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Hi Folk,

 

I have some old reels that are my workhorses for big fish. Two 1990's Shimano Speedmaster TSS IV spin reels, and an early 1980's Shimano Triton Mag Mark 111. The drag washers need replacing but spares are unavailable. They get overworked on speedsters (spanish mackerel) and sluggers (shark bycatch)

I have 2 questions:

1) how does one work out what thickness to buy in Carbontex sheets when the original felt washers are very badly worn (and presumably thinner than original)

2) is there any material anyone can recommend (such as gasket material or the red stuff used as tap washers) ?  "Felt" from Spotlight is an option, but I have no local Store.

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I went down the replace with carbontex route -  but I'd already done way too much damage to save my lightly built diawa freams



0.5mm sheet of carbontex was recommended to me for my 3000 freams - the little black rectangle on the left was about $20 - just be very particular about cutting out your disks - I tried to just get it done quick and wasted a bit of the sheet due to not staying inside the lines😉

Sorry I cant be of more assistance as I only got half way through the fix before realising my reel was too far gone

 



http://www.downriggershop.com.au/car...g-washers.html

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1 hour ago, yellow door 1 said:

0.5mm sheet of carbontex was recommended to me for my 3000 freams

That's one of my questions...how do I find out what thickness is needed for my 2 types of reels? I could measure the existing washers, but they have been fried and perhaps (??) made thinner. There are at least 3 thicknesses on the market -- maybe 4??

I guess I could count the washers, including the metal ones, try and calculate the depth of the housing for the washers and then divide the depth by the number to get possible thicknesses?

In a pinch I punched out some washers from the thinnest part of old leather rigging gloves -- but they were too thick.

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1 hour ago, yellow door 1 said:

yeah if your drags are going through heavy settings its important to check that all the grease hasnt beeen squeezed out -

I read a lot of debate online about the use of drag washer grease (a "wet" drag system).

One school of thought was that "wet" washers (greased and then grease squeezed out/wiped off) were the way to go for smoothness and lighter line. Another opinion was that "dry" ungreased washers were better for a heavy drag setting, but sometimes the "take-off" was not so smooth. Then a common opinion was the carbontex dont need grease!!!

The comment I liked best was that the old Blue Shakespeare Series spin reels had the smoothest drag out at that time -- and they were made from felt! I wore out a Blue Series.... fond memories.

 

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24 minutes ago, Plectropomus said:

I read a lot of debate online about the use of drag washer grease (a "wet" drag system).

One school of thought was that "wet" washers (greased and then grease squeezed out/wiped off) were the way to go for smoothness and lighter line. Another opinion was that "dry" ungreased washers were better for a heavy drag setting, but sometimes the "take-off" was not so smooth. Then a common opinion was the carbontex dont need grease!!!

The comment I liked best was that the old Blue Shakespeare Series spin reels had the smoothest drag out at that time -- and they were made from felt! I wore out a Blue Series.... fond memories.

 

Yeah I was getting my hand held throughout the process and was just blindly following advice. I didnt really know why they were suggesting this versus that - I just did what I was told😉

I was hesitant to reply because I didnt have alot to add.

 

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2 hours ago, Plectropomus said:

I live in FNQ, and did go to my local tackle shop. He reckoned he bought some sort of automotive gasket material and uses that! Can't remember what it wass and cannot get it any more.

Give Rob Wilson at South Oz Rods a call 08 8261 5455 . A very approachable and helpful guy. He will give you the right advice. Worst case, post him your reels. He will have it sorted and posted back. Lots n lots of experience with that guy and an exceptional reputation. 

Hope it all works out for you.

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I have 3 suggestions assuming you don't have an old reel laying around you can harvest for material and a good clean and buff with wet & dry is not an option.

Go look at some new reels, work out which have similar sized washers and buy a set of them then adjust if necessary.

Go the make your own route, plenty of options for material like you allude to, experiment with one reel and find what works.

Retire the old warhorses, from recent posts of yours I'd suggest those poor things have seen way more punishment than even the worst serial killer of a reel deserves, $500 should get you 3 very serviceable replacements with a little shopping around.

Hmmm, I might go look at some reels.

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Go to a place that does outside awnings and get samples of the cloths they offer..Some look identical to carbonex.

I got a sample of some 10 types and all could be used for drag washers.

Dont get too hung up on thickness---  look at the construction of your reels - I doubt if thickness actually matters.

Grease does!

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23 hours ago, Plectropomus said:

I live in FNQ, and did go to my local tackle shop. He reckoned he bought some sort of automotive gasket material and uses that! Can't remember what it wass and cannot get it any more.

Was not aware where you live. Here in SA, South Oz Rods is great. I had 2 x low profile baitcasters fully serviced, some replaced worn parts & both respooled for $50. I did supply the replacement line.

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