Drag washers.

[Ski]

Anyone use anything other than "Drag grease" for there washers?

[J Francho]

Yep, air.  No grease for well over a decade with Carbontex and nothing to report but smooth drags.

[Ski]

Just now, J Francho said:

Yep, air.  No grease for well over a decade with Carbontex and nothing to report but smooth drags.

I have 8 old Curado's "CU-200", washers are in good shape but need a greaseing trying to avoid replacing all them.

 

[bagofdonuts]

I have a couple of the old greenies and replaced the drag washers a couple years ago with carbontex. Piece of cake to replace and fairly cheap. Smooth as silk now. Love the old curados.

[J Francho]

51 minutes ago, Ski said:

I have 8 old Curado's "CU-200", washers are in good shape but need a greaseing trying to avoid replacing all them.

 

You can use Shimano Star Grease or Cal's original.  You can get either at https://www.smoothdrag.com/.  I'll just say, any reel I buy gets a Carbontex drag upgrade as SOP.  They're less than $10 and it's probably the single best upgrade to the function of the reel.  In other words, if you're already in there, replace it.  CU-200 reels highly benefit from this upgrade.  I used to keep like 30 of the washer sets in stock when I was running my reel cleaning biz.  

[Ski]

48 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I used to keep like 30 of the washer sets in stock when I was running my reel cleaning biz.  

Any chance you still have them??

[J Francho]

Sorry, I don't think I have any left.  There might be a bunch a Daiwa stuff in there.  Everything is packed up for a move anyhow.

[Bankc]

I've used regular reel grease before on drag washers.  In my experience, it works just as well as Cal's, which is what I use now.  I think the main problem with using a regular grease is heat dissipation on long runs.  And that's more of a saltwater thing, in my opinion.  

 

I switched to Cal's because it's not that expensive and I wanted to see what all the buzz was about.  I have no complaints.  I've also gone grease free with Carbontex drag washers before, and they work fine that way.  But I slightly prefer the grease because it seems to make the drag pressure profile smoother, giving you a bit more control while sacrificing a bit of max pressure.  

 

I agree with J Francho though.  I always swap out any non carbon fiber drag washers for carbon fiber ones.  It's cheap, and it makes a big difference.  It's not the first thing I do, as I'll usually fish a new reel as-is, right out of the box.  But it's something I always do the first time I open one up to clean it. 

[redmeansdistortion]

Penn uses their blue grease on their HT100 drag systems.  Not something I'd do, but I'd assume the engineers know more than me.  I like to use the Cal's purple on my own reels. 

 

I buy sheets of Carbontex from Smooth Drag and punch my own washers, much cheaper than buying pre-made even with the wholesale discount, but I'm also servicing a substantial amount of reels per week even though it isn't hard water season.  It takes me under a minute to punch 4 washers in the sizes required for the job at hand.

[new2BC4bass]

4 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

Penn uses their blue grease on their HT100 drag systems.  Not something I'd do, but I'd assume the engineers know more than me.  I like to use the Cal's purple on my own reels. 

 

I buy sheets of Carbontex from Smooth Drag and punch my own washers, much cheaper than buying pre-made even with the wholesale discount, but I'm also servicing a substantial amount of reels per week even though it isn't hard water season.  It takes me under a minute to punch 4 washers in the sizes required for the job at hand.

What do you use to punch out the washers?

[redmeansdistortion]

8 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

What do you use to punch out the washers?

A Mayhew hollow punch set and a 3 ton arbor press.  Punches them out just like a hole puncher does paper.  The cost of the tooling can be expensive, but it pays for itself in short order if you run a reel shop.  

[FishTank]

I worked on a buddies CU-200s every year and replaced all of this drag washers this year.  They had become flattened and rounded out.   I just cut them from a sheet of carbontex I ordered from Amazon.  You just have to be careful what thickness you get.   They worked great.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/Cabric-0-5mm-Carbon-Sheet-Washer/dp/B07XQJ4HDV/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=carbontex+sheet&qid=1620337532&sr=8-1

[new2BC4bass]

7 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

A Mayhew hollow punch set and a 3 ton arbor press.  Punches them out just like a hole puncher does paper.

So not something many of us have sitting in our basement or garage. 

 

Looks like there are smaller kits that allow the use of a non-metal hammer (such as Guardair).  Still.....seems like you would have to be pretty dedicated to make your own if not in the reel repair business.  Upfront cost would pay for quite a few Carbontex sets.

 

Sorry, OP.  Didn't mean to highjack your thread.  You know what they say about 'curiosity'. 

[redmeansdistortion]

1 hour ago, new2BC4bass said:

So not something many of us have sitting in our basement or garage. 

 

Looks like there are smaller kits that allow the use of a non-metal hammer (such as Guardair).  Still.....seems like you would have to be pretty dedicated to make your own if not in the reel repair business.  Upfront cost would pay for quite a few Carbontex sets.

 

Sorry, OP.  Didn't mean to highjack your thread.  You know what they say about 'curiosity'. 

If I wasn't in the business, I would just buy them like anybody else, but as a business owner, the high cost of consumables such as springs, washers, and shims can eat up a lot of the budget so we make our own.

[ike8120]

Not to hijack the OP, I have both SuperLube and the new ReelX grease can these products be used to grease drag washers?

[Wildbillb]

I must not catch as big of fish as you guys if you're worried about drag washers.

[J._Bricker]

On 5/6/2021 at 5:28 AM, Ski said:

I have 8 old Curado's "CU-200", washers are in good shape but need a greaseing trying to avoid replacing all them.

 

This was my first pandemic projects @Ski, replacing drag washers with Carbontex and a light coat of Shimano DG13 grease. I purchased the Carbontex drag washers from eBay for roughly $10 with free shipping or directly from Smoothdrag. I just wanted to to keep my old green tanks ah rolling. #moneywellspent

[redmeansdistortion]

2 hours ago, Wildbillb said:

I must not catch as big of fish as you guys if you're worried about drag washers.

Drag washers are a wear item.  Most decent reels come with carbon fiber now so an upgrade really isn't necessary.  If you're fishing with an older model that has Teflon or felt washers, the upgrade is very well worth it.  Carbon fiber washers don't wear nearly as easily as the others I mentioned.

[CrankFate]

I care about the drag because low start up inertia is critical when fishing thin braid. Otherwise, it could dig in if it’s not on tight. 

[bagofdonuts]

On 5/9/2021 at 12:20 PM, J._Bricker said:

This was my first pandemic projects @Ski, replacing drag washers with Carbontex and a light coat of Shimano DG13 grease. I purchased the Carbontex drag washers from eBay for roughly $10 with free shipping or directly from Smoothdrag. I just wanted to to keep my old green tanks ah rolling. #moneywellspent

 

Man your old shimano looks way better than mine. That's show room new.

[Michigander]

On 5/9/2021 at 11:56 AM, Wildbillb said:

I must not catch as big of fish as you guys if you're worried about drag washers.

It's more about the instant startup for lighter line than the size of the fish. When you have 6lb test and a heartbreaker grabs your bait, that's not the time to discover your drag needs coaxing to kick in. ?

[J._Bricker]

7 hours ago, bagofdonuts said:

 

Man your old shimano looks way better than mine. That's show room new.

A little carnauba wax periodically is the ticket.