TackleTour

lmartinez wrote:is there a way just to beef up the drag and how much would this run me ??? just looking to upgrade the drag only please let me know how much it would cost me thanks len

ChuckE wrote:DR/mhood,
I spent some more time this morning on the Pixy carbontex drag upgrade. I was able to come up with a configuration that would work. After the upgrade, the maximum drag was increased from about 3# to approximately 5-1/2# and it operates from 0 - 5-1/2 # quite well. Adjustment range is not restricted at all, and pull seems very smooth (until you get just above 5# or so, and then a very-very slight amount of erratic drag starts to appear).

To get the upgrade completed without affecting the top ear washer, how the outer drive shaft ball bearing seat in it's socket, etc. I ended up using some parts from the TD-Z105HL along with Pixy components. The metal drag washers of the TD-Z105HL are titanium plated, and are the correct thickness when put together as described below.

In the order of the drive gear up, here are the components I used:

- Pixy Drive Gear
- TD-Z eared washer (Key No: 78, Part No.: F79-6102)
- 2 Carbontex Washers with larger id (made for Daiwa Reel #1)
- TD-Z key washer (Key No: 80, Part No.: F79-6303)
- Original Pixy top key washer
- TD-Z spacing washer (Key No: 82, Part No.: E42-5401)

Total drag stack thickness after putting this combination of parts together came out to be 10.2 mm (without compression), which is very close to the original thickness of the Pixy drag stack.

Putting the two carbontex washers next to each other seems to allow the drag to work much beter than putting each carbontex at a different location.

I'm taking the upgraded Pixy to Canada in a couple of weeks, we'll see how it does after catching smallies for 2-1/2 weeks or so.

Chuck

ChuckE wrote:The latest upgrade, uses the full drag set (metal washers) from the Sol on the Pixy drive gear. Although the metal washers aren't titanium, like they are on the TD-Z (and the first mod I did), they still held up extremely well with the complete set of 3 Carbontex washers. However, in order to do this mod I also had to change a couple of other things:

1. I had to machine the length of the drive shaft collar that runs inside the roller bearing down to ~9.7 mm, to increase the available shaft length inside the Pixy for the additional thickness of the upgraded drag set. (If you don't do this, the outside shaft roller bearing will also not set in it's bearing socket properly.) I used a collar from a TD-X, but any collar from a Sol, TD-Viento, TD-Z, Alphas, will work (and you won't have to permanently modify the Pixy collar so you can remove the mod later). [I suggest initially making the shaft a little longer, and then custom fitting it for your Pixy, since I observed about .3 mm difference between a mica Pixy's and a Red Pixy's available shaft length when the making the drag mods (manufacturing tolerance?).

2. I had to change the thickness of the phonelic washer that goes between the A/R Ratchet and the Level Wind Worm Shaft Gear that sits on the drive shaft. This was necessary to drop the drag stack about .5mm, so the top of the stack does not contact the handle plate near the roller bearing. [There is still about .5 mm clearance from the top of the level wind gear and the main Drive Gear after doing this.] I used a scrap piece of .5mm thick nylon to cut the new washer. The old washer was .9 mm thick and the difference between it and the new washer is partially used by the thicker drag stack.

So, to make this latest mod, you'll need a set of the 4 metal washers from the Sol: (2 eared washers [part no. F79-6101], the center drag washer [Key Washer A part no F79-6301], and the top drag washer [Key Washer B part no B36-0303]). You'll also need a gear shaft collar from a Sol (or other Daiwa that is larger than a Pixy) [example Sol part no. G01-1401], a piece of .5mm poly (or SS) shim stock to cut a new washer, and of course a set of Carbontex washers for "Daiwa Reel #1" from smoothiedrag.com. I also coat my Carbontex washers with Cal's Reel Grease.

The nice thing about this upgrade is that you can also completely reverse it if you ever want to sell the reel, if you keep the original Pixy parts that are replaced.