Center Pin Advice

[76jerry]

My Pin regulary comes into contact with salt water and after having one set of bearings sucumb to the effects of saltwater going to change my bearings to ceramic ones, do these bearings run dry ? Any recomadactions for lubricating Ceramic bearings that come into contact with saltwater ?Think they come lubricated with some form of grease is this likeley to slow my already slow reel down.

 

Cheers

[Dick Dastardly]

Hi mate don't know if this is of any help.

 

Only experience I have of ceramic bearings is in multipliers. BUT I use a pin a lot in saltwater for Mullet. I have found the best way to prevent SW damage is to simply ALWAYS flush the reel out under a cold running tap when you get home.I then (depending on amount of use) re oil every few trips.Every few months I do a complete strip/clean/re lube.

 

I don't use any of my expensive pins for the job (most of these are true pins anyway and don't have bearings) but the Lewtham Engineering Leeds I use has bearings and never had a problem with them in over 30 years.

[Dick Dastardly]

Should have added that with multipliers ceramic bearings are often run "dry" on the Tournement Casting field but for fishing its recommended that they are lubricated

[philocalist]

What sort of centrepin are we talking about? The reason I ask, as much as anything, is that any reel running on a bearing would normally be expected to run on 'forever' after a good flick, yet you describe yours as already being slow?

With respect to replacing the bearing with a ceramic one, be aware that although they evidently run more freely, they can be bloody noisy in the process, and the sound they make can be irritating, rather than pleasant!

[RUDD]

Hi mate don't know if this is of any help.

 

Only experience I have of ceramic bearings is in multipliers. BUT I use a pin a lot in saltwater for Mullet. I have found the best way to prevent SW damage is to simply ALWAYS flush the reel out under a cold running tap when you get home.I then (depending on amount of use) re oil every few trips.Every few months I do a complete strip/clean/re lube.

 

I don't use any of my expensive pins for the job (most of these are true pins anyway and don't have bearings) but the Lewtham Engineering Leeds I use has bearings and never had a problem with them in over 30 years.

 

I Sea fish with multipliers and have never had a problem with the bearings.

I ALWAYS give reels a cold/freshwater flush on returning from the beach and again next day.

I also oil every few trips and strip reels every few months but I now clean bearings in lighter fluid, let them dry on kitchen roll, put them on an old teaspoon, cover with car oil (I like to slow my reels down) and heat spoon with a lighter until small bubbles appear in the oil.

For you pin I would do the same but use some of the yellow variety of this:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROCKET-FUEL-YELLOW-RED-TOURNAMENT-GREASE-4-ABU-MULTIPLIERS-/291005016177

[76jerry]

Cheers for the replys, never had a problem with multiplyers but now have a growing collection of fixed spool reels that have sucumbed to saltwater corrosion the more bearings the quicker it happens even though they are washed under a tap every other trip.I use a cheap Shakespear Lincoln for my Mullet fishing this has been an excellent free running reel but the spool is narrow and I had problems with braid bedding in OK with mono. Bought an Okuma Sheffield because it was lighter an had a wider drum but it is not as free running as my Shakespear an needs more shot to set the spool in motion the Shakespear only needs one small shot while the Okuma needs three, checked the spool weights on a digital scales an the Okuma is lighter by only twenty grams is it likeley to get faster with use ?

 

Think I will use the same oil as I use on my Shakespear as up till now not had a problem with this reel .

[philocalist]

I've no experience of the Lincoln, but have to admit to being very surprised to hear that it is more free-running than the Sheffield that you've just bought! The Okuma is a reel held in extremely high regard by many, many people who use pins - I've one myself - and the slightest nudge will set the spool turning; it will then keep rotating for quite a time with no further encouragement. Give it a decent 'bat', and it will spin 'forever' ... it's the same experience I've had with several of the different Okuma reels. Perhaps if your Sheffield is not behaving in this way, you've bought a problem one? - first thing I would do is compare it (performance wise) side by sie with another Sheffield, and if there is a marked difference, I'd be back looking for an exchange ... it should perform like this even brands new out of the box.

 

Somethimg just occured to me - have you been lubricating the Sheffield? None of my pins go anywhere near salt water, but I've NEVER needed to lubricate any of them (the Okumas) - using the wrong oil (or grease) WILL have a detrimental effect on how easily the reels starts and rotates.

Edited November 7, 2013 by philocalist

[Rusty]

I replaced the bearings on an Okuma Sheffield with ceramic and although it did make a difference in the free running of the reel I wouldn’t say it was a huge difference, I wouldn’t bother doing it again.

 

Bearings are packed with grease which keeps them quiet and lubed but isn’t good for free running. You can take them apart by removing the tiny circlips which hold the grease shields on, wash them out with WD40, lube with 3 in 1 and pop the shields/circlips back on. They’ll be much better but also noisier and will need cleaning/lubing again occasionally.

 

The trick with the Sheffield is not to do up the knurled nut too tightly, it can slow the drum down. Too loose and you risk it falling off into the river (don’t ask how I know) so there is a compromise to be had.

[76jerry]

It won,t be going back I have cut the the Handel ring down to just the bit that carrys the handel and the outer rim it has made it easier to get my fingers in to batt it back and it just looked a bit blingy, personal thing. No I have not touched it, itis straight out of the box but the bearings will be changed for Ceramic ones Max spin time less than thirty seconds with a good bat but does cast well but struggles in really very low flows ( hardly moving ). It is well useable but surprised myself it was not as freerunning as the shakespear but this is most free running Pin I have ever owned reckon must have got lucky with this one

[philocalist]

I replaced the bearings on an Okuma Sheffield with ceramic and although it did make a difference in the free running of the reel I wouldn’t say it was a huge difference, I wouldn’t bother doing it again.

 

Bearings are packed with grease which keeps them quiet and lubed but isn’t good for free running. You can take them apart by removing the tiny circlips which hold the grease shields on, wash them out with WD40, lube with 3 in 1 and pop the shields/circlips back on. They’ll be much better but also noisier and will need cleaning/lubing again occasionally.

 

The trick with the Sheffield is not to do up the knurled nut too tightly, it can slow the drum down. Too loose and you risk it falling off into the river (don’t ask how I know) so there is a compromise to be had.

 

Hmmm... no such problem with my Sheffield - knurled nut is locked up tight, and if I gave the reel a good bat I could probably walk away, make coffee, and come back to find it still moving, even with an empty spool ... loading line just extends the 'flywheel' effect.

 

You've coughed up to actually having done the job of replacing the bearing in yours ... any chance of you doing a simple walk-through of how this is achieved maybe? I'm curious as much as anything else - no intention of doing it at present to any of my reels, but I might be having another 'gifted' that likely will need such work doing on it, so any guidance would be fully appreciated ... hope it IS simple and straight-forward, as I'm the original doofus with at least 3 thumbs on each hand!

Edited November 7, 2013 by philocalist