I have a Catalina 5000H on the way and was wondering if these washers are indeed an upgrade.. or hype?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121537058129?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Oiled felt does make quite a good (and cheap!) drag washer. Oiled felt does need a lot of attention to keep it working properly. Carbontex, or Penn HT100, will deliver a better overall performance when greased.
Much lower start-up inertia not sure about the ads claimed 20% increase - over old knackered felt maybe ;D But greased cf is virtually indestructible. Two reels I used in Thailand recently - One had oiled felt the other greased cf. The one with oiled felt lasted two medium sized catfish - the cf one was used for the rest of the trip. Both were buttoned down faily hard - approx. 20lbs of drag. The reel with oiled felt also stripped a main gear - the snatchy drag didn't help :(
Any resources on how to oil these carbon washers?
CF should be greased with Cal's Shimano or other Teflon/PTFE based grease (I personally use Mercury Quicksilver with Teflon). I use a small stiff brush to apply the grease. On star drags I usually leave a coating on the drags - the excess will squidge out under pressure. On lever drags I work the grease into the CF then wipe off the excess till it's barely noticeable.
Thanks T-
I'm assuming that with a spinner, I'd want to brush the oil on, then wipe off excess?
On Carbon Fiber drag washers it's grease not oil on the washers. Or do you call grease, oil? Just trying to clarify it.
R-
Yea my bad. I meant grease. I'm using Cal's grease.