Advice for a weak drag, Abu Revo

[lifeofRiley]

I was asked to see if I could improve drag performance on an Abu Revo Premier(gen 1). The reel is in good shape but I was surprised to find only one carbon drag washer in it. I've worked on many doyo (abu and lews factory) reels before and usually find the drag stack contains three carbon washers. I checked the schematic for this particular reel and sure enough there is only 1 drag washer on top of the main gear. I was thinking about adding another washer, but not sure if there'd be enough clearance on the main shaft to get the handle nut back on after the addition.

[handi2]

The Carbontex set from Dawn will include both drag washers. When I have reels like that I will make the Carbontex washers as large as possible.

[alantani]

a two drag system is common enough.  i switch out the bottom drag for carbon fiber, grease both and call it done.  a reel like this would typically be fished with less then 5 pounds of drag anyway......   

[Pro Reel]

They were trying to make that reel as light as possible so they could charge more money for it. One of the ways they did it was reducing the drag washers and plates to the minimum. To add washers and plates you would need the deeper cut main gear and plates from any other gen 1 revo .

[lifeofRiley]

Thanks for the responses guys,

I think I'll call the customer and suggest a set of carbontex, installed dry. Although this reel is only for freshwater bass, the owner I think uses heavy line and sets the hook with authority. He complained of slipping drag on the hookset.

[alantani]

any chance he had a bad AR bearing or spectra that was slipping on the spool?

[lifeofRiley]

Thanks for the suggestions. Alan the spool is empty so it's  not suffering from line slip, but I will check the a/r bearing as that could be the culprit. I am going to check on the price of the deeper recessed gear. Was also wondering about adding another stock carbon washer on top of the first because I'm thinking there's not much pressure on that one thin washer.

[oc1]

My Curado had a drag like that.  The stock drag washer was some sort of thick graphite composite with a coarse weave.  Every month or so the washer would become compressed (as evidenced by more play in the star) and the drag would start grabbing.  Deep cleaning and re-greasing the drag washer would restore it but it would not last for long.   I replaced the drag washer and the under-gear washer with carbontex and haven't had to touch it again.  I don't know if it increased the drag strength, but it made the drag much smoother with much less maintenance.
-steve

[0119]

Loved my 1st Gen Premier but it never had a drag and never really will.  They were engineered not to because of its delicate build.  Even with upgraded Carbontex washers the drag is minor compared to what bass anglers want these days.  Its really destined to be a top water or lightline cranking reel where its light drag is a positive instead of a negative.  The 1st Gen Premier is the reel that taught me that the name Abu is now nothing more than a licensed name like Browning.  Names no longer mean anything and we cannot rely on brand recognition to signify quality.

[Reinaard van der Vossen]

I once purchased an abu revo premier (gen 1) and the drag was very low, something like 2 pounds of drag at full. It is a finesse reel and I liked the reel but the drag was just to low. As it was brand new I didn't want to modify it and i changed it to a curado 50 size.

If you can live with the low drag the reel is a charm but for me it was just a little bit to low.

I heard that not all of them have such low drag though, maybe something can be done

[handi2]

If Dawn had the flat ground top metal washer for these reels it would help a little.

In the picture below shows the ground flat SS metal washers for the 4000 to 6000 Abu reels. The top metal washer is made flat to get more surface area on the Carbontex washer below. Even the Carbontex washers are cut to fully fit the main gear.