# E7 curado dunked in saltwater



## peelin' drag (Oct 21, 2005)

My question is this. As a precaution, should I tear it down completely or is one dunking going to hurt it? Are they sealed good enough for water not to get in? It continued to perform good the rest of the trip. I always rinse and spray them down wih Reel Magic.


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## flatsmaster14 (Mar 25, 2011)

I would heat some water up and soak the reel, after it dries oil it


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## younggun55 (Jun 18, 2009)

Don't soak it in water, it worked good on older reels that were heavily greased, but it will break down the oils that are on the bearings you can't reach with a simple oiling without breaking the reel down, and have no protection for future trips. I would just rinse it off pop out the bearings you can get to wash them and put a drop of oil on them, and hope for the best.


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## flatsmaster14 (Mar 25, 2011)

You can get to all the bearings without totally breaking it down, I soak mine once a month and all 6 curados are still going strong


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## mbj358 (May 13, 2005)

I have a Curado 200 that has been dunked 20 + times since being cleaned and lubed. I soak it in warm water and then oil what I can see. It is still going strong.


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## Bantam1 (Jun 26, 2007)

Its best to tear it down and clean the reel. Grease and oil what needs it. This way you know you will not have a corrosion issue later. There are some tight spots that salt can get stuck.


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## peelin' drag (Oct 21, 2005)

Thanks folks.:cheers:


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## mas360 (Nov 21, 2006)

Bantam1 said:


> Its best to tear it down and clean the reel. Grease and oil what needs it. This way you know you will not have a corrosion issue later. There are some tight spots that salt can get stuck.


Tear it down means open the side plate only and clean/oil what you can see/reach?

or does it mean to disassemble all components? this would be scary to put them back together...!


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## rjc1982 (Sep 27, 2005)

I'd tear it down completely to clean and relube it.


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## Pro Reel (Jan 3, 2010)

You would not need to remove the clutch and springs, but you need to get to the pinion bearing under the yoke posts. Remove the handle and drag components. lay them out in order and take notes. Open the brake side and remove the spool, then remove the slotted head crossbar at the front. Now remove the side cover screws and lift the cover off. The AR sleev may stay in the cover or on the crank shaft. Pull that out and wash the ar clutch / needle bearings with soap and water. dry with compressed air. Then lift the main gear stack off, you may need to pry up the top plate first and then spin the main gear off while holding the crank, it can be tight. Remove the ratchet gear under that and again, lay everything in order and take notes about where they go and what direction they face. Remove the 2 screws at the base of the crank shaft and remove the crank shaft. You will probably need to pop the E clip off the bottom and take that all apart to clean that bearing. It's not hard to do. Hold the parts in a clear plastic bag while you pop the clip off and that way you won't lose the clip. lay every part out in order and take notes and pictures. Remove the front cover screw and cover, then inspect the worm gear line guide parts. Take the pawl cap off, remove the pawl, then pop the E clip off the end of the worm shaft with small screwdriver and slide it out. Wash that up and put it back together, oil it good. Now, carefully remove the 2 screws that hold the yoke post plate, the 2 silver posts on a ring. Hold the clutch and ratchet lever down while doing this and that will stay in place. Lift off the posts and then pull the pinion bearing out with a pick or bent wire. Put the post ring back and snug up the screws to keep the clutch and spring from poping off while working on the rest. Clean that pinion bearing, force a thick reel oil back into after clean and dry or press grease into it with a bearing greaser. Clean and grease the frame, put some fresh oil around the clutch and when you put the pinion bearing back, put oil around the inside of clutch there, it will get under it and be fine. Pull the spool bearings from both side covers, clean and oil them, put the reel back together and it will be fine. Pull the knobs off the handle and re grease there also. The sloted handle screws / nuts are reverse thread. All this may seem very dificult, but it's not that hard and if you can't do it, you should send it to someone that can. I get reels all the time that got dunked and were not cleaned up. By the time they get to me, they ussually need every bearing replaced and also the AR clutch. On some reels, that will cost more than the reel is worth.


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## Pro Reel (Jan 3, 2010)

I know this isn't a curado, it's president spinning reel, but it also took a quick dunk in saltwater a few weeks ago. The owner tried to do the clean up himself, but could not figure out how to take it apart. he sent it to me this week. I just sent him an email that he won't be happy about. That quick 5 second dunk that most think doesn't hurt anything ruined over $100 worth of parts. His reel needs 5 new bearings, a new AR clutch plus sleeve, new pinion and main gear, and posibly the AR cam shaft and spring if I can get CLR to clean that up. factory parts for this would be about $150 bucks, I'm a boca dealer so I can get the bearings from them cheaper than Pfluger bearing prices, but the total cost with labor is still going to exceed the value of the reel, so we will see what he decides. Anyway, clean those dunked reels the same day they get dunked.


