all (BPS Johnny Morris sig.) and some were way better Revo MGX. I do agree that a good cleaning and proper lube of stock bearings is probably all you need but there's no cool factor in it at all.

.ghoti. reply :

On 3/21/2014 at 5:19 AM, QUAKEnSHAKE said:

So why continue to do so?

With me yes less effort and longer distance. Over a whole days fishing & days in a row that less effort adds up on a body. Some say the less effort adds to better accuracy as well. So less effort longer distance better accuracy for $25. I feel a much better upgrade than having 2 bearing in each knob. There no perfomance gain at all with knob bearings it comes down to a knob that spins for 7 seconds vs 30 seconds and feel. A longer handle can make reeling easier for sure. If had to give up one of them Ill stick with abec7 over 4 bearings in the knobs.

Well, you and I may just have to agree to disagree. LOL

I continue to do so because, first, the small gain is worth the cost to me. Secondly, stainless, shielded ABEC 7 bearings are whisper quiet when properly cleaned and lubed. That's a bigger deal to me. I believe my reels should be seen and not heard.

It all depends on your goals.If you want all out balls to the wall performance, you're going to do certain things.

What I'm after is smooth and quiet. With that said, all my reels have carbontex drags and polished drag washers. SMooth and quiet. All have 4BB handles. Smooth and quiet. Almost all have SS abec7 spool bearings. Smooth and quiet. Almost all have had a full internal polishing of all moving contact points. Smooth and quiet.

I need three more sets of spool and bearings, and two polishing jobs to complete the set, and than I'm done for a while. (yeah, right) Four Alphas, four Zillions, six Fuegos, a Viento and a TD-Z. I don't need any more reels. These should do me for a few years.

Mossyoakglock reply :

Thanks for everything, guys.

My plan was to thoroughly clean everything first and go from there. That leads me to my next question. What oil and grease would you suggest? I've been using Hot Sauce since I was able to pick it up locally at Bass Pro. Bass Pro also has Ardent oil. Is that a good one to go with?

I generally oil my reel a few times a year depending on how much I get to fish.

Probably going to open a can of worms but would it be better to use Acetone or Mineral Spirits for the initial soak for the bearings? I have both so I can use either one. I would follow that up with a soak in rubbing alcohol.

J Francho reply :

I posted a method to clean your bearings above. You can find Perfect Solution at Lowes.

Mossyoakglock reply :

Perfect. I wasn't sure if that was something you had to order online or if you could get it in stores. Is that something like Simple Green? I've got Simple Green and Zap citrus cleaner at the house as well.

J Francho reply :

It's ten times a better product than either if those. Seriously.

Mossyoakglock reply :

Looks like I'll be adding another item to my Lowe's list this weekend.

.RM. reply :

On 3/21/2014 at 11:30 PM, .ghoti. said:

Almost all have SS abec7 spool bearings. Smooth and quiet. Almost all have had a full internal polishing of all moving contact points. Smooth and quiet.

.ghoti. the key to those abec7's being so quiet is the Stainless Steel instead of Ceramic.

They respond to clean/lub much better/quicker than ceramic's ever do...

Fastmover3 reply :

I can t stand it. Abec7 bearings even abec5 increase casting distance, spool smoothness, and overall put a supercharger on your reel. This upgrade is a big jump in performance. If you are not good at casting you will never see any difference. It's not for everyone. I have seen first hand the difference and can say its big. For the most noticeable gains a supertune is a great help. All my reels have abec7 or 5 depending on what it's for. Drag set is a no brainier if you are already in there. There are many ways to get bearings, Boca, Hawgtech,Dads ol Tackle, smooth drag, HP bearings even sells kits. If you are happy w your reel the way it was when you got it,then clean and replace. Remember quality does not cost it pays. But it's not for everyone

Jolly Green reply :

On 3/21/2014 at 5:47 AM, J Francho said:
As far as soaking your stock bearings, I recommend soaking in Perfect Solution, in a covered jar over night. Scrub any junk off the outside with toothbrush and warm water. Replace in fresh PS overnight, rinse in hit water until thoroughly cleaned. I use a hair dryer on low to dry mine. Give them a gentle spin test, if not smooth, repeat.

