Alan,
I would like some advice, but first here is my situation. I have 2 large spinning reels: 1 Shimano Spheros 14000FA and 1 Quantum Cabo 80. I opened both of the drag systems up and neither has carbon fiber drag washers. I went to smoothdrag.com per your recommendations on replacement carbontex and it looks like smoothdrag has carbontex drag washers for the Shimano Spheros 14000FA. (set of 3 for $8, which seems right since there were 3 felt washers in my reel) But they did not list any drag washers for the Quantum Cabo.
I then measured both drag washers and here is what I measured:
Spheros 14000FA:
OD- 22mm
ID- 5mm
Thickness- 0.9mm
Cabo 80:
OD- 23mm
ID- 5mm
Thickness- 0.7mm
So it seems like the washers are pretty much the same size in diameters, but the thickness is a bit different. You can see the Spheros are a good bit thicker just by looking at them. Also, the Cabo has a stack of 5 drag washers vice the 3 in the Spheros.
Here is what I was thinking and could use your advice:
1. I was going to call smoothdrag and see if they had any drag washers for the Cabo 80 or had any with the specific dimensions above
2. If not, then I was going to order the Spheros 14000FA drag washers and order 2 extra sets of them. Replace the 5 stock Cabo washers with the new spheros washers and see if it will fit in the spool since it will probably be 1mm thicker then the stock stack. If it does not fit with 5 carbontex drag washers, then I was going to remove one and go with a stack of 4 of them. (4 should fit since it should only be 0.01mm taller then the stock stack)
Question though: will I get more drag or at least the same drag with a stack of 4 carbontex drag washers compared to the 5 stock ones? I can't afford to lose any drag. I know the carbontex will be much better with Cal's grease and will last longer, but I really need to keep the drag what I have now since I need 20lbs of drag min.
Or do you have any other advice on what I should do?
Thanks for all your help. Your site is awesome.
Keith
it would take 30 seconds to cut down a set of penn HT-100 ##6-965 drag washers down to 22 mm.
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=175.0
they cost $1.35 each and measure 8.15 x 24.61 x 0.85 mm
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=21.0 they should work just fine.
grease them up and they should work just fine. now, the drag stack has to be either one, three or five. even numbers do not work
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=60.0
your other option is a drag washer for the ambassaduer. they are quite a bit thinner. i will have to check the dimensions, but i'm sure they will fit. it's ok if they wobble around a bit. alan
Thanks Alan for the info. The HT-100 have a much larger ID....is this a problem? Also, they are also almost 0.9mm thick and I am not sure I can get an extra 1.0mm to fit under the drag retaining clip.
Why can't us use 4 drag washers? I know they come in 1, 3, or 5, but why not just leave a drag and metal washer out of the stack or just a drag washer? 2 metal washers can't be on top of one another?
What is the dimensions of the ambassador ones? If they are thinner, then I may give them a try if the dimensions are close.
Thanks again.
Keith
i think the ambassaduer drag washer will be the answer. send me a pm with your address and i will send you a set. i will double check the dimensions, but the od is midway between the #6-60 (20mm) and the #6-965 (24mm) they are also much thinner. i'm thinking about 0.6 to 0.7mm. alan
Thanks Alan. Hopefully you can include them with the handle I ordered via your PM last night.
I will send you a PM.
Keith
Alan,
Got the drag washers today. They fit and worked perfectly! Thank you very much. The 5 Abu ones were just the right thickness. Any thicker and they would not have fit.
Thanks again and I appreciate the help and very reasonable price for the washers. The check is in the mail.
Regards,
Keith