Lubricating Drag Washers

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Mike Samford
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Lubricating Drag Washers

Post by Mike Samford »

I am new to ORCA and this board, so bear with me. I've searched for the answer and not found it.
Perhaps it is so basic everyone assumes everyone already knows, but I am new to restoration too.
I have always heard (and done) that lubricants of any kind should not be applied to drag washers.
I am refurbishing an heirloom Penn 209, and never have been inside this particular reel, so was watching You Tube clip and a guy was smearing bearing grease on all his drag washer stack. I was shocked. What is the story on greasing (or oiling) drag washers, whether on level wind or spinning gear?
Thanks,
Mike
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Tightlines666
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Re: Lubricating Drag Washers

Post by Tightlines666 »

Leave asbestos, leather, cotton fiber, cork, silicon, Rubber, and all non-carbon fiber drag washers clean and dry.

Do not use petrolium-based oils, greases, or any organo phosphate solvents (that don't readily evaporate) on the carbon fiber, as it will deteriorate them. One notable exception is Penn's new DuraDrag washer (found on the newest gen lever drag reels), which have a bonding agent that can handle the 'Penn Blue' grease.

I recommend cleaning CF drags with a soft cloth, then a quick spray with a quickly evaporating solvent, such as brake or carb cleaner. After they dry, apply Cal's drag grease (either brown for most general applications, or purple for cold weather, or exclusive freshwater use). Wipe off excess grease for lever drags, or leave it thick (the excess will be squeezed out) for star drags.

Greasing with Cal's will smooth out the drag, give a more consistant performance over the curve, maintain good range when heated, and help with logevity/wear, and corrosion/water intrusion issues.

Hope that helps?

Head over to AlanTani.com for more info on servicing and refurbing reels. We have alot of knowlegable 'Penn guys' there.
Last edited by Tightlines666 on Wed Aug 12, 2015 8:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mike Samford
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Re: Lubricating Drag Washers

Post by Mike Samford »

Thanks for the info! It clears up a lot. I went back to Scotts and found Cal's lube and ordered some, since I had put down for some SmoothDrag Carbontex washers. Again thanks.
Mike
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john elder
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Re: Lubricating Drag Washers

Post by john elder »

Mike, welcome! I don't disagree with a lot that Tightlines has to say, but note that some drag washers are specifically designed to be greased. Shimano makes these for many of their reels; I use them on the Sealine series reels and they work great. Most folks have always heard you never put grease on drags and so shy away from them, but a friend sold me on using them and I found the action to be very smooth. You won't end up getting chattering about halfway through a good tuna bite using these drags:



Note that you need the right washer material to do this....have to have "grease drag washers". I got smart and used some other washers one time and they swelled to double their normal size and froze up the drags :bash:

Also, I would make a comment about leather washers, which were typically used on all the early reels. For years, I was dismayed to find them soaked in oil when I'd open upon old Pflueger or VH saltwater reel and I'd always clean and put them back dry. Luckily, I never fished these reels as I finally figured out that the oil ports on those reels were designed to deliver oil to the drags. It was no accident that they were oil soaked! I would imagine this helped keep them from frying on a big fish and gave them a bit more life.
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Tightlines666
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Re: Lubricating Drag Washers

Post by Tightlines666 »

Oh yea.. John is right. The Shimano drag grease also works well to convert from dry to wet style drags. It is a lighter viscosity and actually works better then Cal's in tight places, small reels, or spinners in terms of keeping them smooth. On the other side, it does not handle the extreme temperatures that Cal's will, and is more easily displaced. There may be other products available that are designed specifically for carbon fiber drags as well. I know there are some high end greases available for these high end spinners.

I guess oiling leather makes sense. I have never actually fished a reel with leather drags, they are only in my display reels. Thanks for filling in the blanks John.

John
Mike Samford
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Re: Lubricating Drag Washers

Post by Mike Samford »

Thank you all for the comments. Good advice there. I ran across an article by Ed Scharf on his Mitchell site that had some interesting information on reel lubrication. It is here:
http://www.mitchell-reels.com/mitchell- ... ubrication

Thanks again, I'm really enjoying ORCA!
Mike
Mike Samford
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Re: Lubricating Drag Washers

Post by Mike Samford »

Mr. Elder,
In looking though old posts on the message board today, I ran across one by you dated June 4, 2014, mentioning Ed Scharf's article on lubrication, and it's inclusion in the ORCA Manual on Cleaning, Restoring and Repairing Antique Fishing Reels (which had apparently not been published yet). I popped open my copy and sure enough, there was Scharf's article, towards the back of the book that I had not gotten to yet.
Just goes to show I should check my available resources before googling, although I did get some nice information from the members responding to my post. Just wondering if anyone else has used the Yamaha Multi Purpose grease he mentions, and their results over long periods of time.

Thanks
Mike
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john elder
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Re: Lubricating Drag Washers

Post by john elder »

I feel your pain, Mike! I am surrounded by incredible books, but i seem to have more time to buy them than read them! There are a lot of great tips in that restoration book and Ed's article is certainly packed with good info backed by experience. I must admit that i've been stuck in my ways and have stayed with Quantum hot Sauce, which has been recommended by many on this and other boards. The really important thing i took from Ed's article is that we need to use about a quarter the amount of grease that we need to properly lube a reel.
Mike Samford
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Re: Lubricating Drag Washers

Post by Mike Samford »

I hear you John. I've seen the hot sauce highly touted in several tutorials, but have never tried it. I guess I've got a lot of learning to do... adopting this hobby/adventure so late in life.. keeps me clicking on most of the remaining cylinders, I guess. My main thing lately is knowing how to grease/lube an antique (show) reel so it does not 'set up' and get gummy over time, and secondly... proper grease and lube for a reel that will be fished.
Still learning,
Mike
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