*Bought a 500 for an ultralight rod. It's very smooth **enjoyable.fishing** recommend casts great. One odd thing- the bale wire is a bit heavy diameter in my opinion for a reel of this size. But a great purchase.*

very nice, thank you. I buy some cheap ones in flea markets/yard sales that look horrendous. Clean them up primarily with a wire wheel brush on my grinder. Makes it smooth, but to the copper. I take my friends fishing and let them use these for bottom fishing. I let them take them home when we are done. Tell them how to take care of them and to bring them when we go again. Some grease and they last forever.

THANK YOU! The Penn Leveline reel my parents gave me for Christmas 64 years ago is in the same shape as the one in this video. I may buy new parts, but I’ll try this first. Very helpful.

Hi Dennis great job on the video thanks it's a shame to see reels in that condition

Another great video! No BS, just great information!!!!

I am fond of the old Penn reels. I have fished with them and I continue to purchase and maintain them to this day. I have seven of the older Penn 209 Peer reels according to my last count.The quality of the chrome plating and the worksmanship on these reels is great. With that said, I encounter some with greening from corrosion due to improper maintenance, which can look ugly. I viewed this video, and also the newer video with the Flitz pretreatment, on how to address this, and the newer video seems a better way to go, in my opinion. I am not all about function, but of also admiring the reel. In my past experience with corroded brass plated with chrome, I learned that mixing table salt with vinegar to form a paste can be used to remove the corrosion. I see that some use some flour to help form the paste. I found it to be quite helpful in removing the corrosion on the Morse engine controls on my 1984 vintage lobster boat. The earlier Penn reels had excellent plating, and I think that it will work with them as well.

Thank's for your tips - I do have that same fishing reel .

Just found this fascinating educational channel. Keep them videos coming. Just became a new subscriber. Greetings from Newark Nj.

Thanks for all the great info :)

Great video Dennis. If you have some greening not too heavy I have used lemon juice when didn't have any thing else handy at the time. Let parts soak a bit then go back with scrubbie green pad works good also. Yeah you have good idea as well on the toilet bowl cleaner. I wash my reels off after every use and little we 40 wipe down good. Then service when done using for the season.

Awesome tutorial! Thank you for the knowledge I buy a lot of used penn conventionals and have to clean up a lot of them!

In a pinch I use ketchup. Generous coat, let it sit for 30-60 minutes. Then use a brass brush to lightly scrub it. If there is a problem area of salt corrosion, I take the oldest penny I can find and break the buildup free. Then rinse the ketchup off and dry.

Great tutorial

Great info gonna try it on my pen 65 thanks

Thanks for the tip. I have a couple old Penns that look somewhat like that. They work good just real ugly. I will give your lesson a try.

To answer your question why Senators are called 3/0 or 9/0 etc: Old linen thread line used to be used back in the day, and the first number refers to the number of strands of linen thread that are woven into the line...4 strands, 6 strands, 24 thread and so on with each "thread" breaking at approximately 3 lbs. The /0 designation is because all the old school game trolling reels (Hardy, Vom Hofe, Ocean City and Penn Senator) were all sized according to the /O system - O means Ocean Reel. Does that answer what you wanted to know?

Thanks for sharing your expertise

I appreciate your help. Thank you.

Have a most perfect Airex Beachcomber. Has the usual plastic spool washer that once the spool is taken off, can't putit back. Simple to do correctly. Also two side screws on side plate to tight to remove and clean old grease. Easily said but how to do.

I have used Lime Away - the spray and the toilet bowl cleaner to get the corrosion off my reels. They both work. I buy them from dollar tree for a $1.

Dennis, you are an inspiration and This video is inspiring me to tackle a Senator 3/0 reel that has sat in a friends garage for decades. It is model 113, under the reel seat. I don’t know anything more about it except it came with a boat rod , metal slotted bottom with 7 roller guides, no name on rod and it is solid black that has much the same white corrosion. Looking to redo the reel but need two outer front case screws on the left side , how can I find the screws?

thanks i tried the vinegar and it worked Im going to try the acid for the hard to clean parts , looks like it will work

Thank you. I just picked up a penn 140 it works ok but had line left on it. The spool is corroded bad. Tried all the silly stuff like coke, lemon, vinegar, and it still didnt come off. Want to keep the reel for my kids an for 20 bucks i couldn't pass it up

Another great video! Thanks Dennis!

Thanks for the cleaner tip! I have been buying CLR calcium lime and rust remover , and it's pricey.

Perfectly explained

Love it Dennis

Hi Dennis ..... I got my Penn 330 LD made in USA bought it More than 10 year and only been used several times .... I do like this model , the only problem is the Level Drag not really functioning ...... Is there any way to repair it or maybe upgrade the parts....?? Many thank's - Paul.

