Reel Maintenance- Telling On Myself

[D.W. Verts]

Here ya'll go- another Verts story (many folks RUN right about now)

Keeping reels clean & lubed is critical. Failures happen at stupid times, and it ain't never good. Extra wear on components caused by dirt & grime is stupid, and so easy to fix ahead of time. Mike Cork knows this. In fact there's a whole slew of great discussions on this topic on this forum.

I used to completely take my whole arsenal down once a year, generally in the Winter. I'd work 'em over and make 'em pretty. I was at least semi fishing for a living, so it was huge important. Not as much nowadays. The last complete and major re-work was three years ago. And I can tell.

I keep lube in the important places, but lube does attract dirt. And this summer I started having reels talk back to me. That's not  good thing- it means that the deep-cleaning is overdo.

One problem is I literally have 150 baitcast reels. I own a TON of the old 4600C's that I still use every trip out (I have YT video to prove it) so many times I just replace an ailing/dirty reel with a fresh one. That only works for so long.

So yesterday I decided to tear into twenty or so reels that stay in my boat. There are some tournaments coming up soon that I may fish, and setting myself up for issues would not be conducive to getting good results.

I said I own a bunch of the old, round Ambassaduer 4600C's. About a 135 of them. Love 'em. Almost indestructible. Level wind worm gears and pawls, and that's about it. And I can just about take them apart, clean 'em up, and re-assemble them in the dark. Oh yeah.

But I did give in a few years ago and bought some "modern" reels that are a little easier on the wrists. Kast Kings, one ABU, and about ten Lew's get it done for me. They run great, and the lighter weight is very welcome some days. But I've never taken one down all the way. Every piece. No problem, right?

Like everything we do in life, practice makes perfect. So maybe, just maybe, Mike Cork has these new reels figured out. I myself do not, and really am ashamed at how much I sucked at working on one of them.

I tore into the filthiest BB150. It had moss cud packed into some very tight places, so I took it as a challenge. I tore into it just like my old reels, and I found out quickly that it ain't one of them. All those SCREWS...

On my 4600's all the screws are GENERALLY the same, or so different as to be unusable in the wrong place. Not this baby. Uh huh. Sigh.

Then the complicatedness (I reckon that's a word- spell check says it is) is nuts. There's no reason to make a reel this intricate. Is there? I fought it all the way, dropping stuff and trying not to cuss.

Bottom line- when I got it back together, OVER TWO HOURS LATER (my Garcias take me maybe 35- 45 minutes for  a complete scrub down, including a BATH), well, it doesn't work. It's clean, yeah, but the reel doesn't engage. Oh yeah- there's one of those little screws and a very fine washer still in my parts bowl. Shoot. I have NEVER had that happen before.

Of course, speaking of NEVER, the last time I did this I NEVER had to wear glasses, either. Ouch.

That reel is still in the parts bowl (actually a Cool Whip bowl from my restaurant). It'll get tore back down someday, and I will figure out where those parts go, and why the durn thing won't engage. You bet.

Still, it's a little depressing. I've done this sport since I was 13 years old. There ain't NOTHING related to bass fishing that I haven't conquered, mastered, or at least became very close friends with. It's humbling and sad, and I'm told over and over that it's going to get worse. Sigh.

There you go. A pitiful story about a washed-out bass man struggling with every day life. Oh, and those other reels? They got a darn FINE cleaning. They just didn't get tore down all the way to do it. Like Uncle Clint said, a man's got to know his limitations.

Peace.

Dale

[Mike Cork]

Oh how the 4600 are a mechanical marvel, so simple, so bullet proof. Why ABU built anything else I'll never really know, other than competition for the low profile market....

Take one of the other bb150's apart while you reassemble the one in the cool whip bowl. I'm sure there is one little washer or plate not in right and it will be obvious.

Believe it or not, the reel industry has actually backed out of some of the more complicated stuff. Ardent over engineered their reels so bad it almost bankrupted them. Most reels are about the same now, like the old round reels back in the day were all about the same.

It won't be long and you'll be sitting in the cold looking for something to do, if it still eludes you, I'm a phone call away 

[Oldfart9999]

You have the parts list? That'll show you how it goes together. Take pics each step of the way and you'll have a record of it came apart so you can put it together. Call Mike, he knows reels.
Rodney

[Capt. BassinLou]

Yep, that's sound about right with reels. Let's just say there are two of my reels in transit to Mike as we speak. One of them has an additional ziplock bag with "pieces" in it.

My thinking was, "how bad can can it be?" Let's open a reel up, see if I can "fix" the issue myself. Nope! Not only could not fix the issue, I created another!!    Learned my lesson real quick!!   

 

[FlatsNBay]

I learned my lesson long ago. You can't lie to a good reel man like Mike. It's kinda like when the dental hygienist asks when was the last time that you flossed your teeth and you say that you floss all the time, they can tell! When your reel guy asks when was the last time you had your reel cleaned, don't lie and say it was just last year. They can tell too! 

[Donald Garner]

Been there and done that a couple times had parts left over after cleaning a reel.  I used to have several of the old ABU Garcia Round Bait casting reels.  I've since upgraded to the low profile reels due to the arthritis issues.  Those ole reels were easy to take apart and clean no problems.  These new low profile reels are a PITA. 

I can remember the first time I took one apart and man I was really frustrated with it.  After an hour of taking it back apart and looking at the diagram I had enough.  I called the REEL Man > Mike Cork < he squared me away long distance over the speaker phone on reassembling that reel.

If he hadn't been able to square me away that reel was just a short distance from being trashed.  I break my reels down usually once a year during the Winter for a cleaning and lube job.    I've learned to take my time and lay stuff out in sequence.  It makes it easier to reassemble them      

[D.W. Verts]

See, all the things above are what I've preached to others over the years. Keeping parts in order, etc. This isn't supposed to happen to ME.

I did fantasize about Mike's reaction to a box with about forty reels showing up on his doorstep, with a note on each one...

This reel will get put back together soon. It will be right and correct and perfect, with no issues. Oh yes, it will.

Dale

[Wizard]

A simple tip: clean the reels on a table with lip surrounding it. That keeps parts from rolling off the work surface to never be seen again. I have a 2'X 3' rubber surfaced table for maintenance. Back in the day, we used the top from a box of shoes for cleaning reels.

Wizard

[D.W. Verts]

Good tip Mal- I have a small metal baking tray that works. It keeps those "Jesus" clips in line.

Dale

[Donald Garner]

I lay my stuff out on a big white towel.  This way I can see everything and those little springs and screws won't bounce off a big white towel off onto the garage floor 

[D.W. Verts]

I lay my stuff out on a big white towel.  This way I can see everything and those little springs and screws won't bounce off a big white towel off onto the garage floor 

I did that one time Donald. Then my wife's kitten showed up...

Dale

[Oldfart9999]

I lay my stuff out on a big white towel.  This way I can see everything and those little springs and screws won't bounce off a big white towel off onto the garage floor 

I did that one time Donald. Then my wife's kitten showed up...

Dale

Did the cat survive? There used to be a reel man here, LMG, who used to breakdown reels in a gallon zip lock bag.
Rodney

[D.W. Verts]

THAT cat lived Rodney. Some haven't... And I have several old reels in those bags, needing one part or another.

Dale

[Dark3]

Mike, do you still clean reels for folks? If so can you shoot me a message when you get around to it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike Cork]

Not sure how I missed this but yes sir, still cleaning reels.