Torium losing drag all of a sudden.

seano100 · February 04, 2014, 05:43:03 AM

Hi Alan and everyone else. I messaged you about my torium losing drag out of the blue. The reel has not been fished hard. I checked if the spectra was slipping on the spool but it does not look like this is the case. I am wondering if i should change the washers and put an Ht 100 under the main gear instead of the carbontex? Does anyone else have any suggestions as to why its lost most of its drag? Also am I able to purchase the washers from you? Thanks

alantani · February 04, 2014, 06:09:12 AM

is the star tight or loose? check to see if the star and/or the drive shaft threads are stripped. if the star suddenly slipped back one whole set of threds, it would be loose and could explain what you are seeing. if the star is tight, then it might actually be the spool slipping on the spool shaft! button down the drag and let's see!

seano100 · February 05, 2014, 05:41:12 AM

The star is turned down all the way. It's tight! It almost feels as if it needs an extra washer to make it tighter. It feels to me like when I turn the start It has to go pretty tight before the drag starts to engage.

alantani · February 05, 2014, 07:21:31 AM

maybe the bellevilles broke?

seano100 · February 09, 2014, 06:20:32 AM

Hi Alan. I can't for the life of me figure out what's going on.. The spool is not slipping on shaft.. I just checked. Bevelles are not broken? I can't see that the shaft is stripped. I may have to send it in to shimano... Which I don't want to do as I have done all the upgrades and carbon washers etc and I have never had a problem servicing this reel.

alantani · February 09, 2014, 07:05:15 AM

try putting the gear, drag and handle stack together without the side plate and see if you can tighten down the star and put pressure on the main gear, the do the same with the side plate and see if the star bottoms out. a #6-113h drag washer under the main gear works best.

Bucktail · February 09, 2014, 04:15:47 PM

This might sound strange but, check to make sure the drag plate is orientated correctly. How do I know to check for this? While prepping for a tuna trip a few years back, I accidentally put mine back in upside down. It seemed fine, even when setting the drag with short pulls on the line. However, when the first tuna of the day hit my jig and ran, my drag went from 16 lbs to about 2 in nothing flat. I had to bring it in with thumb pressure alone.

seano100 · February 10, 2014, 10:41:21 AM

Thanks bucktail. Yes I made sure it was right as I have made that mistake before. The funny thing is it was fine and lost drag all of a sudden. Alan it does seem like the star is bottoming out.. Almost like it winds down alot further than it used to without much drag. I tighten it as much as it can and the drag is hardly anything.

alantani · February 10, 2014, 11:19:01 PM

sudden change, right? not after working on the reel, but it's working, then it's not? yeah, maybe something broke like one of the bellevilles, then the star bottomed out. but then the handle would be hard to turn...... $:-\$

franky · February 11, 2014, 12:39:12 AM

Quote from: seano100 on February 04, 2014, 05:43:03 AM

I am wondering if i should change the washers and put an Ht 100 under the main gear instead of the carbontex? Does anyone else have any suggestions as to why its lost most of its drag?

Hello Seano,

Just by your question, it sounds like you have not changed your drags at all?

If so, I would not just focus on the washer under the main gear....I would change all of the washers both inside the main gear and under the main gear.

I just did a trinidad 30 and the drag felt weak just as you are describing. The guy had the stock dartanium drags and for some reason, they had some kind of thin runny oily substance all over the drag washers. I removed all the drag washers inside the gear box, cleaned the metal drag washers, and replaced the stack with carbon fiber washers with cals grease. Oh and the guy had the belleville washer configuration mixed up as well. Make sure it is like this...(). Also, make sure all of the washers are present when you restack the gearsleeve...including the tiny washer that sits on the bearing shield. And yes, just like bucktail mentioned, make sure the drag plate on top of the drag stack is oriented properly. Again, make sure you use the brown cals grease on the drag washers...not oil.

If all that is done, it should work...If it doesn't, I'm stumped. $:-\$ Give it a try and let us know.

seano100 · February 11, 2014, 01:02:31 AM

Thanks guys. I have already changed the drag washers out to carbontex... Was working perfectly for 2 years. Now lost drag. Alan it just happened on a fishing trip while rigging up. I have taken reel apart and put it back together again but it's still the same prob. Maybe the drag washers have been compressed? Maybe I left the drag tight while storing the reel. The bevelles look fine and I have tried both configurations. I am completely puzzled. The handle turns perfectly with no resistance but no real drag....

basto · February 11, 2014, 01:06:47 AM

Are your eared metal drag washers sitting down properly in their slots in the gear?

alantani · February 11, 2014, 01:31:07 AM

and the spool is not slipping on the spool shaft?

seano100 · February 11, 2014, 05:32:24 AM

Yes the eared washers are sitting in their slot... And the spool is not slipping I checked it:(

jonathan.han · February 12, 2014, 07:37:50 AM

I'd do a basic full check. Re-pack all the line on the spool because braid can compress and get salted after some use if it gets loose and has a long topshot through mono compaction. Sometimes, you'll lose drag when the line gets wet and the salt/crud loosens or is absorbed into water.

Pull the sideplate off and reassemble the AR sleeve to the handle without the sideplate there if it helps you to visualize it. Or, you could add another belleville, add the HT-100 washer under the main gear, or add a few washers before the belleville washers to get some more travel distance on the star before it bottoms out. If you use the original carbontex washer under the main, you will get a less max drag compared to the HT-100 in there. Alan and I don't use the Carbontex washer at all; just the HT-100.

You're bottoming out somewhere. Just figure out whether it's under the sideplate or if something is hanging up or if you've lost some travel outside the sideplate. You just need to add some thickness to the drag stack or shim under the bellevilles. Preferrably, it'd be in the drag stack since it's hard to find perfect shim washers or sleeves above the AR sleeve.

Then again, you'll set it aside, come back to it in a few days and find the simple thing you've missed. It happens all the time.