I just picked up this reel and a 7’ rod at a yard sale for $5. With your fine video instruction I reconditioned the reel to near perfect condition and now I’m reconditioning the rod. I think I’ll have something good for summer fishing

New again! Happy new year 2024 from sweden 🇦🇷🇸🇪

I have 8 of these 285's. I liked seeing you use a Tani wrench, those things are fantastic. When I take them apart to clean them I use an old toothbrush and it does a fine job. I take everything off of the side plates. Sometimes the eccentric may have verdigris on it. All the screws and all the springs and any other metal should get greased. I use Quicksilver 2-4-C marine grease, it is teflon based. Any teflon based grease can be used on carbon fiber drag washers, it doesn't have to be Cals. I have Cals, but most people won't want to spend $32.00/LB for it. I would recommend changing out the drag stack to Penn HT 100 carbon fiber drag washers and ground flat steel washers from Smooth Drag. I would also recommend finding a 29M-60 stainless steel spool or a 29L-85 aluminum spool (from a Penn Seaboy 85) depending upon the line type that will be used on the reel. I have 400 yards of 20 LB dacron with a 50 yard top shot of 20 LB mono on 2 of my reels. Other reels have 300 yards of 30 LB dacron with a 50 yard top shot of 30 LB test mono. I think I may switch to braid as any of the 3 piece metal spools should do fine with braid since there is even less stretch than dacron and use a 50 yard top shot of mono. The 29L-85 is good for any type of line. Mono and 3 piece metal or plastic spools is not a good idea as they can and do split thereby turning them into junk. The 285 is rated for up to 30 LB test line. The Penn Longbeach 60 has a longer handle (24-66) than the Delmar 285 (24-155). You can use the 24-66 as a power handle on the Delmar 285 (its only slightly longer). Tool tip: Get a short pin punch set from Harbor Freight Tools to drive the gear sleeve pin out and you can use the flat spot on the handle to push the pin back in. Thanks for posting. Your video will help some people by giving them the confidence to take apart their reels and put them back together correctly. Most older Penn reels are simple on the inside, but sturdy enough to last for decades even if abused and not maintained. The steel gear (5-60) is the reason that Penn said that the 285 is a trolling reel. That is also why on the old boxes it says it has non strip gears.

Hay Dennis great job on the video i still have my oenn 285 delmar reel just used it the other day thanks

Thank you 😎🇺🇸👍

Purchased a bunch of old Penn reels for our new boat. Looking forward to servicing and using them for years to come. Thanks for the videos, very nicely done.

Gracias gracias. Desde Argentina. Muchas bendiciones.

Fantastic, in depth video. Thanks for posting

Hi Dennis, Once again a great video with amazing detail and "Reel Competence" ! The speed in which you get in and out of a reel continues to amaze ! Cool to see the reel cleaner and new handle wrench from Mystic in action. Came across a Penn 85 and a Penn 309 level wind yesterday and 26 Rapala lures 3 days ago. Should be some fun ahead, too ! Best Regards, Cons

Awesome channel. Can you recommend a good place to purchase fishing reel size machine screws? I made a mistake with a junk pflueger 1375 rocket. The screws I'm talking about specifically are the medium ones that go into the frame bar and the upper line guide bar. (I switched them with the long ones in the part that slots on to the fishing rod.) Not realizing they were wider. I'm hoping I didn't mess up the threads in the bars too bad. It sucks because the problem could have been avoided if I had found your video on the rocket beforehand. Thanks.

Had a 285 and 6’ oak wooden handle rod given to me. The 285 I have has a stainless steel or chromed spool and the handle is the red Bakelite handle. Can’t really place the date on it given the spool. Wondering if someone swapped out the plastic spool for a metal one at some point? The handle is bent slightly but I think it could be carefully straightened.

Dennis, I’ve been stripping the paint off of a very beat up Sportfisher reel I recentlyI got for $4.00 in a reel lot. I got all the paint off (with difficulty) but need to polish off the rest of the oxidation and metal stains off the reel. If I can polish it up I’m going to simply clear coat it. I polished the side plate with steel wool and it looks nice but that doesn’t work on the rest of the reel. Our friend David in France uses a type of sandblaster but I’m not going to get in it that far. Too expensive. What would you recommend to polsh this reel. It works wonderfully - no bearings just bronze bushings and gears. It is quite big and quite old. I might just paint the reel but keep the polished side plate. This would be stunning particularly with a black or dark gray reel. Sending you photos of my finished 486. It is perfect! Enjoyed this video.---Chris Oh, I sent you some funny emails when KZfaq crashed earlier tonight. It scared me. LOL

Dennis, can you give me some pointers on the reassembly of this 285 please? I’ve been fooling with these Penns for awhile and quite enjoy it. This 285 I have seems to have a “tight spot” in it while reeling it. I’ve torn it down, checked it and put it back together again multiple times each time tightening the screws in different patterns. First one I’ve had that has almost beat me. Please advise!

hi Dennis, cleaned and serviced my 285. New drag washers, cleaned and greased. Replaced anti-reverse dog spring (lost). When reassembled there is an audible click when reeling in. Seems to be associated with the dog/spring as there is no noise when rotating without the dog in place. Could i have the wrong spring? any other suggestions on a fix? look forward to you thoughts on this. Thanks!

I have the same exact reel. Is there any way to make this specific reel retrieve line faster?