# Shimano



## Rojo Runner (Mar 21, 2006)

I know this is probably like beating a dead horse, but Shimano needs to step up their game for inshore baitcast reels. I purchased a Core 50 earlier this year and started fishing with it in February. Now, at the beginning of November it has already eaten itself away to the point I cannot fish with it any longer. The corrosion is primarily at the entrance point of the thumbar bar on each side plate. I would hear grinding and think I some how got sand in the reel until I realized it was the reel frame grains getting into the gears. The reel is listed on shimano.com as "approved for use in Saltwater" which is very misleading.

I have sent it back to Shimano and they are going to evaluate the reel and let me know what they can do, so no complaints thus far on the customer service side of the company. But, I took really good care of this reel since it was $350 plus tax. Wipped it down with a warm damp rag and cleaned between the lines with a Q-Tip after every trip and this still happened. I have gold chronarchs that are 10+ years old and work 10x better than this reel did after 8 months. 

I bought the new Ci4 - hoping for better results.


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## colbyntx (Jul 18, 2013)

Been using my Ci4+ for 4 months now. So far, so good!


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

You can't expect any reel that is used in saltwater to last if all you do is wipe it down. Are you kidding me? I have about 15 Shimanos and all of them have been used in saltwater and none of them are corroded... You know why? Because every few trips I take them apart and clean/lube the inside too! 
Take a boat motor for instance, would you run one in saltwater for a year without doing more than wiping the outside down? If you do, expect it to start corroding well before the year is up.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Bantam1 (Jun 26, 2007)

Any reel is susceptible to corrosion if not properly cared for. The salt will cause issues in the reels. Any of the newer reels have tighter tolerances and require more maintenance than just wiping it down. That works for the Pacific and Atlantic customers, not so much in the Gulf. The materials we use are still the same and the basic design has not changed. Aluminum can and will corrode. Reels are not waterproof. 

To reduce corrosion we have to eliminate bearings and use composites. Do you want a reel that doesn't cast well? Composites are finally worked out, but steel will corrode. "Ceramic" bearings still use steel races. Gears are made from brass, aluminum or stainless. All of which will not last forever in that environment.


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## Sisco Kid (Mar 19, 2008)

Ive got a Core 50Mg7, its 2yrs old and bought it used so no telling how long the other guy had it.
I replaced the bearings by choice my cleaning duties consists of a rince down and wipe down, I always cut the leader off and take the spool out to air dry and wipe the inside out with a Qtip. Really not alot of work but I believe it has helped out in the long run.
Keep it simple and a yearly run through will go a long WAY.

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## gman1772 (Jul 15, 2012)

Shimano is a gear company that sells fishing reels. Abu Garcia is a fishing reel company that sells fishing reels. I went 100% Abu Garcia on bait casters 2 years ago. They cast further out of the box and don't fall apart after use.


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## Zimbass (Oct 3, 2012)

gman1772 said:


> Shimano is a gear company that sells fishing reels. Abu Garcia is a fishing reel company that sells fishing reels. I went 100% Abu Garcia on bait casters 2 years ago. They cast further out of the box and don't fall apart after use.


To each their own.

I think that ABU used to make really good stuff, but now only their round baitcasters made in Sweden are well made.

Shimano do make gears, but, IMHO, also make the finest reels in the world. But that is only my opinion that is probably shared by more fishermen worldwide than all other reels put together


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## Rojo Runner (Mar 21, 2006)

@smackdaddy53 - no I'm not kidding you. I minimally break mine down every couple of trips, but that is not where the corrosion happened, it was at the exterior entry point to the thumbar bar on each sideplate. So no matter if I took it apart after every cast or every 10th trip, it was going to happen. And your comparison to rinsing an outboard is just not accurate. Water is pulled INTO the engine and used for cooling purposes. Theoretically, unless you drop your reel into the water, there should not be any water getting to the inside parts of a reel.

And my point was that I have other Chronarchs, Curados, Calcuttas, etc. that I have fished with for many years and care for them the same way I did the Core, but have not had any corrosion issues with any of them.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

Rojo Runner said:


> @smackdaddy53 - no I'm not kidding you. I minimally break mine down every couple of trips, but that is not where the corrosion happened, it was at the exterior entry point to the thumbar bar on each sideplate. So no matter if I took it apart after every cast or every 10th trip, it was going to happen. And your comparison to rinsing an outboard is just not accurate. Water is pulled INTO the engine and used for cooling purposes. Theoretically, unless you drop your reel into the water, there should not be any water getting to the inside parts of a reel.
> 
> And my point was that I have other Chronarchs, Curados, Calcuttas, etc. that I have fished with for many years and care for them the same way I did the Core, but have not had any corrosion issues with any of them.


Magnesium!
This is why I have 14 Shimanos and narrowed my go-to baitcasters down to two Ch100D7's. Same as the Core 100mg7 but aluminum instead of magnesium. It sacrifices a little weight increase for less corrosion problems. 
Like I stated, any time you reel in line, saltwater is coming onto the spool soaked in saltwater and gets in the crack between the spool and frame, then you cast and saltwater is slinging off the spool and some gets in the reel no matter who you are! If you cast lures all day like I usually do that means more and more saltwater intrusion IN the reel. As Bantam1 stated, reels are not waterproof (unless it is a $900 Van Staal) so they need to be cleaned inside and out. 
The thumb bar corrosion is common in the CoreMg, ask any reel cleaner how many they see. Some have to rebuild the frame/side plate with epoxy because the inside has eaten through to the outside. 
Dissimilar metals do all kinds of crazy things as far as corroding, I dealt with it for 7 years in the aluminum hurricane shutter industry. 
I wonder how TefGel would work to slow down corrosion in a reel?

http://www.fishingscout.com/scouts/SmackDaddy


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## Stumpgrinder (Feb 18, 2006)

Shimano pizzes me off plenty when they get me hooked on a reel then make it go away but.... they make good stuff make no mistake.

I tell folks all the time , if you don't do maintenance , don't buy anybodys high end reel. The tolerances are too tight and these reels demand an owner that will go the extra mile from a maintenance perspective . If you wont clean them , they are all junk pretty quick in the salt


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## alldaylong (Mar 6, 2011)

Anything not maintained will fail!!! It's just part of life, be it a reel, boat, car, firearm etc... That being said you can't look past every now and then a factory defect. I don't care how well a reel is built if you cast and retrieve, water will make its way into it and no matter how careful you clean it or how many times you clean, sometimes moisture stays there. Fortunately, I haven't had this type of misfortune with any of my reels. I hope Shimano can help with the problem your having. IMO, Shimano still rules when it comes to fishing reels, in design, style, durability and performance and believe me I've own a lot of reels from a lot of different manufacturers in my 50 years of fishing.


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