So...picked up one of the Ardent Reel Cleaning Kits. I had heard some good things about them, and since it's time to get all my salmon/albacore reels in shape for summer time I thought I'd give one a try.

I usually just go with my old standbys...WD-40, some Shimano Rocket Lube, and some reel grease of some sort or another, a few rags and QTips. The kit comes with all that kind of stuff, and a brush, cleaning cloth, cleaning swabs...even a little reversible standard/phillips screwdriver.





So good so far...that's all stuff I can use.

Here's the oil:



Swab and a spray bottle of the cleaner...the cleaner appears to be some sort of citrusy smelling cleaner, just sprayed it on and let it sit for a few minutes, per the instructions.

Getting one of my Toros apart. As is often the case while I'm taking my reels down and cleaning them I get pretty focused...too focused to remember to take pics of it all apart. Even while being focused I can still manage to put the occasional part in backwards



Spread the reel out all over a clean towel, and went at it...hosed it all down with the Cleaner, and about the time I was done spraying the last parts it was about time to start on the first parts.

Used my favorite cleaning too...old toothbrush. As my toothbrushes get too worn to use on my teeth any more they travel from the bathroom to my work table where they live until the next one comes along.

The kit came with its own but I used mine anyway.



Once all the parts were clean I started putting the reel back together, greasing or oiling the parts as they went back where they belong...oil on all the bearings and rotating shafts on the gears, grease on all the gears wherever they touched another gear, and grease on the worm drive.

Repeated this with the second Toro, and they were back in business.



A note on the Toros:

One of the two Toro 50s had the dreaded "anti-reverse stick"...push the thumb bar down and it won't come back up.

It only happened about once a day, but it was really annoying when it did.

When I had the things all apart I noticed that the sides of the thumb bar and the sides of the reel frame were not sliding smoothly...when I got in there I was surprised at how dirty it was in there.

Cleaned those spots out, easily, and the problem is gone...they snap right back up like they did when they were new.

Next I did my Avet.



Cleaning the inside of the frame after letting the cleaner soak in for a bit...



Applying new grease after cleaning the old out...



Again...greased the gears, oiled the bearings, and put it all back together...



One thing that I didn't get a picture of is the spray bottle of "Corrosion Inhibitor"...never really had any corrosion issues with the Toros, and definitely never have with the Avet, but sprayed some Corrosion Inhibitor on there, anyway, and wiped it away.

I think this will be some good stuff to use on my big Penn halibut reels as they do accumulate a little rust if I'm not OCD about rinsing them off, which I am not

So there they are...all good and good to go...my Avet looks all shiny and good on my new salmon trolling rod, ready to in a couple of weeks!

My Toros are waiting for their new Shimano casting rods to show up, and when they do they will be doing mean things to albacore with swimbaits here very soon!



My final review...pretty good stuff. Without having fished them yet, of course, I can't say anything but good about the kit. The reels are shiny clean, work perfectly well, and feel much nicer and smoother than they did before I started.

If you are looking to get all the parts you need in one box at a reasonable price (I think it was in the $24 range), then it's a pretty good product....recommended!

Fish on...

Todd

Looks like a pretty good kit.
How many reels can one kit do based on what you did?

I did three reels and probably used about 10% of the supplied oil and grease...I used a few of the cleaning swabs and it only came with a handful of them, so I'll be using Q-Tips after the next round of cleaning...

I'll be surprised if I don't get 20 or 25 complete breakdowns and rebuilds out of the supplies before I need more...went farther than I thought it would.

I bought a separate bottle of the reel oil, figuring I'd run out of that first...which is probably true, but it will be quite a while until I do.

Fish on...

Todd

http://www.westmarine.com/fishing-tools/ardent--reel-cleaning-kit--11142007

There it is...$29.99 is what it cost...I didn't buy it online so it may have been a bit cheaper, but either way that's about what it cost.

I figure this will be about a buck a reel...maybe $1.10.

Fish on...

Todd

Its good stuff.

Thanks, ya did a good job.........

Just looked on EBAY......lot's of different prices.....many at $24.99, some with free shipping...

Todd, I certainly wish you luck on the cleaning fixing your "anti-reverse stick" problem. I just tore apart my Toros last week and cleaned them all out. 2 of mine finally had the kick-levers worn beyond repair. While the gunk on the thumb bar can cause some of that problem, the kick lever is usually the true problem. If you have to get them replaced, be aware they are different for right handed and left handed reels. I found them for about $3 for my lefties.

Good to know, AP...the problem has so far been very intermittent, and only on one of my four Revos, so I'm not too worried about it yet, especially considering how long I've had them and how hard they get used.

Fish on...

Todd

Yeah, 2 of my 4 are fine... the 2 that went bad took years of hard abuse to get that way.

Here is a shot of a kick lever going bad (obviously not the same reel). This one can be seen from the side but sometimes you have to actually rotate the reel to look at the "face" of the kick plate. If it is worn, it can look like scratches, gouges, or can even have the whole corner missing, which is what is starting to happen in this pic.

Thanks...if (when ) I need to get some of those...where'd you get yours?

Fish on...

Todd

From a pretty weird (to me at least) source called "e replacement parts" that seems to sell a VERY wide variety of things. Here is the page for the one I needed. I got the "1156750" part number from the schematics.

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/kick-lever-p-1491639.html

Mikesreelrepair.com is another good site (especially for finding schematics) but I had problems trying to place an order with them.

Thanks, AP.

Fish on...

Todd

I use e replacement parts alot at work for parts for all kinds of our hand tools, routers, saws etc. really like their exploded parts diagrams.

The Ardent kit is awesome. I did 12 reels last winter after the steelhead season and still have alittle over half of the supplies left...
I've also been using Froglube (Gun lube) which is a non toxic food based lube that smells of mint. You can eat it. Not only does it smell delicious, but it plain works... I switched over all my gun cleaning needs to it and have started using it on my reels and bows to.

NEVER put wd40 in any reel!!! EVER!

Elaborate...

Mint is for mouthwash. Gun lube should smell like bracken fern! One could eat that too, but only in moderation...

Froglube was a preferred gun lube by some of our troops in the desert.
They were asking for it to be stuffed into the care packages.
Attracts less dirt/sand than the conventional stuff, apparently.

Note:
Although this is a Cliff Claven-esque response, I will not bite as readily as Evo.

wd40 leaves a very nasty stick film/coating on what ever it is sprayed on. trust me when I open a reel that has had wd40 treatment it greatly complicates the cleaning getting rid of the stickiness. If a guy feels he needs to spray something into a reel , Remington Guns makes a spray/oil that is excellent in reels with zero ill effects. It's the spray used to go inside the gun barrel.


between cleaning a saltwater abused reel or a wd40 infected reel. i'd gladly take the saltwater reel.

another tip i'd give anyone buying a reel that 'll be used in saltwater is to breakdown the reel and thoroughly lube the bearings, clickers, and similar parts. trust me on this, manufacturers may claim the reel is saltwater resistant. they do a very pore job in lubing the interior of the reel. for example bearing have ZERO protection on them. There's grease out there that's saltwater resistant. I lube every saltwater reel very well. since saltwater reels are not casted, I feel a thick greased reel is a good thing. never had a complaint yet about my servicing a saltwater reel yet.

Ted's in Lynnwood has the Ardent kit for $24.99. They're sitting on the front display case.