worth it?

[Nitroman77]

well I need some opinions on this now...

Just got a stock chronarch D5....casting abilities are great....should I upgrade to boca orange seals? Ive got $500 burning a hole in my wallet and $30 wont hurt....do I need to buy some lube too? Oust or hot sauce?

Only way to find out is to get ya self a pair and find out..
Im a big fan of the orange seals as They are in almost every reel..
ZPIs are in some others..

[lpquick]

I just finished upgrading my Calais 201A with smooth drag carbontex drag washers and abec7's for the spool. According to smooth drag the bearing are pre-oiled so I just popped them in. I haven't had time to check it out on the water, but it's free spooling almost twice as long as the stock bearings. Anyone know the difference between the Abec7 from smooth drag versus the orange seals from boca?

[Shimano-Or-Nothing]

I always clean them first, just to be sure there's no debris..
Then put a small drop of oil in each. Spin em a little to distribute the oil and you're good to go.

Is the oil that comes stock in Shimano reels cool or do I need to get something else?

[ecu daniel 14]

from Matt at big green reel service...

"I will tell you what I know about oil after a decade of servicing reels. Two things must be considered. The first thing is the amount of oil you put in your bearings. A single drop is all that you need on spool bearings. Any more and it will leave the bearing in a hurry and get in your reel. Any less and you will lose the benefits from lubrication because there will be voids that attract air and dirt. The other thing is operating viscosity. All oil is great when it is sitting in the bottle, but what happens after 30 minutes of casting is what really determines an oils performance. I have three recommendations but not necessarily in their order of preference. #1 is Yellow Rocket Fuel because it has excellent corrosion protection and a good operating viscosity. This is what I use in my spool bearings because I do not want to add oil every trip, which decreases the amount I have to service them. #2 is ReelX, this has some of the same properties as YRF but it repels water better and overtime stays put better. I use this on every non-spool bearing and on my levelwind. #3 is Oust. Oust is much much thinner than YRF and ReelX and will require more attention more often. I would say every 2 trips to be safe. I use this stuff on my crankbait reel because it has Rocket Bearings in it. Ceramic is so much more resistant to wear than stainless and they will let you know when they want to be oiled (noise). I would confidently say that Oust's operating viscosity is a third of YRF. Once it thins it will run and leave the bearing. So you have two choices. YRF which will stay put and reduce re-oils or Oust which will guarantee the best operating conditions but for a decreased amount of time. I will say that Oust's straight carbon chain composition reduces gumming if it happens to make contact with your grease as long as the grease is Synthetic."

[lpquick]

IMHO it's cool unless you are a super tuner, many options exist like rocket fuel in yellow or red or even tournament formula, or for the best lube and protection qualities I like ReelX. I know some like Quantum Hot Sauce. If you ask Shimano they only recommend their oil as being safe to use.

[ecu daniel 14]

If you are just going to lube your stock Shimano bearings, i'd probably recommend using the lube that came with the reel since Shimano does recommend using it....if you are using any upgraded bearings you can use whatever you want....

[Shimano-Or-Nothing]

I'm not a super tuner by any means. I'm happy with the distance my E5 is getting with stock bearings. I just wanted to see how much of a difference changing out the stock bearings makes for myself. Thanks for the info.

[Shimano-Or-Nothing]

Got my new bearings today. It took 10 mins or less to install em. I put my E5 back on my Shimano CUC70H and took it out back for a little test run. Definitely had a smoother feel to it, I was launching 3/8 and 1/2 oz casting plugs. What impressed me most was how much smoother casting the 1/4 oz plug is. Ready to get it out on the water to put it to the real test!

[lpquick]

Good to hear - another convert to the dark side.

[georgeweeber]

I have upgraded all my e7s and one of my D7s. My other two D7s are next. The upgrade is well worth the money.