I tried Perfect Solution this year based on your recommendation and I agree that it does great job; I just want to add that I found the rinse to be critical. Before trying it on reel bearings I did a test clean on a bearing I robbed from a computer cooling fan and found that after rinsing and drying, the bearing was reluctant to move and when I did get it turning it felt extremely rough. I removed the shields (I am someone who prefers not to mess with the shields, even though cleaning is faster without them) and found that there was a gummy film on all the bearing innards. It rinsed away with hot water and after that the bearing was, as advertised, Perfect. I went through the whole process again with the same bearing and found that again, after rinsing and drying, the bearing was again semi-seized, and opening it up revealed the same gummy film. After rinsing it out I went through the whole process a third time but after rinsing it off I immediately put it in a jar of plain old hot water and let it soak for fifteen minutes, agitating gently a couple times. I changed the water and soaked it a second time, dried it with a hair dryer, and finally had a free-spinning bearing.

So, to anyone who hasn't tried it, I concur that Perfect Solution is a nice, effective alternative to solvents, but don't skimp on the rinse!

I'm

J Francho reply :

I use that stuff on every part of the reel. Cuts my cleaning time by three fold. As a side note, it also gets scum off my aluminum Xpress hull, makes the white letters on my tires look new, it's the best thing I've found to clean my rubber floor mats, makes my stove top glimmer, gets that nasty stuff stuck to the back of the fridge, and nothing gets my teeth whiter. Ok, last part was a lie.

Fastmover3 reply :

That cleaner sounds good it ought to work good for the loose parts on a tear down. As for bearings. Lighter fluid like rosinol,zippo,etc. contain naphtha it pulls dirt and contaminant out of metal a good swirl and soak and you are done. The big pay off is it leaves no residue. After they dry check bearing be sure it's good. Swirl and repeat if needed. I like to clean the bearings first. While they dry the rest of the reel gets evaluated and serviced. Lube prior to install. These cleaning ideas are old but very effective I learned most cleaning and tuning when I raced slot cars. The same principals apply with reels. It is all in the set up.

J Francho reply :

Anyone that says naphtha or acetone is better than PS for bearings, hadn't tried it. Seriously.

Fastmover3 reply :

Personal preference is personal preference . Use what you like. My way is faster,less labor intensive, and quick, and no tooth brush. I also use a ultrasonic cleaner have any homemade or lowes stuff for that I am looking for a all purpose cleaner any ideas?

J Francho reply :

There's personal preferences, true. Mine is developed over cleaning literally thousands of bearing packs. To say that all it takes is a couple swirls in solvent is a little misleading. That may be true with a relatively clean bearing, that only has lite oil applied. Customer reels are often loaded with factory grease and dirt that is not handled well by solvents. Lastly, solvents leave more residue than the water from my tap. Never mind the fumes, lol. I probably would have never tried using PS on bearings, except for some that had some seriously nasty, oxidized grease all over the outside that acetone would not touch. A few minutes in PS, and it was easily lifted. Try it, don't try it. Use what works, I know - and anyone that has been turned on to the stuff - knows too

Fastmover3 reply :

Wow. If I ever need blood from a turnip I will call you. If bearings look that bad replacement is a def consideration. Stock bearings are cheap upgrades better. Some may call my way wasteful but I take no chances with equipment. There are no maybe fish. When I go for it the equipment in my hand is near bullet proof. If a bearing needs that much work then odds are it's bad. Spend less time working more time fishing.

rippin-lips reply :

It seems that you really haven't worked on that many reels if you haven't had a bearing packed with grease that takes some time to get clean. Then again you also said that stock bearing replacement with abec 5 or 7 nets huge gains. It's been talked about over and over that they don't. Heck Mike at DVT cleans and tunes reels for a living and has said the same thing. A long with other highly experienced people. If someone who has cleaned,lubed,tuned thousands of reels and is even an authorized boca dealer tells me that it's not going to really improve casting distance. Well I think I'd believe him. He has also switched to using perfect solution himself. I'm sure he's tried 100's of cleaners. He's not going to use something that makes his job harder to do.

J Francho reply :

It doesn't really matter, some guys will do what they do - I'm one of them, stubborn to a fault. I kept the stuff under wraps for more than two years. I'm sharing it now because it works, and it's a little payback for all the good advice I've received over the years. My purpose is not to be better than everyone else, it's help everyone else get better. Take what you want, leave what you don't. Look at me, I see hundreds of posts a year about how good a C-rig is, and I've learned when the optimal time to throw it. Do throw it then? Not really. I'd rather stick a fork in my own eye. Call me crazy, but that's how information works.

rippin-lips reply :

Yeah I'm with you. I'm stubborn myself but also willing to listen to people that have a lot more experience on a subject then I do. I picked some PS up from Lowes a few weeks ago but all my reels got cleaned over the winter. I'll have to give it a few months before I get to use it finally.

J Francho reply :

I left a wet box if jerk baits in my boat last fall. Fished them out a couple weeks ago, and most of the hooks were rusted, some rusted right to the baits, leaving a bad mess and what thought was a costly mistake. Cut all the split sings and hooks off, and cleaned them up with PS. All I did was ruin some hooks the I would have replaced anyway. 1001 uses, lol.

