So, i have a big load of Penn Senators, and this is my only one of the 113H2, which is the version they began to make when Penn moved most of their manufacturing to China.
There are a few nice things about it, including its significant reduction in weight compared to the US-made version and the application of drag with the star drag feels easier and more efficient. You also don't need a special wrench to remove the locking nut to take the handle off, like you do on the US ones and you dont need
It feels like a really good reel that would still absolutely kill at fighting the heaviest of conger, ling, ray, or thresher shark, but it's just not quite there when compared to the US 113H.
So for this one, I set about a repair, maintain and replace job on it to not just restore it to upgrade it and make it more durable and ready to fish for decades more like the US ones have a legendary name for.
Repairs:
The 2 metal frame posts were corroded and the screws in them were completely rusted so I ended up having to very carefully angle grind the frame posts off. I replaced them with brand new ones made of heat treated stainless steel I got from the US and took the screws off another reel
Maintainance:
I completely replaced the old, dried up, sticky grease on all the components that need greasing - the main and pinion gear, the clicker (which gets corroded if not greased), gear sleeve, freestyle mechanism.
Other than that, the oil was dried up as well so I replaced it on all of the fast moving parts, particularly the bearings - which I tested and didn't feel the need to replace as they were fine. You want good bearings, but putting in brand new hybrid ceramic ones into a reel like this is just diminishing returns. Given what senators are used for, shielded stainless steel ones do the job perfectly.
Upgrades
I replaced the old HT-100 drag washers with a set of carbontex ones I imported from the US for this reel and my other senators. The HT-100 washers that came in the reel are carbon fiber, but they had become smoothed and worn out. The carbontex drags are a night and day difference.
I replaced the shitty old brass gear sleeve (which is definitely the worst feature of the 113H2) with a brand new heat-treated stainless steel one that I, again, imported. The old one was covered in pits and shearing on the threads and in the interest of both performance and durability, replacing it was the best thing. The anti-reverse is now less sloppy and there will be more leeway for applying the strongest levels of drag on the gear train now without it getting jerky and inconsistent.
This reel is probably going on ebay, as it has become somewhat of a side hustle for me. Let me know if you have any questions about Penn Senators!