We opened up the reel to have a look and found signs of carbon and moisture.

Pulling the main pressure washer off revealed an ugly mess of carbon paste from the pure carbon drag washer, this is common after a lot of use and nothing to be concerned about, but does explain why the drag was getting very sticky.

Removing the main gear and single carbon washer to access the bottom washer reveals some pitting both on the front and rear face of the gear, this will have to be removed and polished before fitting the new washers. A dremell with a brass rotory bush and some Tru-Grit cutting compound will take care of the surface tarnish and small pitts, then a fine 600 wet and dry carbide paper to finish the job. Since we are fitting AvCarb washers the fine scratching of the wet and dry paper can be left without having to super fine polish the scratches out, they will assist the washers to bed in.

 

With the cleanup done it's now time to fit the replacement Avcarb washers, we are not looking to give any great increase in drag pressure only to make the drag smoother and last longer. The original washers are on the left, note the difference in materal and size.

A coating of drag washer grease and reassemble them back on the anit-reverse pall and into the gear gavity.

Clean off any excess grease and reassemble the drive unit into the reel frame making sure locate it corretly and not to force any of the mating surfaces together, they should go back easily, if something doesn't line up gently remove the drive unit and start the assembly again. It will take two or three good string pulling runs to start bedding in the new washers. They will improve slighty in pressure over time, these ones max'd out at 11.5lb which about what the factory states as standard for the 200B Calcutta. One thing to note when replacing with a Carbontex or Avcarb washer over the original pure carbon washers is the change active working range of the drag, it will more than likely have a shorter working range due to the two concave pressure washer being matched to the original drag material, these can be upgraded to widen the range if it is a concern but don't be tempted to try and increase the drag pressure more than a pound or two over the factory rating for the reel, you will only end up causing damage over time and shortening the reels life considerably. If more drag is your thing purchase a bigger reel.