You can find this maintenance port on many old or new generation reels of the Shimano brand. In some of the photographs of the product application instructions of the Shimano reels, you should have seen that the bottle dropper is inserted through a hole in the body of the reel and dropped from there. This section is called the reel maintenance hole or port.
This port allows direct maintenance on main gear and pinion gear with its bearing parts without opening the reel. It is produced as a screw so that the maintenance hole can be closed tightly. This screw can be opened easily with a conventional screwdriver. It is not possible for water to enter the reel through this slot and its screw is made of the special sealing material.
However, it should not be forgotten that if you decide to use Oil, which is described above to be used in the maintenance port, in parts such as gears (pinion, main, oscillating, worm), bearings (pinion, oscillating, worm gear) the oil in these parts must be compatible with this product. For example, you can safely use this Shimano bantam oil product of the all of their reels, as it is compatible with all reel models it produces.
The oil product mentioned in this article is: Shimano Bantam Oil
If you planning to de-grease your reel and re-grease to new one, and than use oil in the maintenance port, the oil product must be compatible with the grease you applied to reel parts.
For example, if you grease the reel parts with Super Lube Grease, the oil product must be compatible with the Super Lube grease to use in maintenance port.
Incompatible oil may cause; melts grease, removes waterproofing film, color changes, demages anti-corrosion additives, reduces operating temperature, flows the grease to unwanted parts (anti-reverse bearing) and much more.
Well, while only grease should be applied on main gear, pinion gear and worm gear parts, is it correct to apply this fluid product named Shimano Bantam Oil through the maintenance hole?
As you may have noticed, we use reel grease in these parts. However, as we mentioned at the beginning of our article, the main purpose of this product is to lubricate. Especially, in these parts, where the lubrication function decreases due to the solidification of grease in the gear parts in the reels used in cold climates, it is not inconvenient to use a few drops of the product named Bantam Oil, and on the contrary, it has benefits.
Because solidified reel grease will not function properly, and the friction and noise will also increase. Using a few drops of this product will reduce the stress on these parts in your reel and partially restore the lubricating function.
Likewise, in hot climates, when the grease flows or melts have reached a point of losing functionality, dropping a few drops can reduce the friction and noise in these parts and create a wear-retardant effect until the next seasonal maintenance.
The model of podium in this article is 2003’s Shimano Power Aero from Japan domestic model.
