Hey Simp, You have to go into a little more detail for me (and a few others, I'm sure) with your seret concoction of Vaseline and 3-in-1 oil. What is the ratios of the ingredients, meaning how much of each? Do you just lightly lube the gears with that or do you pretty much pack the whole reel with it like the grease fills the hubs on Bearing Buddies? C'mon dude, don't leave me hanging!!! LOL
Sure! First off, I can't lay claim to the concoction, but it works.
Ingredients: You guessed it! Vaseline and 3-n-1 oil. I take a big scoop of vaseline and put it in a glass or coffee cup and stick it in the microwave for 20 seconds or so. The idea isn't to melt it, but to soften it up just a little so it's easier to stir.
After it's out, squirt in enough 3-n-1 oil to make the vaseline soft'ish. You don't want to put enough in to make it runny, but just enough to soften it up a little more. If I had to guess, I'd say the ratio would be 1 tablespoon vaseline to 15 to 20 drops of oil. Mix it up really good.
After it's mixed up good, simply take a spoon, popsicle stick or something similar and pack it in your reel as much as you can. Cycle the gears and fill any voids you see. Take the side-plate and put as much on the side-plate as you can so you don't have a void there as well. Since my side-plate is concave I simply put some on it, spread it out, and "leveled" it off with a popsicle stick.
I also put some vaseline in the recess that's on the opposite side of the handle (on ambidextrios reels) to fill that void as well. When you put the side-plate back on there should be enough vaseline on it to squish out to ensure that there are no voids.
Also, when putting the side-plate on, there should be some vaseline that is in the screw holes, so when you tighten them down the screws will be sealed as well. I also put some vaseline inside of the cap that goes opposite of the handle. Might as well seal that as well.
Finally, wipe the reel body down and you're set. Give the reel a spin and make sure everything is as it should be. Your reel should run very smooth. It shouldn't feel "sticky".
If you've got it packed good it'll be water tight. I've experienced VERY minimal leakage using this as well. Some vaseline started pushing out where my reel handle screws into the body. It was a VERY small bead, and quite frankly, I fished with it like that for 2 weeks and it never got bigger and I never even hit it with my hand or finger. I don't think I've left anything out but if you have any questions please ask. It works!
