I need to replace the ball bearings in a bait casting reel. What’s the good and bad with replacing with ceramic ball bearings?
I see replacements ceramics offered as full ceramic (both races and balls are ceramic) or hybrid bearings (SS races with ceramic balls). Is one style a better choice over the other?
Anyone have any experience with these bearings? good or bad?
Thanks.
That’s a good question that I’m curious about the answer regarding fishing reels.
Where I work we use ceramic bearings in applications with extreme temperatures. Hot or cold. Thermal expansion is much less with ceramic. They are also non-corrosive and super light weight in comparison to steel or stainless steel. The downside is that they are much less tolerant to contamination in the bearings so they need to be kept clean.
Ceramic bearings tend to be manufactured to higher tolerances,they are able to handle much higher RPM, and spin more freely and require less lubrication. The downside is as Biggill stated, not very dirt tolerant. Ceramic races tend to be fragile as well. I would stick to ceramic balls with stainless steel races with metal shields to keep out the dirt. I used to run these in nitro powered RC buggies and the RPMs of the engine would increase significantly just by swapping steel bearings to ceramic.
Personally, I haven’t seen much of a difference in ceramic hybrids vs stainless steel upgrades other than the sounds on the cast. The ceramics are a little higher pitched. I do believe one benefits greatly from a spool bearing upgrade if they do a lot of casting, but the stainless seem to do the trick for fine at half the cost. You’ll be looking at 30-50′ longer casts on average with less effort, and less effort means more accuracy.
There’s one exception in my experience. The new Shimano Curado K spool bearings are much higher quality than previous versions and do not require an upgrade, just a good cleaning right out of the box, then they perform just like the $15-30 upgrades.
I have about 15 sets of these bearings from HP Reel Bearings. I also have a set of Boca Orange Seals from Tackle Warehouse that I often forget which reel they’re in because they work the same as the $15 stainless HPs.
https://www.hpreelbearings.com/default.asp
https://www.hpreelbearings.com/searchresults.asp?cat=1814
https://www.hpreelbearings.com/searchresults.asp?cat=1817
The biggest issue with bearings is a good thorough cleaning with acetone once or more a season. I use a glass bottle and shake/swirl the heck out of the bearings and continue replacing the acetone until the fluid is clear with no suspended bits of oil/grease. Some people use an ultrasonic cleaner or leave the business end of a electric toothbrush in the acetone overnight to agitate the fluid and shake the gunk out. You should also be doing this on brand new reel bearings because they’ll often pack grease into a places that requires light oil. It’s surprising how much better a reel feels in general after some of the factory grease is removed.
Then use just about the lightest oil you can find, and use only one large drop or two little ones. Shimano oil works well, but my preference is TSI 321 with a needle oiler from eBay. It’ll last a lifetime.
Personally, I haven’t seen much of a difference in ceramic hybrids vs stainless steel upgrades other than the sounds on the cast. The ceramics are a little higher pitched. I do believe one benefits greatly from a spool bearing upgrade if they do a lot of casting, but the stainless seem to do the trick for fine at half the cost.
The reel I’m dealing with is an ABU Garcia Revo Toro NaCl 60-HS that is used all day to cast Muskie baits.
I certainly hope new bearing will change to sound of this reel because right now it sounds horrendous. The “retrieve” is smooth and normal. The “cast” is fine in function, but very noisy. Sounds like a dry and loose wheel bearing on a trailer. I’ve torn the reel apart a couple times. The bearing seem smooth but have some play. (very very little but I’d expect almost zero side play in a bearing such as these)
As far as cost, OEM three bearing set for this reel run $76.00 plus tax and shipping. I can actually purchase after market ceramics for less money.
I can actually purchase after market ceramics for less money.
That could be a red flag. It would suggest that the aftermarket bearings are possibly lower quality.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Huntindave wrote:</div>
I can actually purchase after market ceramics for less money.That could be a red flag. It would suggest that the aftermarket bearings are possibly lower quality.
ABU does not offer ceramic bearings so all ceramics would be aftermarket. In researching ceramic offerings, I’m not seeing much price difference between different suppliers.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bass Thumb wrote:</div>
Personally, I haven’t seen much of a difference in ceramic hybrids vs stainless steel upgrades other than the sounds on the cast. The ceramics are a little higher pitched. I do believe one benefits greatly from a spool bearing upgrade if they do a lot of casting, but the stainless seem to do the trick for fine at half the cost.The reel I’m dealing with is an ABU Garcia Revo Toro NaCl 60-HS that is used all day to cast Muskie baits.
I certainly hope new bearing will change to sound of this reel because right now it sounds horrendous. The “retrieve” is smooth and normal. The “cast” is fine in function, but very noisy. Sounds like a dry and loose wheel bearing on a trailer. I’ve torn the reel apart a couple times. The bearing seem smooth but have some play. (very very little but I’d expect almost zero side play in a bearing such as these)
As far as cost, OEM three bearing set for this reel run $76.00 plus tax and shipping. I can actually purchase after market ceramics for less money.
Maybe that’s just how the reel sounds. I just bought my first muskie rod, and I’m scoping online flea markets for a reel. I’ve done a few trips with various mid-to-high-end Shimano and Abu reels, and they all sounded a bit different from one another. One thing they had in common was that they all sounded way louder and rougher than what I was used to with bass reels.
Can’t hurt to try. Worse comes to worse you can try the bearing and if you don’t like them, sell them for 50-75% what you paid for them on here or Facebook or one of the online muskie sites.
Can’t hurt to try. Worse comes to worse you can try the bearing and if you don’t like them, sell them for 50-75% what you paid for them on here or Facebook or one of the online muskie sites.
Right, wrong or otherwise, I ordered some hybrid bearings off from a supplier on E-bay. Going to order a tool to remove the axel pin. I’m a retired machinist and I think I have what I could use to get the pin removed and reinstalled,,,,,,,,, However, I also recognize that having the proper tool is usually the best. 
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