When should carbon fiber drag washers get replaced. What to look for other than cracked/broken ones.
depends. i've had some totally nasty looking drag washers. i've scraped them at a 90 degree angle with a dull pocket knife to "raise" the grain, then slathered cal's grease on them and they've worked fine. it's an amazing combo.
Thanks Alan, I have been using a toothbrush type wire brush gently to the surface when it looks funky.
the first time i did that, i was hanging out at the tackle local shop. a kid came in with his mother. he had an old penn long beach 60 and the drags were a mess. my buddy let me crack open the reel at the shop. all it took was a screwdriver, a penn wrench, an old swiss army knife and some cal's grease. it came out great, it was at that point that i stopped stressing about having perfectly new drag washers. carbon fiber is amazing stuff, and teflon grease makes it even better.