shimano 20/40 bearing

[plunger]

Hi my name is eugene and this is my first post. I am from durban s africa and fish on a fishing ski. It is very hard on reels as they are always getting soaked and dumped in sand when we come back to the beach as the waves are sometimes quite big.
I fish with a shimano 20/40 and have a problem with it.When a fish bites the drag works well but when I start reeling in the drag seems to work itself loose and I have to constantly reset the star drag.I have a similer problem on my alby reel. The fish we catch are mainly king mackeral ranging from 5kg to 15 kg so its not like its overworking. It even happens when I reel my bait in to check it Does anyone know what could be the problem? Many thanks

[alantani]

it sounds like the metal drag washers are out of order.  they have to alernate "keyed - slotted - keyed."

[plunger]

I replaced the bearing on the shaft with a vesconite bearing as it always rusts.I notice the alby reel has done the same but uses a phospher bronze or brass bush. Vesconite is a s african word for a self lubricating non  water absorbing plastic.I wonder if this may be causing it. I will look tomorrow and see if its out of order. Thank you for your responce

[plunger]

Would a plastic or bronze bush be a viable replacement for the big bearing on the handle shaft side?Our reels are constantly underwater on a fishing ski