Twinpower 12k GT bashing

A friend checked this Twinpower SW12000 in for a routine maintenance and check up before heading off in search for some bruiser GTs. This reel's survived some monster hauling somewhere in the pacific and will soon be tasked to fight some bruisers somewhere around the Andamans.

The reel's very smooth but a tad rough indicating some needed TLC inside.

First rust bust, crank handle screw. Rust deposits found, Wire brushing and contact clean is all it needs.

Next, some pitting found on the anodized coating surrounding the base of the knob shaft. No rust found on the knob bearings but they are rough and dry. To be queued for ultrasonic bath together with some other dirty parts.

With numerous locked-drag GT bruising previously, the drag's taken a toll and signs of fatigue shows in the form of excessive carbon deposits collected within the drag system. The carbon drags all look well worn, thin and frail. One of the discs looked like it's starting to tear.

Orange, plenty of carbon deposits. Red, base carbon disc's about to tear soon.

Stock drags thickness for this reel are usually within 0.5mm thick with a variance of around 0.05mm. 3 of the 4 discs are a little too thin to last. The base drag (lower right) registers a 0.54mm for a drag's supposedly stock thickness of 0.7mm.

Carbon deposits built up in the spool. Before (left), and after (right) cleaning.

The existing drags would most probably last another short session of GT bashing and would eventually need to be replaced. So a clean up and new lubrication would do for now until the owner gets himself some replacement discs.

The last act before going for a full replacement. New drag grease coats the entire drag system.

Line roller's free spinning on bone dry bearings. Line laying roller shaft screw and retainer screw seems to have some rust deposits too.

Top left, tiny bit of rust on the screw. Top right, rust juice found on the bail wire end cup. Lower left, some nasty bruiser must have did this light binding damage. Lower right, rust all around the bearing and spacer sleeve. Bearings seem to be spinning rough but ok. We'll later see if they are just external damages only.

This reel's been serviced before previously by another provider. Some of the parts were installed (green) wrong side up while some light damages found on the rotor retainer nut (red) as a result of tool slippage. Light damages are ok but if there are burrs that sticks out too far, it needs to be removed in order for the rubber seal to be seated properly as well as the plastic cover to snugly fit over the nut.

Moving further inwards, the one way bearing's gotten some light rust build up on the roller pins (red). Old grease (blue) need to be completely removed to make way for new coat of marine grease.

Rough parts ready to be ultrasonic cleaned. Bottom, round one done, on to the second round.

The pinion gear seems to be well worn with the uniform wear pattern found across the main gear contact patch. Nothing out of the ordinary, no signs of premature wear. Ok to go GT bashing.

As for some of the bearings, they seem to have suffered external rust damages with little roughness found when spinning. They too are ok for GT bashing. Just need new packing of marine grease.

The balls and retainer looks clean and smooth after a general visual and spin inspection. Off it goes contact cleaned and ready for marine grease packing.

The housing's brushed and contact clean in preparation for a new coat of marine grease.

Grease packing in action (top left). Top right, grease loaded bearing in place for line roller shaft. Bottom, marine grease packed system occupying all the space available. No space left for water intrusion.

Upon brushing and contact cleaning the bail arm, just pack some additional grease around the screw and lock system as a redundancy for corrosion prevention.

Another trusty and super reliable Shimano Twinpower that's taken plenty of bruising and yet with very little issues found. Another win for Twinpower against the Stella. Off this goes to some GT bashing in the Andamans.

Conquest Rust Bust

This is a trusty veteran Conquest that's been through countless hours of battle despite it's tiny size. It's been in action non-stop for about a year or more without any issues and it's starting to hint to the owner that it needs to be juiced up asap. It's starting to squeak and rough riding, which usually means way past overdue for a check up.

Having this tiny reel in hand never seize to amaze me at how small this reel truly is. Pictures cannot do justice as to how compact and solidly built this reel is known for. The initial impression build up quickly died with the squeaky crank and overall roughness felt. I suspect we'll have a blast busting some rust while servicing.