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## Lexy1 (Jul 12, 2012)

I agree with Pro Reel to certain degree.
But, Pflueger President is a freshwater reel.
The owner made a big mistake dunked it in saltwater (this is why the parts got eaten up by salt so quick).
It's not even made for saltwater fishing.
The same pictures/affects go with my friend's Lews reel.
He dunked his brand new Lews reel why wading in the first trip. He went home and just did the regular cleaning on the outside. In his next trip (about a month later), the reel works like an old lady. When he went home and opened it out, he saw similar problems.


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## Pro Reel (Jan 3, 2010)

Lexy1 said:


> I agree with Pro Reel to certain degree.
> But, Pflueger President is a freshwater reel.
> The owner made a big mistake dunked it in saltwater (this is why the parts got eaten up by salt so quick).
> It's not even made for saltwater fishing.
> ...


Curado E7 is a freshwater reel also. It doesn't have any seals or gaskets to keep water out, it doesn't have corrosion resistant bearings. Odds are, that the parts in it will look similar to these parts.


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## Dipsay (Apr 28, 2006)

Pro Reel said:


> Curado E7 is a freshwater reel also. It doesn't have any seals or gaskets to keep water out, it doesn't have corrosion resistant bearings. Odds are, that the parts in it will look similar to these parts.


Beg to differ Pro Reel, but The E7 is rated for saltwater.. Heck the Caenan is rated for saltwater. Just because the bearings arent ARB bearings doesnt mean it's not rated..
Either way I think the take away here is that if a reel gets dunked it needs to be torn down when you get home. A general cleaning wont do and then sit up for a month and expect it to perform.
On a side note; I was gigging last week with a buddy of mine and we were walking the flats in about a foot or so water. My buddy looks down and to his amazement see's a Symetre 4000FJ just sitting on the bottom. No pole, just the reel. I was like "Dude, thats the best find of the night!" I took it home and set it in fresh water for a couple of days before I could get to it. Did a complete teardown right down to dissasembling the anti reverse bearing and cleaning each and every spring and roller. Put her back together and relubed.. Smooth as a baby's butt with out having to change out a single bearing. They were gritty at first, but after running them through repeated cycles of CLR and acetone, they came out just fine...Dip


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## Pro Reel (Jan 3, 2010)

Dipsay, In my opinion, there is a big difference between a reel being rated for saltwater, and actually being suitable for saltwater. I have a lot of respect for Shimano reels and the Shimano company. However, I think they may just be a bit liberal with rating a reel as suitable for saltwater use, if that rating is making folks think that thier reel will not get corroded from saltwater use. The President reel I showed, is built from the same type of materials as the Curado. They will both corrode if they get saltwater in them and it's not cleaned right away. On a side note, the reel you found was probably being somewhat protected from being under water, where it was not exposed to oxygen. If you put in freshwater right away, it actually had very little time to corrode. Maybe thats a good point. Here is a question to ponder then, would it be a good idea to fill a bucket with water and just leave reels submersed in water until you get them home if they have been dunked? It takes oxygen for the corrosion process to realy get going.


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## TroutOut (Dec 18, 2007)

Years ago I had a Garcia Cardinal Spinning reel that I took to the surf. The next day! you could not trun the handle it was so froze up.


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## stdreb27 (Aug 15, 2011)

Tear it down, the curado's main gear likes surface rust IMO. Plus as said earlier salt can get places and build up. It really isn't that hard to do. Just takes some organization on your end and there are tons of curado tear downs on the interwebs


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## mas360 (Nov 21, 2006)

I just learned this lesson first hand. 
Last Sat my 12 years old nephew's reel and rod went into saltwater for a good ten minutes. It was an inexpensive Mitchell spinning reel with 4 ball bearings. He called me yesterday and said he could not even crank it even though he washed it with a garden hose when he took it home. That was barely 48 hours ago.

Last night I spent a good two hours breaking it down to every little part to clean and lube it with silicone spray. There were a lot of dirt/mud in the bearings and gears. I used a can of silicone lube to flush out all the contaminants. Next I lightly lubed them with Mobil 1 5-30W synthetic oil. Now, it spins like new. 

Next time I will leave a saltwater contaminated reel submerged in freshwater for a few days and see if that would fix the problem. I think it may work if the reel did not sit on muddy ocean floor and got contaminated with mud. Freshwater may dissolve salt and prevent heavy corrosion but it would not be able to dislodge mud out of bearings, which would require a thorough break down and clean job.


