not enough drag on a saltiga 20 with carbontex drag washers

[alantani]

I had my saltiga 20 upgraded with carbontex. I used it last weekend for the first time and any cod over 15lbs I had no drag. It was buttoned all the way down. I didn't put a scale on it but i'm not getting more than 12 or so lbs of drag? Any ideas or suggestions. I'd rather try and fix it rather than bring it back. Thanks

ok so here are the possibilities......

1. the spectra is slipping on the spool.

2. the spool is slipping on the spool shaft.

3. the star is not turning down far enough to put enough pressure on the top metal drag washer.

4. there is metal to metal contact somewhere in the gear stack between the slotted metal drag washers, the keyed metal drag washers, the main gear and/or the ratchet gear.

and here's what to do.......

1. put a dot with a sharpie on the inside lip of the spool and another dot right next to it on the spectra. pull the line against the hardest possible drag and make sure the two dots stay together.

this is very common. if it slips, have a local shop strip off the spectra, put a double layer of black electrical tape around the arbor of the spool to hold the spectra and a thin layer of grease on the sides of the spool to prevent corrosion. now had the shop wind on the spectra nice a tight so that it does not slip. again, this is very common.

2. pull the left side plate. put a dot with a sharpie on the inside of the spool and on the spool shaft. put the left side plate back on, pull the line against the hardest possible drag, remove the side plate and make sure the two dots stay together.

this is very rare. if the spool slips on the spool shaft, you need a new spool.

3. tighten down the star as far as you can. remove the handle and count the number of threads that are exposed on the drive shaft as a measure of the depth that the star has traveled and check to see that the drive shaft turns freely. make sure that the star does not bottom out. do this first with the right side plate in place.

now remove the star and the right side plate. then replace the star and all the pieces between the star and main gear. crank down the star until it is just as tight as before. count the number of threads to see if the star has traveled just as far without the side plate in place as with. if it does not, then something is hanging up on the side plate and is preventing the star from traveling as far down and tight as it should. now jump to step #4.

4. with the right side plate still off, replace the handle assembly. hold the main gear tightly and try to turn the handle. you should be unable to turn the handle while holding the main gear without a great deal of force. if the main gear turns easily, then you have metal to metal somewhere in the drag stack. one or more of the carbon fiber washers is too thin. this is common problem in the trinidads and toriums with a carbontex upgrade. the washers might be out of place.

if you still cannot find the problem, then i'd like to take a look. alan

[alantani]

Thanks, I have solved my problem. the old adage if you want something done right do it yourself, the person who put the line on the reel neglected to tape the line to the spool, so when it got wet the line would spin on the spool. i took the line off put on a short on a short lead of mono, taped it to the spool and refilled. problem solved,  thanks

[globalwavetracker]

Hi Alan
I have just replaced a set of new Carbontex washers for saltiga 50 by Smooooth Drag and same as above but line is not slipping at spool. The star drag hit bottom very quickly with easy turning of the star drag wheel and could not tighten anymore. Drag was like maybe 3lbs max. When I went to wind the reel the spool was catching and required effort to turn the handle at close to max.
The carbontex stack also was sitting lower than the original stack.

The carbontex washers were thinner than the worn originals. I was able to put them flat and can detect a ridge from carbontex going up to the saltiga drag.  I proceeded to replace 5 of the carbontex washers out of the stack with 5 original drag washers as 1 of my originals had chipping on the sides. The reel now can get about 13lbs of max drag at bottom. It also gives the feel of normal drag where you feel pressure being applied to increase tension. With the Carbontex set the star drag required little pressure before I could not tighten anymore and hit max drag, yet the spool was binding.

I bought 2 sets and plan to return them with one of my original drag for comparison. I believe the new set of drag should start at being slightly thicker than the worn set I have. I am open to replacing the drags to retry a 3rd time. I have a copy of the original reel schematics.

Any ideas before I give up and send it all back. I cannot see how everyone is OK and I have this issue?

[Ron Jones]

I am not sure about a Saltiga, but for most reels carbontex is very thin and sometimes a spacer needs to be installed to compress the drag stack.

Ron

[Nessie Hunter]

If it were me...  This is what I would do...

Put 2 drag washers (Carbontex) in one spot, that will thicken the drag stack and give you more pressure.   Do even more if needed..
I would stay with the Carbontex.   
Double washers should not effect performance!
Even if you have to double them all.....

[globalwavetracker]

  How would it make any sense then to sell a set of 6 drag washers when you really need 7 or 8 to get it working correctly let alone get increased drag. Indirectly, wasted a whole afternoon on several takedown to see why I had the problem when everyone says they had the best performance......
The concensus is then keep the 6 Carbontex, double-up at one slot but add one of the original drag to get the additional thickness needed. If this does not causes any issue on the reel, worth giving it a try to see if its solves the Carbontex thickness problem.

[jonathan.han]

You could always add a metal washer or two on the drive shaft above or below the bellevilles to get more drag before the drag star bottoms out. Not uncommon. Or, you could place a thicker Penn washer in there somewhere.