I have two of these from 1997 era that are in excellent shape because of lack of use. (Currently down because of lost bail spring, but that's another thread).
My experience with spinner drags is pretty much zero, but I opened the spool and found one oiled felt. I'm fishing light line (6lbs max), and am interested in smooth start up above all. The drag seems woefully lacking due to my 5+1 indoctrination on our conventionals. I want enough drag to stand up to a battle with a large striper if I should run into one. The average is in the 18-24" size where I'm fishing, but the occasional Mogambo is reported up to 30lbs. I have experience catching a 30+, but it wasn't on a reel with one dinky oiled felt.
All that said, the point is, should I look for a thin Carbontex upgrade to make these reels real weapons? Or continue in my uninformed bliss? I had total confidence in these reels before looking inside. :D
Well, I guess I will find out when I get back on the water.
Dawn's Smoothdrag Carbontex #10 dropped right in. Greased it up with Cal's.
Hey rancanfish, replacing shimano's stock felt washers is a great upgrade for any reel. However, the stock felt washers work on some cases such as the stradics 5000fj which have a bigger inner diameter. Spools that use drags with a smaller inner diameter get stickier when using felt drags, that means that the force a fish has to excert on the reel for the spool to start turning is greater than the force needed to keep it turning. Sticky drags can lead to line breakages. To test the drag tighten it and turn the spool, if a lot more force is required for the spool to start turning than for it to keep moving you have a sticky drag and should upgrade to carbontex. Also lightly greasing the carbontex like you did helps to prevent the drag from getting sticky ;)
I upgraded to greased CF in my 5000fj a few years ago, and have been happy with the performance. The reel'shimmed need for regular cleaning due to saltwater intrusion issues, is another matter. They are smooth reels out of the box, but I am actually eying that Accurate spinner Dan recently purchased.