I have a penn 109 peer I got it at a garage sell it was full of sand open it up clean the sand but I was wondering if you can make a tutorial on this particular reel or any sugestión you have I love to hear from you thank you love your show big fan

Great video Dennis, I've always used 1:1 vinegar to water ratio and that's always worked for me and my Penn Senators. I just soak them overnight rinse it off with cold water and call it a day. Seems to work just fine for me. However, I never thought of the bare metal being exposed like that. It's weird to know that any bare metal rusts immediately, but the reels don't rust after being treated even though it's bare metal? Any idea as to why that is? Maybe because its not bare metal there's still a coat of finish on it?

One question. Would automotive rubbing compound be good to clean up the plastic side plates?

After you clean this off, can you touch up the pitting with any kind of chrome paint? I know it won't be as durable as chrome, but it might look good for a couple of years, right?

Hi there and thanks for your video. I have a Penn level wind 109 reel that belonged to my dad. I'm interested in giving it to my grandson to use salt water fishing. It's in ok shape. It winds smoothly but has some surface rust and the part the line winds on is the worst. It's got a build up of something brown, maybe rust. Can this be cleaned in a way you can still fish with it? I seen another video that said you should use no chemicals on reels because the fish will smell it and not bite. Any help is appreciated.

I have a penn 165 that is about half as corroded as the one in the video. The inner part of the frame right by the spool is the worst part. If I wind up accidentally taking off the chrome plating, could I get away with cold bluing that area?

nice guided vedio I service my all reels

Water Displacement 40 does more harm than good if used inside the reel. It washes away the greece. It is good to wipe down the outside of the reel after use. But then oil it properly afterwards.

Mr. Dennis what brand would you recommend ? for the green pad and steel wall. Thank you in advance.

Hello Dennis. I have recently been in the market for my first baitcaster and stumbled across 2 penn peer 209 reels that were buried in the ground. Is there anything that i can do to make them functional again? I do not care what they look like at all, as a matter of fact i think the patina is beautiful on them, i just want them to be highly functioning, awesone reels. Is there anything i can do to make them work again? I have noticed that some of your viewers have been asking about the peer 109, i am assuming that is the sister model? What is the difference between the two, and do you have any videos of this reel (209, i seen you say that you don't have any of the 109)? Any help or response at all would be highly appreciated as i have zero knowledge of this reel at all. Is it a good reel, what was it used for, when was it made, is it collectible, can i use it for catfishing monster cats? Any information you could provide would absolutely make my day. I was going to buy a couple of abu garcia 6500 c3 catfish specials, but it would make me so much happier if i could use these instead. Is that possible?

What about using a dremel tool with a wire wheel brush ? Would that work or would it scratch the chrome?

Hi Dennis. I've found your videos to be very helpful. I have a recurring problem with old Penn reels that I have acquired (like the surfmaster, 500, and squidder) where the reel handle side plate has corroded in place. As you know for these reels the side plate twists on and is held fast by a finger screw. I also have the opposite problem for a surfmaster where the handle side plate will fit into, but not twist into the grooves of, the side plate. Any thoughts? I don't want to take overly drastic measures that will just ruing the reel. Thank you!

What do you recommend for restoring the plastic? I picked one up in perfect working order but looks like it's sun baked on both sides of the plastic.

Brownells Alumhyde would work for a finish with the metal parts.

Can you do this with brass reels? I have a couple 80s tht are pretty old. I got them used. They have some minor pitting

Great great video found this channel by luck.

thanks

Dennis, I've recently acquired multiple Penn reels to add to my collection, a Peer 109 with red sideplates, and a bakelite No. 85. I don't plan on ever fishing the 85 but the 109 is in fantastic mechanical condition and as a result, I'd love to use it some day. My question is, I've heard that it is not good to put Mono on the spool, wound up, and leave it on there. I put 15lb test in the 109 and I am afraid I may warp the spool. Should I be worried?

Hello I own two penn 113h 4/0 senators... they sat around for a while some corrosion build up..I used metal wax (medium cut polish) removed mostly all corrosion after a few times...still have some tough stops...still trying...I might just use as is till I get new spools.... What are the new spools made of ? Are they made of same material? Thanks

The only way to fix this is to re-chrome plate the surfaces. In some cases its worth it if the reel is expensive.

I have the same reel in perfect condition

great tips but I thought you said just buy a new reel

So the toilet bowl cleaner takes off the chrome finish?

Esse deu trabalho 😅

what about using a clear coating?

you can get muriatic acid for pools or masonry cleaning pretty cheap but it may be more concentrated hydrochloric acid than drain cleaner

I would sand it...down to make look nice..n spray it with clear..

After the corrosion is removed and the chrome gone then spray with clear epoxy. This stops the corrosion returning.

Do you let people send you reel to fix and do you have a address to send too

What about rechroming

In spanish please I'm owner of a level wind 9

Yeah but you can re-chrome call the parts that had chrome on them not a big issue.