a short service just involves re-lubing the drive gears with fresh grease ,sometimes these reels come to us second hand or just been left on a shelf gathering dust and in need of some TLC ,the old grease may be congealed or set and is making the reel run ruff .we need too clear out the old crud and apply some nice new grease .
first job is too see whats what inside .looking for excessive old grease .and old congealed grease ,a lot of these reels seem too have been greased with horse cart axle grease which over a long period of inactivity and used or stored in a cold or damp climate has a habbit of congealing (thickening up) or drying out cause poor performance .nothing a quick re-grease with a moder multigrade grease (stay good in hot or cold conditions) cant put right
step one : remove side plate
if the old horse cart axle grease has turned tanned (brownish tinted) and gone congealed ,dried out or just packed in there everything coved in the thick gungy browned goo
it'll need scouping our then cleaning to remove all traces of the gunk .use lighter fluid or good degreaser and cotten buds .and what your left with is a nice clean insides too work on
step 2: clean up
using a cotton bud or toothpick etc ,apply the new grease to the main brass gear's teeth just a smidgeon no need too over do it ,do what teeth you can see then turn the handle too expose more teeth .then grease up the little jockey/drive gear then smear a tad on the drive shaft (centre brass rod) and the two slides of the spool carrage .
step 3: applying the grease
step 4: test & finish
give the handle a few turns to distribute the grease evenly ,pop the side plate back on ,and thats all thats needed for a sort service .If you want to go further that will require a full strip down full service .
