How can you tell if its "soft plastic"?

[Karen]

I read online something about a "cheesy" smell, but since I have almost no sense of smell that doesnt work for me.  I just got a 58 Monophone in pink that has a really different looking body to me.  Its thicker and seems a little more pliable than the other 500s Ive gotten. 

I hear people throw the term "soft plastic" around a lot and Im wonder if maybe this is it?  Is it better/worse? More valuable? 

[Phonesrfun]

What you have there is an Automatic Electric (AE) 80, and I suspect it's hard plastic.  The cheesy plastic is usually the Tenite plastic of the Western Electric 302's, 5302's, and very early 500's, and I have only seen the cheesy ones in black. 

If you had one each of hard and soft plastic in each hand you would easily be able to tell the difference, but it is hard to explain in written form.

[Karen]

Did AE buy Monophone or something? Its says its monophone on the bottom...

[AE_Collector]

Not so fast there Bill. AE used soft plastic in its early black and colored platic phones as well. A 1958 AE 80 could well be soft plastic.

I agree that it is hard to explain the difference. I usually find that the soft plastic just doesn't shine quite as well as hard plastic does. Also if you rap something against the case the soft plastic has more of a dull thus than hard plastic.

Monophone is AE's trademark name (or maybe just a marketing name) for their phones that have a handset rather than a seperate receiver and transmitter. "Mono" as in single rather than two piece. Everything from the 1926 AE 1A on was a Monophone but that terminology eventually faded out soon after the AE 80's and AE 90's were introduced.

Terry

[Karen]

Well it def feels different. And its much thicker.  I wonder.....   

[AE_Collector]

Take the cover off the base and get someone else to smell it! Ask them if it smells like cheese going bad in the fridge.

Soft plastic was thicker but it may have stayed thicker initially even when they switched to hard plastic (ABS).

Terry

[JorgeAmely]

This phone could be all soft plastic due to its age. I have seen many where the numbers wheel alone is soft and the rest of the body all ABS or hard plastic.

You could tap it with your nail or place the handset on the cradle: if made of hard plastic the sound will be sharp. If made of soft plastic, the sound will be slightly muted.

The smell is also a good indication. However, wash the plastic parts well before doing a sniff test to make sure your nose is not being fooled.

Congrats on the pink phone. It looks very nice and it is equipped with the nice chromed card retainer. And as a bonus, you got a straight line ringer.

[Karen]

How do you know its a straight line ringer by looking at it?? That dial with the 0-4 on the back?? I thought that was a volume adj at first since Ive seen one like that on another phone, but maybe Im wrong. (very likely

[Phonesrfun]

The dial with the numbers on it is for line compensation, and while it is near the ringe, it has no ringing function.  AE had manual compensation units before they came out with self compensating units.

[AE_Collector]

The CXX code indicates that it had no ringer when it left the AE factory. The fact that someone wrote SL on the bottom is a pretty good indicator that it had a Straight Line ringer installed later.

The dial with 0 - 4 is to adjust the current flow based on the distance from the CO to the phone. It is known as a "Manual Compensator". Very soon after this phone was made they came up with "Automatic Compensation" rather than Manual Compensation so the 0 - 4 dial went away on newer phones.  <Like Bill Said!>

Terry

[Karen]

You guys know soo much about this stuff.  Im jealous.  But learning a little bit at a time.

[LarryInMichigan]

The AE80s that I have from that period are soft plastic.  From the phones that I have, it looks like AE switched to ABS just after WE.  That is a nice looking phone.  I have been looking for early color AE80s.  The early ones have the chrome dial center ring and the fat rubber feet.  The really early ones have no stress relief sleeve on the handset cord.

Larry

[JorgeAmely]

How do you know its a straight line ringer by looking at it?? That dial with the 0-4 on the back?? I thought that was a volume adj at first since Ive seen one like that on another phone, but maybe Im wrong. (very likely

I think AE SL ringers always had volume adjustment wheels. It is the white disk partially visible in the picture.

[stub]

Karen,
             The frequency ringer is on the top and straight line, with the volume wheel, is on the bottom. If the label ,showing the ringer info, is gone you can tell the difference that way. You should fix up a cord for checking the ringers because some of the frequency ringers will still work.  The ringing voltage is AC, about 90 volts, at 20 hertz and it will bite if you are touching the wire when the phone rings. stub

[Vern P]

I don't know much about AE or Kellogg, but both did use the "soft" plastic".

In the WE 500 and 554, pre mid 1959 are the soft ones.
Some of the things to look for are.

#1 On the Rec. cap, it has 6 holes, no center hole. The trans. cap has no center hole too.  The date is "stamped in ink" on the inside of the cap and the back bone of the hand set.

#2 The dates are "stamped in ink" on the inside. On the 500, it is on the front edge, and most of the time can bee seen from the out side, by looking at the gap on the front edge.  On the 554, the date is on the side and can't be seen unless the housing is removed.

#3 Tap the housing. The soft one will sound "dull" the later hard one will sound more "sharp"

#4 The date on the later "hard" ones are molded in to the part.

#4  OH yes the smell. I too don't smell it to well, but sometimes I can. But  most of the time I look for the other "markings"

Vern P

PS: Great find !!!