John G reply :

Will Perfect Solution make your hands feel really rough if you use it enough on bare skin? Just curious

J Francho reply :

Dishpan hands? Every reel tech will get them. Wear gloves - I do.

John G reply :

On 3/23/2014 at 5:07 AM, J Francho said:
Dishpan hands? Every reel tech will get them. Wear gloves - I do.

The reason why I asked is I was judging the potency by the wear n tear on your hands. I don't ever recall Simple Green being rough on my hands and I have used Greased Lightning Super Strength and it will mess your skin up on your hands if used without any protection. Greased Lighting works a lot better than full strength Simple Green on my work trucks. I am the last guy that worries about dish pan hands. LOL

rippin-lips reply :

I'm a big fan of purple power at full strength around the garage but it'll do a number on your hands.

J Francho reply :

My hands are pretty ugly any way. I play drums, and along with the callouses, the wooden sticks suck the moisture out. Dawn or Palmolive gives me dishpan hands. I do think PS is a little irritating at full strength. Diluted it seems fine.

Fastmover3 reply :

There are many ways to remove bearing grease. I have seen it a time or two. I use lighter fluid and then compressed air from my little compressor . Just another way to accomplish the same thing. Bearings I beg to differ. If I was a pro baseball pitcher and I could find a way to throw 90mph fast ball with a flick of a wrist instead of risking arm and shoulder fatigue thru the use of a different bearing isn't that considered a performance gain? I guess all bearing sales to fisherman, rc racers,bicyclists, etc are wrong then. When you mature more you will appreciate less effort for the performance you want. Can't stay young forever

Fastmover3 reply :

Ps gloves are a definite need

rippin-lips reply :

On 3/23/2014 at 5:59 AM, Fastmover3 said:
There are many ways to remove bearing grease. I have seen it a time or two. I use lighter fluid and then compressed air from my little compressor . Just another way to accomplish the same thing. Bearings I beg to differ. If I was a pro baseball pitcher and I could find a way to throw 90mph fast ball with a flick of a wrist instead of risking arm and shoulder fatigue thru the use of a different bearing isn't that considered a performance gain? I guess all bearing sales to fisherman, rc racers,bicyclists, etc are wrong then. When you mature more you will appreciate less effort for the performance you want. Can't stay young forever

You have your opinion and we all have ours. Though you're seemingly out numbered you still want to argue with people. Some that make a living off cleaning reels. Next you're going to tell us that free spool videos actually mean something.

War Eagle 44 reply :

On 3/23/2014 at 2:39 AM, J Francho said:
It doesn't really matter, some guys will do what they do - I'm one of them, stubborn to a fault. I kept the stuff under wraps for more than two years. I'm sharing it now because it works, and it's a little payback for all the good advice I've received over the years. My purpose is not to be better than everyone else, it's help everyone else get better. Take what you want, leave what you don't. Look at me, I see hundreds of posts a year about how good a C-rig is, and I've learned when the optimal time to throw it. Do throw it then? Not really. I'd rather stick a fork in my own eye. Call me crazy, but that's how information works.

This is a little off topic but I just had to comment on your stance about the Carolina rig. I 100% agree with you. I have a friend who catches tons of fish on'em every summer but I just can't bring myself to fish them. I'd rather give up the sport altogether.

I also agree with you about being stubborn. I'm the same way in this regard as well. I do however have to disagree about the bearings, I feel that Boca OS 7's offer enough of an improvement over properly cleaned and oiled stock bearings to justify buying them.

I'll also agree that caster skill plays an important factor in just how much gain there is. Also different reels respond better than others to these upgrades in my experience. I've enjoyed the improved ability of my Chronarch 101B for instance with weightless plastics. As others have already pointed out many times maximum distance isn't improved so much but the effort needed to make "ordinary" casts or pitches is really reduced. This to me is where the gains with weightless plastics come into play.

Tartan34 reply :

I was skeptical of the PS cleaned bearings on par with new ABEC 7....but now I'm sold.

I just used PS on bearings out of a Chronarch 200E, and once installed, they are very, very close to new, upgraded bearings. I casted with both sets on the same reel, with the same settings. I really can't tell much of a difference (other than my older ones are quieter).

Thanks for the Perfect Solution tip.

Maico1 reply :

On 3/23/2014 at 1:14 AM, J Francho said:
Anyone that says naphtha or acetone is better than PS for bearings, hadn't tried it. Seriously.

