Stella 18000SW drag dismantling

[Kurt Carlson]

Does anyone have, or can point me to instructions on how to dismantle the 18000sw drag system.  My drag is getting sticky and I can not get the stuff under the spool apart.  I am worried I will damage something.  Does it take some kind of special tool?  It is quite expensive for me to ship the reel somewhere for servicing and I am hoping to do it myself.

[Marc Ong]

I've opened mine using a flathead screw driver and a fair bit of force, scratched the metal though.
There are people who've used a PVC pipe of a suitable diameter and cut out grooves so that it'll fit and you turn to remove the metal casing for the bottom drag.

Something along these lines
http://www.360tuna.com/forum/f72/stella-10kfa-drag-replacement-10076/
 but require different grooves for the 18k spool.

[Kurt Carlson]

Thanks Marc,  You are a life saver. I could not find a pipe to fit the 18k.  I found a P-Trap at the hardware store that fit.  I cut the 3 slots in it and....Whala, it worked.  If anyone is interested, the P-Trap is a Dux 50MM Polypropylene Trap with a 46MM ID.  I used the end that fits to the Basket strainer under the sink.