[SoCalEDC]

Fresh water rinse for the reels. Usually by pressurized sprayer. Admittedly I dont scrub my rods at all I just rinse them with fresh water unless they gave something like fish blood or other substance that require scrubbing.

Reels I service 1-2x a year depending on how much use they get. If its a reel I don't leave home without, I will typically give it a little more care because its being exposed more often to saltwater and grime. If its a reel I only take out once in a while if i am doing a particular style of fishing, I might rinse it off afterwards and Put it away and let it accumulate TOTW before tearing into it.

I don't think submersion of a reel in water (fresh or salt) is a good idea whether the manual claims it to be or not. A good topical rinse while moving the handle and turning the spool etc. is typically enough to get the salt spray off, and if the reel was submerged fully in the salt its better to take it apart and rinse/dry it out manually. Consider that if you already have saltwater on the reel or salt deposits and you submerge it fully the salt can diffuse through the freshwater further into the reel, where as a topical spray and rinse will usually not penetrate into the gear housing of the reel.

And fwiw I have read before that the reason Avet recommends tightening the drag is so that you wont wash any eternal debris down between the drag surface and the pressure plate. However, if you already have debris in there (dry salt deposits, sand), and you crank it down, the debris will not be flushed out.

One more thing on Avets, they are semi local here in so cal (chatsworth), you can bring the reels by their hq (or ship them) and pay 30 bucks and they will replace parts that are worn out and clean it up for you up to their spec.