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## trout250 (Aug 24, 2005)

yrs ago beforre shimano we would take our reels off the rods and put them in the drink cooler on the way home, then tear them down and give them a throuh cleaning. Now if i get one of my reels submerged i do the same thing, i toss it in the cooler with the drinks or put it in a bucket of fresh water, and when i get back to the house i do a complete tear down and cleaning. These newer reels just want take a submerging and just a rinise off to keep them operating as they should.


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## saltshaker1 (Feb 15, 2008)

Pro Reel said:


> You would not need to remove the clutch and springs, but you need to get to the pinion bearing under the yoke posts. Remove the handle and drag components. lay them out in order and take notes. Open the brake side and remove the spool, then remove the slotted head crossbar at the front. Now remove the side cover screws and lift the cover off. The AR sleev may stay in the cover or on the crank shaft. Pull that out and wash the ar clutch / needle bearings with soap and water. dry with compressed air. Then lift the main gear stack off, you may need to pry up the top plate first and then spin the main gear off while holding the crank, it can be tight. Remove the ratchet gear under that and again, lay everything in order and take notes about where they go and what direction they face. Remove the 2 screws at the base of the crank shaft and remove the crank shaft. You will probably need to pop the E clip off the bottom and take that all apart to clean that bearing. It's not hard to do. Hold the parts in a clear plastic bag while you pop the clip off and that way you won't lose the clip. lay every part out in order and take notes and pictures. Remove the front cover screw and cover, then inspect the worm gear line guide parts. Take the pawl cap off, remove the pawl, then pop the E clip off the end of the worm shaft with small screwdriver and slide it out. Wash that up and put it back together, oil it good. Now, carefully remove the 2 screws that hold the yoke post plate, the 2 silver posts on a ring. Hold the clutch and ratchet lever down while doing this and that will stay in place. Lift off the posts and then pull the pinion bearing out with a pick or bent wire. Put the post ring back and snug up the screws to keep the clutch and spring from poping off while working on the rest. Clean that pinion bearing, force a thick reel oil back into after clean and dry or press grease into it with a bearing greaser. Clean and grease the frame, put some fresh oil around the clutch and when you put the pinion bearing back, put oil around the inside of clutch there, it will get under it and be fine. Pull the spool bearings from both side covers, clean and oil them, put the reel back together and it will be fine. Pull the knobs off the handle and re grease there also. The sloted handle screws / nuts are reverse thread. *All this may seem very dificult, but it's not that hard* and if you can't do it, you should send it to someone that can. I get reels all the time that got dunked and were not cleaned up. By the time they get to me, they ussually need every bearing replaced and also the AR clutch. On some reels, that will cost more than the reel is worth.


Sure...whatever!


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## Lexy1 (Jul 12, 2012)

Pro Reel said:


> Curado E7 is a freshwater reel also. It doesn't have any seals or gaskets to keep water out, it doesn't have corrosion resistant bearings. Odds are, that the parts in it will look similar to these parts.


I can say that you're 100% wrong about this.
I'm a Shimano fan/user for a long long time.
I've dunk my Curado 50E and 200E7 in saltwater many times but never experienced anything like that.

I'm sure there are other 2coolers can agree with me on that statement.


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## Bantam1 (Jun 26, 2007)

Pro Reel said:


> Dipsay, In my opinion, there is a big difference between a reel being rated for saltwater, and actually being suitable for saltwater. I have a lot of respect for Shimano reels and the Shimano company. However, I think they may just be a bit liberal with rating a reel as suitable for saltwater use, if that rating is making folks think that thier reel will not get corroded from saltwater use. The President reel I showed, is built from the same type of materials as the Curado. They will both corrode if they get saltwater in them and it's not cleaned right away. On a side note, the reel you found was probably being somewhat protected from being under water, where it was not exposed to oxygen. If you put in freshwater right away, it actually had very little time to corrode. Maybe thats a good point. Here is a question to ponder then, would it be a good idea to fill a bucket with water and just leave reels submersed in water until you get them home if they have been dunked? It takes oxygen for the corrosion process to realy get going.


I am curious how you know the reels are built with the same materials? There are different types of stainless steel used in the bearings. Our gear materials are different and usually more durable than most of the competition. Saltwater will cause corrosion. This is why there is a need to maintain the equipment. If you dunk the reel it must be torn down and cleaned correctly. This is true for any manufacturer. We have to flush outboards and wash boats after taking them in saltwater. Why not clean the reels too? Soaking a reel in a bucket of freshwater will help if the reel has been dunked. You will still need to open the reel and service it.

A mixture of windex and water will help nuetralize the salt. I learned this from shooting corrosive ammunition. The primers contain salts that cause corrosion. A quick spray wih a windex/water mix followed by a good cleaning when I get home will prevent any corrosion.

