The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

good afternoon gentlemen just cleaning my bob james pin and I noticed a rumble on the bearings,took bearings out and cleaned them but rumble still there looked on ebay for new bearings and found some ceramic bearings at 15 pound per pair ,have any members tried these bearings if so are they better than the standard ones your thoughts please thanks

It's something I've always fancied trying too...but never got around to it. In theory, they need no lubrication, I believe?

Never had call to use them in centerpins but I have used various ceramics and hybrid ceramics in tournament multipliers. Hybrids are ceramic balls within stainless casings. Prices and quality vary dramatically depending on supplier! In theory the full ceramics can run 'dry' without any lubricant but they can be noisy so a drop of ultra thin oil like TG Tournament Rocket Fuel doesn't go amiss. Radio control and skateboard suppliers can be a good source apparently. I used the excellent Russ at blakdogtackle.com for the TG Rocket bearings for the multies

thanks did not know they were noisy

At the revs of a c'pin they might not be noisy at all, but when you consider a field multiplier can be asked to do zero to 30000rpm in less than a blink then yes they can scream. Spool and spindle 'true' also play key roles at high rpm, but that has little to do with c'pin's in the role I use them. Apologies if I have overcomplicated this thread for you! Buy quality bearings and clean and oil before fitting is my best advice

thanks for your advice just fitted new bearings from local source made in japan spinning better than new