Spinning reel maintence
 

Maintaining a spinning reel is very important. The most important things to take special care of are the drag, and line roller. Most of the time when you are using spinning reels you are using lighter line, and need a smooth reliable drag with a very free spinning line roller. The free spinning line roller reduces friction on the line, and helps keep line twists away. A malfunction of either part could mean a lost fish, or a big mess.

In these photos you see the stock drag. These washers are compressed, and wore out. I have cut, greases, and installed new Carbontex drag washers.
The line roller bearing has been flushed, and now the line roller free spins on its own.
The factory grease is a cream color, and there was too much grease, and it was just globbed in the reel, not an even coat. Also the grease had aged and dried some causing a crust. As you can see the new grease is a light coat, and green in color. It's a good idea to use a grease that will change colors when contaminated so you can see the changes and know when there has been contamination and all the grease needs removed. With spinning reels you want a very lightweight grease, much lighter than casting reels. Too much grease and the reel will be hard to crank, and just feel too stiff. A very light coat goes a long ways.

So very true...I have bought high end spinny cast for far too long. I now buy the Pluger (sp) President and call it good. I buy one or two a year and just toss the older Stratics and Diawia's after I take them apart and save all the disk, nuts and such. I have some older Okumas that function as good as day one, however are not near as smooth as the Plugers.

That thing looks familiar......................:D

Jeremy, is this grease to thick for this reels crappy drag system? If not what should I use?

Here are disks

Good write up Jeremy. I just put in Carbontex drag washers.....just because I didn't want to buy anymore felt....nothing wrong with felt though. As you mentioned the line roller can take a beating. The one I just replaced on my first JDM reel...a Luvias 2004H.....had come apart and was in two pieces. I can only assume because the roller collar and packing...which is basically a rubber seal to keep debris out....was torn due to two years of constant use and I am sure debris had gotten in and caused the bearing to not operate as it should. What brought my attention to it was I had been using NanoFil on it and noticed the line was fraying. I first thought I had a cracked rod guide but on inspection of the guides and finding the guides to be OK I tore the reel down to check it out. That is when I found the roller collar broken. Replaced all parts associated with the roller and all is well. I do not go two years without servicing a reel....as a matter of fact mine are usually done two to three times a year. But I was hesitant to break into the Daiwa reels with MagSeal. Even though the Luvias does not have a MagSeal roller bearing I was still reluctant to open it up. Magseal bearings...gear casings....are designed to go 3-5 years without any maintenance. Of course that is a long time and Daiwa USA at this time will not service the reels anyway. But even with that being the case I will still buy MagSeal reels...just too darn good. But I won't open up anymore reels. My eyes are not that good anymore...many spinning reel parts are tiny....and on the high end Daiwas they have a unique type screw head. So I guess when my reels need some service going to have to contact you.


Regards

I've never torn apart a reel with the MagSeal, and don't know if I want to. Honestly I'm not really a fan of spinning reels in the first place. You might want to leave that MagSeal up to the guys who build them in Japan. I don't know any reel techs in the US who will touch them.

I've never seen a line roller bearing come apart, that must have had some serious use.

It was the roller collar itself that came apart. It was made of two pieces that had been pressed together......at least I think it is that way. The new one I put in came as one piece and hard to tell if it started out as two parts pressed to become one. Anyway I figure that after two years of use....and untold number of fish caught on it.....no servicing at all.....some small debris must have degraded bearing use and there had to be a lot of pressure put on the collar with the braided line going over it. Anyway all is well now. I am sure you know that even with good JDM gear it will not last forever. I have read that reels need servicing minimum once a year......if used 100-150 days a year then twice a year....and if more days then up to four times a year. I thought that sounded a bit much but in talking with a Shimano tech doing reels at Shimano USA told me as much as I fished my reels needed servicing 3-4 times a year. That's a lot of cleaning but if it needs it then I will have to get it done.

Regards

That does sound a little excessive, but you fish more than anyone I know, and UL gear does need more attention than most bass gear.

The 2016 Daiwa Certate is coming out next month. I'm thinking about getting Sarah a couple. She really likes her Stradic CI4+ reels, but I think the Daiwa will be a whole new level of awesomeness.

Plat already has them.....Digitaka is taking preorders and is much cheaper than Plat....plus free shipping. Thinking about pulling the trigger on that one myself. Going to step up to the 2506H. I could spool it with 2# test or get about 100 yards of 6# test for white bass fishing in the tailrace. That was my fault entirely on the line roller. Two years is way too long to go without doing anything to a reel. Was just concerned about opening it up. I must say though it has held up far better than the Stradic FJ after constant fishing two years with each reel. I had the Stradic serviced by Shimano a couple of times....never any parts replaced though......but when I gave up on the reel it was pretty much done. Fishing out of kayak or boat is much better on reels though. Bank fishing really beats up a reel.

Regards

I was hoping to see them pop up on JLS, I have a few reels I'm wanting to order from them anyway, and their prices are usually really good. The Stradic FJ's were pretty good, but the CI 4+ have a much more refined feel, and I'm sure nothing like the mid level $350 Daiwa's.

I bet tailrace fishing is a killer with all the rocks. From everything I've heard Daiwa spinning reels are where it's at. I have a couple Daiwa Fuego reels that I use for white bass and they are doing fine.

Yeah it seems even in Japan Daiwa is the preferred reel. If JLS is Japan Lure Shop, Digitaka can save you a little money. I have bought all my reels from Digitaka and they have the lowest prices I can find plus shipping is free. Does JLS ship free?


Regards

Yeah, Japan Lure Shop. Shipping is not free, usually around $10, and usually get it 4 days after ordering. I'll check out Digitaka

Amazing how Japan mail gets here so quick.

Regards


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It is, order something from a US based company it takes 8-10 business days, order from Japan and gets here in 1/2 the time.