Reel Drag Problems

[rod father of sole]

It seems within the last year or so I have been having some problems with several makes of spinning reels with the drag system.

It seems that if the reel sits unused for a while and then I take it fishing the drag does not hold. I can crank it all the way down and it slips. Of course this only happens when I have a fish hooked up.

Anyone else seeing this? And what do I do to repair the problem?

Thanks,

Rod Father of Sole

[Marlinmate]

I would start by taking the drag stack apart and cleaning them or replacing them with new drags or upgraded drags from smoothdrag.com. If you dont see the size, call and ask.

Could be oil or corrosion in there. Get them clean and use some Cals Drag Grease on the drag washers.

What is your reel maintenace program after fishing? Freshwater washdown with drag tight or loose?

Take some pics and post them on here for others to see and possibly learn from.

[rod father of sole]

Thank you for your tips. Typically I have been washing down the rods and reels with the drag tightened.

I will lube the disks as suggested and again thanks.

[Marlinmate]

goto alantani.com for your reel questions. He posts his "work" on here and is a genius when it comes to reels.

He is a HUGE advocate for greasing drags. Cals Grease can actually increase your drag range and provide corrosion resistance and smoother drag functionality over the range of your drags.

I think there is a breakdown on there of a spinning reel, but replacing drags isn't too difficult on a spinning reel.

What reel/s are you experiencing these issues with?

[ReelSmith]

As marlinmate stated, some oil, grease, or corrosion may be on the drag washers. Cleaning them up may work or you may need to replace them.

Give me a call if you have any questions...443-848-1074

[alantani]

a drag upgrade is a piece of cake. you undo the drag knob, pull out the spool, dig out the retaining clip, then all the metal and fiber drag washer, match up the drag washers with something on the list http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=21.0 , grease them and throw everything back together. you will be amazed at the results. alan

here is a list of the 25 smaller drag ht-100 drag washers that penn makes. the washers are listed by part #, followed by price as listed in pennparts.com as of this date (12/11/08), followed by the inner diameter in millimeters, the outer diameter in millimeters and the thickness in millimeters. what follows after that is a listing of the common reels that use this drag washer.

for the engineers in the group, my methodology is as follows. i bought an "el cheapo" 0-6" (150mm) "performance tool" digital caliper (stock #w80153) from my local auto parts store for $20. i have a plano storage box filled with 26 different penn ht-100 drag washers purchased from pennparts.com. i reached into the box and grabbed one washer at random. i did a single measurement for the inner diameter if round or a minimum and a maximum if the inside hole was hexagonal in shape. i did a single measurement of the outer diameter, not including the "keys" if the drag washer was keyed. "keyed" washers are so noted. i also did a single measurement of the thickness. the actually mm's displayed on the digital screen was listed, although the results should be considered accurate only to the "tenth" of a millimeter, not the "hundreth."

penn drag washer part # (price) / id x od x thickness in millimeters / reel

#6-25 ($6.25) / hex 22.88 min, 26.07 max x 54.13 x 1.22 / 25 gls, shimano tld 15

#6-49 ($1.40) / 10.55 x 28.67 x 0.95 / 49L super mariner

#6-60 ($0.90) / 10.61 x 20.44 x 0.92 / long beach 60, 140 squidder

#6-113 ($1.15) / 10.50 x 20.45 x 1.13 / senator 113 black

#6-113h ($1.65) / 13.06 x 27.02 x 1.34 / senator 113h red, calcutta 250

#6-114 ($1.25) / 15.16 x 24.25 x 1.23 / senator 114 black

#6-115 ($1.75) / 14.82 x 29.54 x 1.33 / senator 114h red, 115 black

#6-116 ($2.90) / 16.55 x 32.69 x 1.36 / senator 116 black

#6-117 ($4.15)/ 16.58 x 38.64 x 1.18 / senator 117 black, 118 black

#6-155 ($0.65) / 10.65 x 17.92 x 0.93 / 155 beachmaster

#6-309 ($1.40) / 10.76 x 24.59 x 0.93 / 500 jigmaster, 975, calcutta 700

#6-320 ($1.25) / 12.85 x 29.02 x 0.96 / 320 gti-gt2

#6-320LD ($10.00) / hex 19.18 min, 20.71 max x 45.88 x 1.25 / 320 lever drag

#6-525 ($2.00) / 10.55 x keyed 28.67 x 1.26 / graphite 525-535-545-555, 113hn

#6-855 ($1.15) / 11.99 x 21.48 x 1.21 / 855 line counter

#6-875 ($1.25) / 13.06 x 25.01 x 1.23 / 875 line counter

#6-895 ($1.65) / 16.05 x 29.47 x 1.29 / 895 line counter

#6-965 ($1.25) / 8.15 x 24.61 x 0.85 / 955-965, calcutta 400, trn100/200g

#6B-965 ($1.25) / 15.24 x 24.30 x 0.93 / 955-965-975, calcutta 400, trn100/200g

#6-975LD ($1.00) / 15.12 x keyed 38.25 x 1.08 / 975 lever drag

#6-5600 ($3.00) / 14.60 x keyed 41.15 x 1.15 / 4600-5600 live liner

#6-7000 ($1.75) / 5.08 x 21.54 x 1.14 / 7000 powergraph

#56-440 ($1.75) / 8.88 x keyed 30.93 / 0.90 / 440 ss

#56-710 ($0.90) / 7.92 x 14.68 x 1.22 / 710z spinfisher

#56-4200 ($1.50) / 8.44 x keyed 26.29 x 0.95 / 4200 ss

[ReelSmith]

I got to thinking and also wanted to mention to you about the drag issues you're having...may not be a drag problem at all if you are using braid line without a backing. Are you using braid line on those reels?

If so, did you put a backing on the reel spool before putting the braid on? The braid line is pretty slick and will slip on the spool if there isn't some type of backing such as mono, tape, dacron, etc.

I hope this helps.

Ralph

[mcartagenahseo]

We went fishing with my cousin last week and we encountered the same issue. Thanks for the advice.


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