All of our reels are approved for use in saltwater. I have said this before about the Gulf. I think plastic will corrode in that water, especially when you go further south. Now if we could find unobtanium to use in our reels then we would have nothing to worry about.


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## rjc1982 (Sep 27, 2005)

Bantam1 said:


> Now if we could find unobtanium to use in our reels then we would have nothing to worry about.


But if you did that you would kill all the fun for the internet haters out there. No check that, they would still find something to complain about!


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## Pro Reel (Jan 3, 2010)

lexy, I really don't care if you think I'm right or wrong, I didn't use this forum to attack you or insult your inteligence, i didn't even point out that you were 100% wrong about the Plueger President being a freshwater reel. The fact is that the model shown is a 6750, approved for saltwater use. Thats why that customer was very upset to see that it was corroded. Keep dunking your reels in saltwater without a full cleanup shortly after use, see what happens. I simply stated my opinion, based on many years of working on reels, that although a reel may be approved for saltwater use, it might require more maintenance than a reel designed for saltwater use. Reels designed for saltwater use will have seals and gaskets to prevent water intrusion and will also often use more corrosion resistant materials than other reels that are more suted to use in freshwater. Every year, i got a lot of reels, from all brands, that were used in saltwater and were not cleaned good enough or at all. Many of these reels have extensive amounts of corrosion. One common thing that i hear from these customers is that they felt that they could use thier reels in saltwater without worry becuase the reel was listed as approved for use in saltwater. It seems to me that all the brands may need to add a little more information to the papers that come with the reels to let the customers know how much care a reel needs to be used in saltwater.


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## mas360 (Nov 21, 2006)

Is there any universal standard a reel has to meet in order to qualify for being stamped "approved for saltwater" ? something such as surviving 24 hours dip in saltwater and still function four weeks later....etc..


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## Bantam1 (Jun 26, 2007)

There is no standard that I am aware of. This is up to the manufacturer to decide if a reel is ok for use in saltwater. The problem I see, and I am sure Pro Reel can agree, is that once someone reads approved for use in saltwater they automatically assume they dont have to maintain the reel. If there is metal in the reel then it will need to be maintained. If we start seeing Titanium being used then maybe maintenance can drop off slightly. The price of the reel would be much, much higher if this were the case. 

As I stated previously, I dont care who makes the reel. If it is dunked or used in saltwater it has to be maintained. If it is not properly maintained the reel will have corrosion problems.


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## mas360 (Nov 21, 2006)

Bantam1 said:


> There is no standard that I am aware of. This is up to the manufacturer to decide if a reel is ok for use in saltwater. The problem I see, and I am sure Pro Reel can agree, is that once someone reads approved for use in saltwater they automatically assume they dont have to maintain the reel. If there is metal in the reel then it will need to be maintained. *If we start seeing Titanium being used then maybe maintenance can drop off slightly*. The price of the reel would be much, much higher if this were the case.
> 
> As I stated previously, I dont care who makes the reel. If it is dunked or used in saltwater it has to be maintained. If it is not properly maintained the reel will have corrosion problems.


Is there any plan in work by any reel manufacturer for Titanium reel? I know some handguns and AR15 already have that choice.


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## Bantam1 (Jun 26, 2007)

It comes down to cost. There are other materials that are rigid enough and will not corrode that cost much less. We might see some new materials being used in the future.


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## Pro Reel (Jan 3, 2010)

I absolutly agree that any reel used in salt needs lots of maintenance. If the owner will do that maintenance, then they could use any reel in salt water. Since it seems that a lot don't know how to do the maintenace, or just wait to long to do it, I think that most would be better off using reels that were designed more for salt, such as the Shimano saltwater spinning series reels or as would be my preference, an old citica with just one bearing or an old abu 500 with no bearings.


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## Lexy1 (Jul 12, 2012)

I've used Shimano reels exclusively and I'm 99% saltwater guy. I've dunk many shimano reels in saltwater many times in surf fishing and wading. I never had any problem like the pictures u showed in the op. Of course, I don't just hang my gears up the wall after every trip.

My slogan is "I take care of my gears. My gears will take care of me".
This applies to all my pistols as well.


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## DMC (Apr 2, 2006)

I had a Curado E7 snatched out of a rod holder and 2 hours later I caught it by the cork handle while fishing a Trout Killer. I hosed it off after fishing with it all night. I never had any issues with it. That could be just dumb luck, but I have broken it down to the frame and inspected for signs of corrosion, even ran metal filings through a mass spec to look for oxide peaks but found none, and the forensics lab said... ok well none of that but I did inspect it and found no signs of corrosion.


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