Relieving drag pressure when not in use?

[JasonF]

Just curious for some opinions.  With my lever drags, I back off off the drag after cleaning up after each trip.  My star drags (Trinidads, Calcuttas, now Senator) are a bigger deal to have to reset my drags if I back them off EVERY time that I use them, which is atleast 2-3 days per week.  Will harm come to my drag systems If I leave them in their precise drag settings all of the time?  Cheers! J

[alantani]

i just leave them buttoned down.  you can do that with greased carbon fiber. 

[JasonF]

That convenience alone would make greasing worth while.  The better performance is just a bonus I guess! 

[Dominick]

The consensus seems to be that you keep them tightened down, rinse them off with fresh water and loosen to allow to dry and to not become compressed.  I use a scale to set the drag then "feel" the drag.  I can come pretty close to what I want by feel, so as not use a scale all the time.  Dominick

[Nessie Hunter]

The worst case scenario is flat Bellville washers/springs....
That gives you the spring tension or slow increase in drag adjustment..
If you start to go from no drag to full drag..   
They can be replaced!!!!

[Makule]

Used to do the wash reels with drags clamped down, and then loosen to dry thing.  With the CF, as Alan said, they are so hard, it doesn't make a difference to the washers.  They are impervious to water.  Belvilles might lose some of their shape, but consider that car springs are constantly under load and they hold up okay (similar spring material that only get "hurt" if you bend them too much the opposite way).

Having said that, I still normally loosen up all my drags after fishing as I don't like having things under tension.  Old habits die hard.  Unlike the old days, however, I don't fret and take the reels apart to service the brakes if I do forget.