I have 4 of the BPS Johnny Morris Signature Series reels that I used to just love. Smooth, cast a long ways, all that good stuff. But lately, the drag pressure has just gone to almost nothing on them. I poor-man tested the drag pressure with my fish scale by tightening the drag all the way down and they tested 4-9lbs.

I clean them regularly and have tried removing grease from the washers, adding washers, taking away washers, none of which seemed to have that much affect. The drag washers in them look like the CarbonTex washers which are supposed to be the real deal.

Any ideas how I can fix this?

Are you using braid tied direct to the reel spool?

Check the 2 star drag spring washers under the drag adj. handle. They should have an upward curve to them. They should be installed so the upward curves face each other. You can bend them with needle nose and that will increase their spring tension and should increase your drag.

Not using braid, just the fluoro on the spool, but it's a good point about measuring it with a no stretch line. If I were publishing scientific results, that would be a good way to measure.

I did verify 15 times that the cupped washers were on correctly, but I like the idea of opening them up a little, so I'll give that a whirl.

have you tried cleaning them?

https://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/threads/when-should-you-change-your-carbontex-drag-washer.367171/