drag maintenance

[PILLS]

I started doing reel maintenance ie. cleaning out the old grease adding new. When it comes to the drags i"m new to doing it myself. My Cabo had drags that were greased so I added more. Some of my freashwater reels had greased felt washers and I added grease to these too. My Penn spinners 650ss 750ss drags were dry so I didnt do anything. I guess my question is should all drags be greased or not? and what type of grease? My cabo says use their reel grease can this be used on all drags?

[Big Jay]

This is my personal rule of thumb:

If you take the reel apart and there is grease on the drag then its meant to be.

Pretty simple right? For the most part conventional style reels with an enclosed drags are greased. Spinners with the turn knob style drag are dry.

I ALWAYS look to upgrade my drags where ever possible. Before Penn came out with the Dura Drag my old Internationals had the WORST drags i have ever seen. Actually lost a few fish due to them sticking.

I use Cal reel grease whenever it comes time to grease them.

[gradyfish265]

Cal grease is good stuff, there are some brands that make a drag grease. As stated above, typically spinning reels are not to be greesed unless done by the manufacturer. Typically any conventional reel, whether it be greased by the manufacturer or not can be greesed. On spinning reels, the location of the drag and its ability on some top drags to get dirt and salt in there is the reason not to greese them, salt in grease can often break it down and turn it into crud which is even worse for the reel. A conventional reel has the drag enclosed and hopefully water tight if done properly, so greasing it will not be effected by the elements much. Greasing a drag often adds more drag range, often increasing the overall drag of the reel, and is supposed to make the drag function on a smoother more consitent drag curve as opposed to uneven and a jerky drag system. All of my conventional reels get greased.
I have found that my drags do not wear as quickly when greased, not sure if others have found this or not, but since I started to grease them I have noticed less replacements and smoother operation. I recommend taking the old grease off before you add new stuff, and do not put more then was there previously, and make sure it is spread evenly over the drag to cover it all not leaving dry spots, otherwise the drag might wear uneven.

[alantani]

here's a little light reading for you.....

http://www.pcsportfishing.com/blogs/7

3/27/09 - There are several different drag systems that are commonly used in reels today. Their smoothness, this lack of “start up,” can sometimes be the difference between landing a fish or not. I service an average of about a thousand reels a year and I think I’ve pretty much seen every drag material that’s ever been used. Remember, I would define a “smooth drag” as having less than 10% “start up.” If you have a weight that is equivalent to your drag setting and hang that weight on the reel, a smooth drag would allow that weight to drop 1 foot every 5 seconds. A “reliable drag” would then be a smooth drag that would never become sticky as the reel ages. Simple enough, so let’s see what’s out there.

Leather was used as a drag material in the early Mitchells from France, the early Ocean City’s, the early Penn’s and many others. It did not perform well. Over the years, many different materials were developed, including felt, particle board, hard carbon and some unique composites. They all became sticky over time. Coarse woven carbon fiber, their famous HT-100, eventually became the drag material of choice for Penn, but this material would stick if it became wet, corroded or oily. Shimano took it one step further by adding pure teflon grease and found that their greased carbon fiber drag system never failed. Yes, that is never, as in not ever, not once, zero. This wet drag system has now found its way into the flagship two speed lever drag reels of many manufacturers, including Penn, Daiwa and Okuma. The engineers at Accurate used dry carbon fiber in 1996 with their first reels, then added Cal’s Drag Grease in 2007. They also now enjoy a zero failure rate with their drag systems.

Greased carbon fiber is only now starting to show up in star drag reels. Pro Gear used these drag washers in the final runs of their Albacore Special and Classic Series reels, but the company is now gone. Daiwa is using greased carbon is their new Saltist 20 and 30. Okuma has a Carbonite drag washer, which is also greased carbon fiber. This is admittedly a short list, but I believe that it will be getting longer in the near future. If your reel has a dry carbon fiber drag system and has become sticky, the simple addition of a pure teflon grease is an option. If your reel has a different type of drag material, your local tackle shop may be able to install carbon fiber. Upgrades such as this usually involve adapting a Penn HT-100 or an aftermarket Carbontex drag washer. The addition of a Cal’s Drag Grease will then give your star drag reel the same smoothness and reliability enjoyed by the most expensive two speed lever drag reels.