This Conquest came with a specific instruction to maintain the mechanical 'light feel' and therefore dictates how this reel would be serviced and tune up. So here goes.

Poster shot before diving in for some rust bustin.

Owner gave it a bit of natural pimpin, wooden knobs to match. New bearings that came with the knobs just need a bit of salt water protection.

Spool support bearing on the centrifugal brake side also showed no signs of rust or roughness. A clean up and light oil application is sufficient.

First rust bust, mechanical brake side knob and bearing doesn't look so good. Rust seem to have chewed the bearing up good. Some deep pitting found on the crank case (bottom left, red pointer) and rust particles found all over the crank case (bottom right, orange pointer)

Rust seem to have covered the spool shaft with some light damage. Some rust removal solution rubbed in, followed by polishing and buffing to fully remove any traces of rust. Luckily, there are no major pitting on the shaft.

Seized bearing covered in rust. Needs some elbow grease scrubbing and a few rounds of ultrasonic cleaning to see if the bearing can be revived. (Right) Mechanical brake knob internal was a straight forward brush down and bearing nicely brushed, un-jammed and ready to be dunked into ultrasonic bath.

The drags were also well worn with plenty of debris on the entire crank case mixed in with rust particles. (Red pointers) Pinion support bearing seem to have sustained some rust damage and lightly fused with the pinion shaft. The bearing seem to be spinning a bit rough but fine, possibly light damages internally. Pinion shaft just needs a nice scrub down and also ultrasonic cleaning to remove tough bits.

The pinion support bearing shields are removable thus visual inspection of the inner balls for rust is possible. Light rust found mostly around the inner races. Balls are rolling fine, just dirty inside. Nothing major.

Main shaft support bearing's also rusted up real good. More elbow grease scrubbing needed. Looks nasty but infact, the bearing's still spinning smooth. Most likely damages are on the surface of the metal bracket.

Another rust bust here on the worm gear support bearing. Rust particles tarnished the plastic drive gears, easily cleaned. Bearing seized but a few turns after rust removal shows no major damages.

2 rounds of ultrasonic bath needed for this. All parts flipped about for the second round of cleaning.

Initial impression out of the ultrasonic bath looks promising for all the rusted bearings. Light lube test on all bearings indicated that all bearings are fit for battle except for the free spool support bearing on the mechanical brake side has some permanent damage resulting in some serious roughness and occasional seizure.

Before and after elbow grease scrubbing and ultrasonic cleaning. This bearing passed the fitness test, survived to fight another day. Light grease coated for that 'light feel' instruction.

As for the pinion shaft, close up inspection of the rust infested part didn't reveal any permanent damage to the shaft. Fit for battle once again.

No damages or premature wear on the gear teeth surfaces. Built to take some serious beating.

With the 'light feel' instruction in mind, only a few bearings can be packed with marine grease for maximum protection against rust. Some others need lighter grease in order to maintain that 'light feel'.

Fully exposed worm gear needs thorough grease coating as well as the pawl compartment nicely packed in.

Light grease needed for the spool's inner support bearing. No heavy stuff here for that 'light feel'.

Above as before, bottom shows after thoroughly cleaned drag system. Main gear looks tattered but they are merely cosmetic stains and not a deal breaker. Drag discs are made durable for light drag, not all out stopping power like carbon fibre discs. Upon cleaning, they are back at their best with smooth and firm stopping power.

All surfaces brushed, degreased and contact cleaned in preparation for a new coat of marine grease. One way bearing's perfectly fine too without a hint of rust. Some pitting found around the free spool support bearing compartment.

All surfaces coated with marine grease for protection. Pinion support bearing's packed with marine grease which doesn't affect the 'light feel'. Main shaft support bearing with light grease to maintain 'light feel'.

