TackleTour

H8R wrote:

phatbass wrote:

H8R wrote:But why would you want to ? 321 is ready from the get go!

tsi301 is not as thick as the 321.and supposed to better of the two.

But not as versatile. I like to keep it simple.

its just a matter of letting the bearings dry first,not a big deal,and the performance is better.

I would be cautious in using the 301 in all bearings because some SS ball bearings have a plastic cage rather than a steel cage inside the bearing behind the shields where you can't see it.

I just had to replace some spool bearings inside a reel because the plastic cage was in pieces completely hidden from view by the shields. IMO the plastic cage is basically junk anyways and does not hold up well over time and is not as durable as metal.

The only way you can tell if your bearing(s) has a plastic cage or SS cage is to remove at least one shield.

I remove both shields from most of my spool bearings anyways- especially after upgrading them, but some reels I keep the stock SS bearings in them and just remove shields. If I find a bearing with a plastic cage I will replace it with one that is not.

I'm not saying plastic won't work. Many reels have worked fine with them for years. I just don't like them because of experience with failures that I don't find with metal cages- and this is without the addition of solvents that could speed up the plastic destruction process.

Here is an example of both plastic and metal cages:

I forgot to mention that if you wanted to use the solvent based 301 in a bearing that has a plastic cage, you can always put the 301 in a small container first and let it sit out until the solvent has evaporated and then transfer it to the bearing without harm.

The solvent in TSI 301 evaporates in about 60 seconds, leaving the 321.