# Drag grease



## Newsjeff (Jul 22, 2004)

I own four Daiwa Saltist reels. 

I have fished each of these reels with Daiwa's stock drag washers for at last a year, some of them for two years. 

They are very fine reels, and I very pleased to fish with them. They are, in fact, my favorite reels for surf and pier fishing for cobia, drum and striper.

Each of these four reels had their fiber drag washers loaded with grease when I bought them. And each of these reels had poor drag pressure out of the box. 

Drag pressure did improve with time. The drags got even better after I cleaned the grease off the fiber washers.

There has been a lot of talk about putting drag grease on carbon fiber washers. However, I'm still not convinced this is a good idea.

The stock fiber washers in the Daiwa Saltist reels are carbon fiber. In fact, they look identical to the Carbontex washers from Smooth Drag. The only difference between the stock washers and a set of Carbontex is the fourth fiber washer under the main gear. The stock one looks like it's made of paper. Even so, I don't think you can blame poor drag performance entirely on the stock Saltist washers, IMHO. 

Almost everyone in the know seems to agree there are two types of grease sold that work well on carbon fiber washers, Shimano's and Cal's drag grease. Could it be the type of drag grease that Daiwa used on the stock washers isn't up to par? To be honest, I don't know. I assume that Diawa used their special "drag grease" on the fiber washers, but I honestly have no idea.

Maybe the large amount of drag grease that Diawa loaded onto the fiber washers decreased the drag force? Most of the people I respect insist that a small amount of drag grease - just enough to leave a finger print - is all the grease you need on carbon washers. Again, wiping off the excess drag grease on the stock Daiwa washers did improve the drag.

Or could it be that using no drag grease at all carbon fibers washers provides the best drag pressure. That's where I'm leaning right now.

I just installed three sets of Carbontex washers in my Saltists. I put a light amount of Cal's Drag on the fiber washers in each of these reels. In hindsight, I'm not sure I shoulda done this, but we'll see.

I'll keep ya'll updated on how drags work under these conditions.


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## eric (Oct 24, 2007)

using dry fiber does increase the top end #. but it loses a little bit of smoothness.
especially when starting up (moving the spool) due to high friction between washers

wet drags makes it smooth, low start up friction (cause its slick with grease).
you lose a tiny bit of top end #. but its a good trade up.

when i get new daiwa reels. i tend to take the washers out and dry them a bit.
even the old oiled felt washers.

people say daiwas get better with time, true.
as the keep using drags.. more and more grease or oil is expelled from the washer.
make it drier.. which is the same as wiping the grease off.

cals grease or shimano grease. its about the same.. hell ive used regular grease on a whim. 
and that worked fine too. in the long run,, not sure. but it did work.


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## snowy (Mar 7, 2008)

eric said:


> hell ive used regular grease on a whim.
> and that worked fine too. in the long run,, not sure. but it did work.


Where you can have a problem is if you hook into something big that decides to take a good run - Cal's and Shimano drag greases are designed to operate at the high temperatures that can be generated by a reel's drag. Most of the fish you catch probably won't be capable of putting enough pressure on the drag to reach that level of temperature but if you get one that does ordinary grease won't be up to the job.


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## Tracker16 (Feb 16, 2009)

I got a saltist 30h last year and the drag works fine. Maybe they are using a little less grese on the newer ones ??


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## lunartic (Jul 16, 2006)

Another consideration is your fishing conditions. Do your reels get dunked? With grease filling all the fiber crevices and coating the washer surfaces there is no place for the water to enter and stay


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## Jesse Lockowitz (Feb 13, 2006)

dont think grease is super necessary for cobe/strip/drum


i got all my stuff or aj's and anything that i use w/ really high drag w/ drag grease.


i burned out a couple sets of drag on aj's in the last few years. drag grease really seems to help.


only thing i seen a few people do is put way to much on it, and not wipe it off. i brush some cals on, and then wipe the whole washer off REALLYY good. you can hardly tell. but it works.


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## Charlie2 (May 2, 2007)

*Drag Grease*

The problem with drag grease is that people use too much.

I just put a spot of grease on my thumb and rub it around between it and my fore finger. Then pass your drag washer between them. That's the ideal amount of grease to put on any kind of washer. 

Less is Best! JMHO C2


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## Tacpayne (Dec 20, 2008)

Charlie2 said:


> The problem with drag grease is that people use too much.
> 
> I just put a spot of grease on my thumb and rub it around between it and my fore finger. Then pass your drag washer between them. That's the ideal amount of grease to put on any kind of washer.
> 
> Less is Best! JMHO C2


I do the same thing


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## plotalot (Apr 27, 2009)

According to my research the reason Cal's and Shimano are the greases of choice for drags is because they are Teflon or PFTE based. I don't know why oil based or silicone based greases aren't good for drags, just that conventional wisdom says use the pure Teflon based stuff.


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## snowy (Mar 7, 2008)

plotalot said:


> According to my research the reason Cal's and Shimano are the greases of choice for drags is because they are Teflon or PFTE based. I don't know why oil based or silicone based greases aren't good for drags, just that conventional wisdom says use the pure Teflon based stuff.


This info may be of some help.

http://www.pcsportfishing.com/blog/47


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## Jersey Dave (Nov 2, 2009)

IMHO...Cal's etc drag greases are nothing more than grease used in biclyle applications...Finish Line Bike Grease Teflon 3.5 oz Tube is what I use...if Cal's or others were really "specially formulated" it would be $100.00 /oz..there wouldn't be any manufacturing volume......

I'll bet someone in the supply chain is just putting this stuff in a different package with a different label and charging more....


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