What is Drag Grease

Steelie Steve · 02-25-2002, 02:37 PM

I have a "Dam Quick 440" spinning reel. Anyone know where I might find info on servicing one of these oldies? Reel is in great shape but could use a servicing.

Thanks for any info provided. :smile: [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img] :smile:

ampersat · 02-25-2002, 03:16 PM

i have an older 5500 that i mistakenly greased the drag washers on. boy, was that a bad idea. it ended up costing me summer steelhead. i've since gone through all my reels (2 5500's and an old daiwa magforce) and cleaned up the drag washers. it's amazing how much seepage gets into the washers from the gear axle. all my reels had much better drag performance once i cleaned them up.

Spooled · 02-25-2002, 06:06 PM

SureSet, I don't know what is in Shimano Drag Grease, but you can buy it at Ollie Damon's for about $5.00. This tub will last a long time.

Shimano drag washers DO need this grease. ABU/Garcia reels DO NOT use grease on the drag washers. Not all drag washer materials are the same, as you will see when you take the two brands apart. Do what the manufacturer specifies and you will be happy.

When you disassemble your reels, clean all metal parts with CRC Electrical Contact Cleaner available at most auto parts stores. It is safe for plastic and leaves no residue.

Use OIL on bearings and other moving parts. I use Reel-X, but you have to order it by mail. Tri-Flow is also good and available at Fred Meyer and other stores.

Use GREASE on the gears. I use synthetic wheel bearing grease for cars. Use both sparingly.

Snapshot · 02-25-2002, 06:10 PM

Steve, I was going through the motions of cleaning up a reel ( Curado ) and something fell out/ I tried several variations and nothing would let me put it back in, and still work right. I finally called Ollie Damons and they said to stop by. Instead of leaving the reel for them to service, they gave a blueprint of all the parts and how they fit togather. Miricle of Miracle, I put it back togather and it works great. Not that I am bragging, but if I can do this my granddaughter at 6 years old can.
Point is, go by Ollie Damons and see if they can give you a picture to work from. It works.

*fish only bite wet hooks*

omnivore · 02-25-2002, 11:16 PM

I second what snapshot said. I service all of my reels, which consist of several brands and models. With parts diagram and list, disassembling a reel and then reassembling is pretty straight forward. However, you must be careful when taking apart any parts such as C-clamps, springs, etc, as they may pop out and get lost in the carpet or elsewhere. When I disassemble a reel, I lay down all the parts on a white sheet of paper in the order of takedown. This helps when you are putting them back together. I also like to use high-performance, waterproof, synthetic lubrications for bicycles.

As mentioned earlier, go light on gears, else you may lose some casting distance.

[ 02-26-2002, 12:18 AM: Message edited by: omnivore ]

SureSet · 02-25-2002, 11:56 PM

OK, I know it's grease that goes on the drag washers, but I'm curious as to what the base is,
Silicone, Lithium, Graphite, etc. It's servicing time and I know Shimano sells "special" Drag Grease, but I can't believe
it's all that "special". Also, anyone know of a site or a good guide that has reel servicing guidlines?
I know my shimano's need grease on some or all of the washers, my Smoothies in my Penns
go in dry, but what about 5500/6500's?

Thanks in advance.

SureSet

Pilar · 02-25-2002, 11:59 PM

Isn't that like an oxymoron? All the reels I rebuild go together dry. Penn 4/0, Diawa 50h etc ...