Drag Won't Loosen

[Brnnoser6983]

So I bought an Abu Garcia Silver Max online the other day. It looked like a great buy, and I am sure it still is, but I think it might have a problem.

The drag doesn't seem to want to loosen up to much. What I guess I mean by this is, I have a pro max, and I can loosen the drag to the point where the reel won't spin. This is not the case on the silver max, I loosen it as much as it will go and it still is tight and has a lot of tension in the reel.

Suggestions? Maybe a good cleaning? Bearing? I am new to bait caters so any advice will be helpful.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Brnnoser6983

[Tywithay]

Just cleaned my stepdad's black max the other day and the drag washer was pretty much glued in there. I'd advise removing the washer and giving it a good coat of drag grease to see if it fixes it.

[gulfcaptain]

was this a used reel?  If it is and you are going to take it apart, make sure you keep track of each piece and where it went since you say you're new to bait casters.  Now if it is a used reel, sounds like the drag is froze up.  Open the reel, and the drag washers are located inside the main gear.  You will have both metal and fiber washers. Clean and polish the metal washers, these should be stainless.Try and find/order new drag washers for that reel if you can.  Be careful not to damage the fiber washers if you don't have replacements, If they are just stuck to the metal and you can pull the drag apart, use some really fine sandpaper or the smoother side of a knife sharpening stone and lightly rub while wet with water.  The idea is to knock off any irregular features on the washer.  Then, once dry, like Tywithay said, use some drag grease.  This would be lightly coating and I mean lightly...like a film of drag grease on the fiber washers only.  If you have the metal washers clean and polished, this will solve your problem.  If you are worried you might not get it right, I would take it to a service center or shop that does this and pay the $8-15 to have them clean the reel and replace the drag....less any parts they have to add.  Hope this helps.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

If memory serves that reel uses a dry drag system, but either way, it needs servicing. The value of the reel is not worth sending in to be honest. Down load a schematic and do your best with it. Cleaning and reassembly should take care of it. If you want to contact me when you get it apart I'll hook you up with the Carbontex drag washers for it. 

[Brnnoser6983]

Thank you all for the reply. I will be looking at it this monring and taking it apart. Yeah I paid $30 on it and considering it is only a $60 reel to send it in alone is another $30. The schematics online look easy enough.

 

I am sure it is an issue (Or hope) that it is dirty, and the other person doesn't take care of his gear. worse case looking online most of the parts in the drage area will only run a couple or dolars at most.

 

So off I go to tare it apart.

[Ratherbfishing]

It never hurts to take high resolution pictures of the reel in its various stages of disassembly.  That can save you a lot of grief later.

[Brnnoser6983]

was this a used reel?  If it is and you are going to take it apart, make sure you keep track of each piece and where it went since you say you're new to bait casters.  Now if it is a used reel, sounds like the drag is froze up.  Open the reel, and the drag washers are located inside the main gear.  You will have both metal and fiber washers. Clean and polish the metal washers, these should be stainless.Try and find/order new drag washers for that reel if you can.  Be careful not to damage the fiber washers if you don't have replacements, If they are just stuck to the metal and you can pull the drag apart, use some really fine sandpaper or the smoother side of a knife sharpening stone and lightly rub while wet with water.  The idea is to knock off any irregular features on the washer.  Then, once dry, like Tywithay said, use some drag grease.  This would be lightly coating and I mean lightly...like a film of drag grease on the fiber washers only.  If you have the metal washers clean and polished, this will solve your problem.  If you are worried you might not get it right, I would take it to a service center or shop that does this and pay the $8-15 to have them clean the reel and replace the drag....less any parts they have to add.  Hope this helps.

Yes it was. I got the reel for $30 and thought is was a good deal. The guy said it was his sons reel and he didn't like baitcasters. I checked the reel for any signs of ?... I did check the rotation of the spool and thought it looked good, but forgot to check the drag.

 

It never hurts to take high resolution pictures of the reel in its various stages of disassembly.  That can save you a lot of grief later.

Great suggestion and one that I should have thought of before. I am not what you call mechanically inclined and took it apart thinking the schematic on the website should be good enough… Long story and 2 hours later I got it put back together (with the help of taking apart my pro max and taking pictures just in case and comparing the two)   I am not too sure what the problem was, but once I loosened the star drag and removed out the washers and click spring something seemed to loosen on it.

 

I did end up taking it all apart and cleaning it out. Nothing else looked out of place or wrong (Such as a broken piece of plastic or a striped gear).

 

Thanks for all the great advice, and I will surely continue to watch the forums.

[ZStretch]

I just fixed a similar problem on my spinning reel. Turns out there was a bird's nest of line that had gotten inside the spool and tangled around the gears. The reel cast and retrieved just fine, but had no drag function no matter how loose I cranked it. Snipped out that tangled mess, put er back together, and the drag now works like a charm try that!