Well John I finally got to use PS and am very happy with it. I have only done 6 reels so far but it has performed exactly the way you claimed it would in our discussion.The key is a good thorough rinsing as you said for you know that was my big concern about switching from Acetone. The other big factor I like is you no longer have to deal with those obnoxious fumes .......

.ghoti. reply :

I've also tried PS, at John's recommendation. It does work a bit better than Simple Green. SG still smells better. For most cleaning tasks I prefer SG over PS. I will still use PS for the most stubborn cleaning tasks. I have stopped using acetone, lighter fluid, carb cleaner, brake cleaner, etc. There is simply no need to use harsh, toxic, flammable chemicals when a safer, environmentally friendly alternative is available.

It's always amusing to me to read these arguments. Any of the cleaning agents mentioned above will produce acceptable results. In all cases, it's about the process. If you've developed a process which gives results acceptable to you, then use it. There is no need to belittle anybody elses process because you think yours is better. If that's all you can bring to the discussion, I suggest you shut the **** up.

Here's a technique I hesitate to bring up. When in a hurry, I use this to get bearings clean. Place all bearings, shileds removed in a flat bottom bowl. ( A ramiken, to get all Bed Bath and Beyond on you.) pour in enough Simple Green to cover and place in the microwave. Make sure the bearings are touching each other. Arcing will occur if you nuke them too long, with a gap between. Six bearings, in the bowl I use, for six seconds, on high, in my microwave is perfect. When doing a mid-season touch up, and only clean the spool bearings, I use a shot glass, two spool bearings for four seconds. You will need to experiment with your setup. Metal absorbs microwave radiation much, much more readily than water. Metal will also become charged from the absorption of this energy. Thus the arcing if timed too long. Remove the bowl and allow to stand until the liquid becomes clear again. Rinse with very hot water. I put the bearings in a fine mesh strainer and pour boiling DI water from a teapot over them. Allow to air dry. If you have DI water already heated, the whole process takes about two minutes, start to finish. Works very nicely with Simple Green. I have not tried it with Perfect Solution.

And now a warning, and the reason I hesitated to post this. DO NOT USE THIS PROCESS WITH LIGHTER FLUID, ACETONE, OR ANY OTHER FLAMMABLE LIQUID. Placing a flammable liquid, with metal parts, into the microwave is a pretty good way to make a bomb.

J Francho reply :

Nuke 'em!!!!

webertime reply :

On 3/24/2014 at 10:38 PM, .ghoti. said:

I've also tried PS, at John's recommendation. It does work a bit better than Simple Green. SG still smells better. For most cleaning tasks I prefer SG over PS. I will still use PS for the most stubborn cleaning tasks. I have stopped using acetone, lighter fluid, carb cleaner, brake cleaner, etc. There is simply no need to use harsh, toxic, flammable chemicals when a safer, environmentally friendly alternative is available.

It's always amusing to me to read these arguments. Any of the cleaning agents mentioned above will produce acceptable results. In all cases, it's about the process. If you've developed a process which gives results acceptable to you, then use it. There is no need to belittle anybody elses process because you think yours is better. If that's all you can bring to the discussion, I suggest you shut the **** up.

Here's a technique I hesitate to bring up. When in a hurry, I use this to get bearings clean. Place all bearings, shileds removed in a flat bottom bowl. ( A ramiken, to get all Bed Bath and Beyond on you.) pour in enough Simple Green to cover and place in the microwave. Make sure the bearings are touching each other. Arcing will occur if you nuke them too long, with a gap between. Six bearings, in the bowl I use, for six seconds, on high, in my microwave is perfect. When doing a mid-season touch up, and only clean the spool bearings, I use a shot glass, two spool bearings for four seconds. You will need to experiment with your setup. Metal absorbs microwave radiation much, much more readily than water. Metal will also become charged from the absorption of this energy. Thus the arcing if timed too long. Remove the bowl and allow to stand until the liquid becomes clear again. Rinse with very hot water. I put the bearings in a fine mesh strainer and pour boiling DI water from a teapot over them. Allow to air dry. If you have DI water already heated, the whole process takes about two minutes, start to finish. Works very nicely with Simple Green. I have not tried it with Perfect Solution.

And now a warning, and the reason I hesitated to post this. DO NOT USE THIS PROCESS WITH LIGHTER FLUID, ACETONE, OR ANY OTHER FLAMMABLE LIQUID. Placing a flammable liquid, with metal parts, into the microwave is a pretty good way to make a bomb.

Doesn't Shimano already do that with some of their Fukashima plant bearings?

.ghoti. reply :

On 3/25/2014 at 2:56 AM, webertime said:
Doesn't Shimano already do that with some of their Fukashima plant bearings?

Now that's funny right there.

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