Alan,
I was reading your post about problems with the Shimano drag washers disintegrating inside the Malaysian made Tyrnos 10II reels. You observed this problem even in new, unused 10IIs. Is there a easier way to remove the spool from the reel to check the drag washer? Can I just remove the left (non-handle) sideplate and remove the spool? Or do I need to remove the handle and the entire right side handle sideplate to remove the spool? Thanks.
unfortunately, no. the whole thing has to come apart. and honestly, what the reel needs is a carbontex drag upgrade. i really do not like the quality of the shimano carbon fiber. not after seeing so many disintegrate. :-[
And what Alan has seen were in new reels.
Thank you both for the info.
Oh yeah, if your new drag washer looks brittle and falling apart, take it to you Shimano service center and they should replace it under warrentee without any issues. At least that is what they did with mine.