Upgrading 10000CL

[hultis]

Hi everyone, I have an Ambassadeur 10000CL which I believe is from 1995 or 1996. It's a great reel but the drag is horrible. Very jerky and the opposite of smooth.

I'm going to upgrade the reel with carbontex washers. Those of you who have gone down that path with a 10000 - or any of the bigger Ambassadeur's - will the improvement be as big as I hope for?

Sorry for the crappy language.

/Christian

[Tile]

I did the carbonfiber  drag washer upgrade on a Banax OW 7300 because the drag was low. The main benefit with carbonfiber washers is smoothness. For the complete effect the carbonfiber washers need to be greased with Cal's or Shimano drag grease. A good drag stack will save your reel from failure in an extreme situation.

[Bryan Young]

Hi Christian, 

Welcome.  Not only your Ambassadeur 10000CL could use drag improvements, but all older Ambassadeurs.  Many of them I have serviced have these rubber type material for drag washers, which are sticky and jerky and prone for you to leave your drags loose or risk breakoffs due to the jerkiness of the drags.

Please be sure to use drag grease is not required for a smooth operation, but if there's moisuture present in the drags, then they will become jerky, and that is why using good drag grease, including but not limited to Cal's, Shimano, Daiwa,...is very important.

Good luck and if you run into any trouble along the way, contact us here and I'm sure there is someone on this forum that will be able to help.

Aloha,
Bryan

[alantani]

you will be amazed at the difference.

[hultis]

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I am definitely going with Carbontex and a good drag grease. A funny thing is that I contacted the Swedish service office in Svängsta - where the reel is assembled - and they could not install Carbontex or anything similar. They said that they would use the original washers made from leather and bakelite. I could hardly believe it. Leather and bakelite, but that's what they said.

I live like 1,5 hours drive from Svängsta and ABU headquarters.

/Christian

[hultis]

Update!

I replaced the old drag washers with Carbontex today. Followed the EXCELLENT tutorial here on the forum and really surprised myself by getting it right. The difference is amazing. Much smoother and much more powerful. Will spool on some fresh braid tomorrow and take her fishing on Saturday. Must say I am really happy to have found this forum, otherwise I would never have figured out how to improve my 10000.

/Christian

[Bryan Young]

Glad we could help.