Drag system layered in with light drag grease. Gears lightly coated with Shimano's heavy grease for that signature creamy smooth and light feel.

Mechanical brake side spool support bearing took a while to arrive as it was a unique size to this 50 size bait caster. Mechanical light feel was achieved with a few quick cranks to spread out all the grease coating on all mechanical parts.

Plenty of rust bust and yet survived to fight more battles with the exception of one unfit bearing that needs to be replaced. It is now fully restored to its full glory and would keep up with the solidly build feel in hand and creamy smooth mechanical feel that it's well known for.

Another Ryoga bites the rust

The Daiwa Ryoga is a very popular reel among anglers here as it's built tough and versatile. Claimed to be salt-water friendly, true to a certain extent but some parts of this reel cannot live up to its specifications claim. I'm sure if given proper care and maintenance, it'll live up close to its intended potential.

This Ryoga is in for a long over-due check-up and service. The owner also wanted to give it a little bit of new life in the form of new RCS knobs. Owner complains that the reel is very rough and lost all its original creamy smooth feel.

One crank of the reel and you are immediately greeted with metal-to-metal rubbing roughness. Even the knobs produces squeaking noise when spinning. Time to strip this BC down for a thorough service.

Rough Ryoga selfie with new RCS rubber coated cork knobs.

Without a doubt, there will be back play on the handle especially when the reel's long over-due for a  check-up. Grease or oil usually gets into the one-way bearings creating slippage. Video below as proof.



As for the squeaky knob, the culprit was quickly discovered. Rust. Serious rust damage resulting in powdered bearings. The inner races of the bearing was somewhat fused onto the knob shaft making it very difficult to remove the knobs and bearings. Plenty of rust remover and prying needed to get the bearing and knob out.

Powdered knob bearings (top) where you can't tell between the shaft or bearings. Bottom row shows rust corrosion and pitting. This calls for some serious rust removal rubbing and also machine polishing to remove permanent pitting.

Oil seem to have spread all over the magforce brake system (top). Free spool support bearings are in good condition but a tad dry and rough (bottom).

Internal gear looks ok. One-way bearing's all rusty and gunked up.

Looks nasty but a quick contact clean up shows that they are just surface rust grime. Upon cleaning, there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage on the roller shaft or bearing pins.

Top right, pinion support bearing's all jammed up with rust. Bottom, as usual, rubber sealed but can't seem to stop water intrusion as intended. Water and grease all over the drag system.

One of the free spool support bearing's got some rust on the retainer cage. Not sure if there are any permanent damage on the bearing balls or races. This will need some revival procedure using rust removal and also ultrasonic cleaning.

All the parts awaiting for an ultrasonic bath.

Some parts do really well after ultrasonic bath and some just need a bit more of the good-ol scrubbing.

Since this reel will be heavily used for salty bashing, the best option would be to pack bearings with marine grease for maximum protection. Free spool support bearing only needs light oil.

Crank case scrubbed down and contact cleaned in preparation for new protective coating (left). Protective marine grease coating on all internal surfaces for maximum protection (right)

Light oil on the insides and marine grease coating outside for free spool support bearing (top, left). Generous amounts of marine grease rubbed all over everything that moves (top right and bottom)

Drag stack lightly coated with drag grease during installation. Gears coated with Daiwa's own sticky salt water grease for creamy smooth cranks.

Externally brushed to remove grime (top). New knob bearings fully loaded with marine grease for maximum protection from salt water bashing.

When the one-way bearing's properly clean and lubed with one-way bearing oil, you get smoothness in cranks and firm stopping power without back plays. Grease or other light oil will create slippage but not one-way bearing oil. Video proof below.

Revived and slightly pimped. Creamy smooth crank is back with maximum protection.

No more squeaking, no more rough riding. This Ryoga is back at its best with Daiwa's signature creamy smooth cranks. Ready to take on some serious salty bashing once again.