Tested EXp 6500 (both spools) and Stella 20000 at 11kg initial drag during my samson & Pekan's sailfish trips. Verdict: Carbontex gives smoother initial drag resistence compared with the original Daiwa drag system BUT not as smooth as original Stella.
I think this probably due to the Stella's twin drag design. To tell the truth i don't dare to open up my stella's drag system. Judging from the reel's diagram, i feel it is a little bit complicated compared with the straight forward Saltiga's drag system.
I also did'nt test both stella and saltiga at higher drag setttting (> 11kg). My back is not as strong as the younger years.
Quote from one of the fishingkaki.com forum thread:
"Drag spike is higher initial pull required to get the spool to turn and once it has turned , the pull is much lower than the initial one . This can cause line to break and at extreme case , break the rod tip . Most often happened when the drag is set near the max. drag capability of the worn out drag washers . In Saltiga , this comes not long after a few time of hard usage with big fish . In Stella , due to much bigger drag assembly at the back of the spool , the wear n tear of the drag washer do not happen that soon . " end quote.
Note the same drag size can be used in Saltiga 5000, 6000, 6000GT, EXP6500 and dogfight 6500.
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The front
The front
Note the different. I used "fine-coarse-coarse-coarse-fine" configuration during the replacement.
Dark yellow from Sabre Tackle. Light yellow from Bluewater, Perth.
Cal's grease. Alfi said the smell kinda same as aircraft ballbearing grease.
