Thrust washers upgrade

[kenwahoo]

There's a lot of info & advice on upgrading drag washers but I can find very little on the thrust washer, the one that typically sits under the spool. This seems to be the forgotten item and yet it appears to play a part in getting the drag right. Mainly for threadline reels or spinners. Can anyone advise on the science and effect of upgrading this washer and what what material will you upgrade it with?

[alantani]

ken, i think you are referring to the drag washer underneath the spool.  in some spinning reels, that drag washer is the same diameter as a pea.  in other spinning reels, the washer is the same diameter as the spool itself.  in both cases, carbon fiber with a coat of teflon grease would be my choice. 

[Alto Mare]

Usually the thrust washer is a little bigger than the drag washers  in the spool. I wasn't able to find what I needed  for some of  my reels, so I just enlarged the inner diameter on one of the washers from the spool and installed it. A rounded tapered file will work nicely.

[kenwahoo]

The penny dropped for me after I read some material regarding how drag in reels work. Without the washers the spool will simply spin around the pinion. In tightening the drag knob the washers compress and this friction then makes it able for the spool to spin with the pinion. I now understand why many reels have a drag washer against the spool at the bottom as the first washer. Under the spool there has also to be a drag washer (which I called the thrust washer). In upgrading the drag the washer under the spool also needs to be done. In many upgrades this tends to be a forgotten item.

As an example my Daiwa Tierra 2500 has oiled felt drag washers about an inch in diameter. However, the washer under the spool is teflon and 1cm in diameter. It's got quite a height so it's difficult to replace with something else. One of my other Daiwa's similarly has a very small washer under the spool. It works so I guess that's all you can ask of it. It's when you push the boundaries then it may be inadequate.

What all this means is I now got to go thru my reels and upgrade the washer under the spool as well. Ahh, the joys of maintenance. Still, it keeps me busy in my retirement.

[alantani]

dawn at smoothdrag.com has drag washer material that is 0.5mm thick.  you can hand cut them to match the washers in your reel. 

[kenwahoo]

Just found out that carbontex sheet also came in 0.5mm thickness which is closer as in many of my Daiwas the thickness of the felt varies from 0.44mm to 0.60mm. Using 0.5 carbontex means the range to dial the drag will be maintained.

Continuing from above in how the drag works it is strange how the multiple felt washers in the spool for example are about 25mm diameter but there is only one relatively tiny washer under the spool being only 10mm. Surely to have a proper drag a larger surface area under the spool will work better esp assisting to distribute heat. This is how Accurate's Twinspin drag is.