About any carp fishing reel these days has so call POM discs between the metal discs in the reel breaks. These are prone to have a negative effect on the breaks over time, not at last due to the fact that they need some greasing, and this very grease can even harden while it dries out and have a negative effect on your reel break.
The solution is to use Teflon discs instead of POM discs. Teflon is about twice as expensive as POM while it has a bunch of positive properties as compared to POM, as it does not need any greasing and has less resistance and wear as compared to POM.
Teflon discs are known to have a very positive effect on your reel breaks by carp anglers, as they smoothen the breaking effect, especially with quick drags, and are almost maintenance free. While you won't feel it right away on brand new reels too much, you will on older reels for sure, where the negative effects of the POM discs already impact your drag while you play a fish.
Another big and probably even more important advantage is the line release. Regular disc's tend to hang until a certain pressure is applied to finally release line, this has to do with the grease and a few other factors. Teflon disc's bring this down to almost nothing, there is no initial pull needed, the drag starts smooth and almost seamless, depending on how tight you set it of course.
Teflon discs need to be specific to your reel, actually your reel coils, as the drag system resides there. You can order them at https://www.teflon-scheiben-markt.de specifically to your reel, and yes, they send internationally!
It is not even an expensive upgrade, but please keep in mind that you buy enough discs to cover all your coils, including your spares.
Upgrading is very simple as you can see in the following pictures, you simply take the coil off, loosen the lock screw(s) and remove the braking system, make sure you know the order and up/down (take pictures! and take your time). Remove the old POM discs and replace with the new TEFLON discs. Set it all back in and lock it up, done in less than 5 minutes per coil.
You will be amazed on the difference and on how smooth your drag will be.
PS: Thought about doing a video about this, but you cannot really see or feel the difference - but you notice it in the drag when you tighten or loosen it. It is just a bit smoother, and the real difference is only noticeable when you play a fish.
Disclaimer - this is not a sponsored article in any way.
Starting point
Removed the lock screws.
Getting the parts out - you see the POM disc on top and the TEFLON on the table below.
Direct comparison of the POM discs to the TEFLON discs - they are the same size, the ankle of the picture makes them appear different, however, the TEFLON is clearly a different material. The new discs fitted perfectly!
You can put is simple back together, just keep in mind the order and the direction of the parts - the POM respective TEFLON discs do not have a direction as far as I know.
This is a quick way to upgrade most reels, check out their website to see what they have available and if your reel can be upgraded. This is not an expensive upgrade but can make a huge difference and adds to the longevity of your reel.
Florian Rossmark
Germany / USA - Carp Angler
@frossmark , this seems like a worthwhile investment for sure. Do you know of any sites stateside that have the Teflon available?
@jeff-bourns it does make a difference. They actually ship to the US, no problem. Only the shipping is a bit high, but that's simply because they have to send a package. They speak English and I only can recommend their product. It's so simple but makes such a huge difference.
Florian Rossmark
Germany / USA - Carp Angler
