I hope Mark responds to this question:

Santa brought me a wonderful Saltist 40. I have read where folks suggest replacing the drags in these reels. Should I do it before it is ever used? If yes, then I have another question. On the carbonex washers, what grease should I use and should both side of the washers be lubricated?

Outhouse,

The stock drags are fine in the Saltist. I would fish the stock drags and not replace them until the wear out.

Edit: If you want use a wet drag system in any reel use a light coat of Cal's grease and when I say light I mean that you should only be able to see your fingerprint in the grease. I saw a link posted in another thred that showed someone greasing drag washers and it looked to me that he had way too much grease on them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SoCalAngler,

Agree with the response above. The stock washers are fine and I've only replaced it after 2 seasons of use. The stock washers are paper thin and its a wonder how much drag those have considering the thinness.

The install is very simple and NO hidden surprises as in toriums.

Good luck.

I'm not a fan of greasing drags, though some are. I would fish the Saltist and then when the time comes to replace drags, go ahead. But, I see no reason to do so now.

As always, the information on this site is always helpful and appreciated

Have a Saltist 30 and installed the Carbonex Drags and to be honest I did not notice an apreciatable difference. Can confirm leaving the stock drags in place. If you do ever install the Carbonex units and would like to try the Cal Grease, here is a method that was reccomended to me by a reel guru. Cover the disk on both sides with the grease then take a rag and wipe it all off. When you get done wiping it will look like you did not apply any grease. But in face it will be impregnated in the Carbon Fiber. I did do this and I did notice a little smoother start up but I did loose a couple of pounds on the top end. So unless you drags are specifically designed for grease I would have to say that there is minimal advantage, if any, to it. Have not done this to any other of my reels, they operate niclely as factory stock.

As always, my opinions for your consideration.
Walt