SC 1212 fatboy arrived underweight

[TelePlay]

It looked good in the eBay photos:  http://tinyurl.com/6e8px46

Seems to have been painted since the cream color is off in places showing shiny black underneath and the cream finish has surface dust in the paint.

This phone has the long plunger and the old style handset teeters on it when on hook.

Opened it up and what a surprise. The base said the network was replaced in 1991 and that was an understatement.

The red coil fits neatly into the housing to ring the bell but what are the 11 thin metal pieces I found floating around the inside (they seem to be magnetic for they stick to the coil housing.

The dial, base, handset, gasket and body are in great shape. But, the fatboy was a bit on the light side when it comes to the network and ringer.

Haven't tested the phone yet but probably will before I open up the electrical tape package inside.

Any suggestions on what to do about the network and ringer? Are replacements easy to find? Is it worth it? And what are those 11 rectangular pieces of metal?

[rdelius]

The metal strips are the core for the ringer coil.Stack them on top of each other and put through the ringer coil.Screws hold them down to the ringer assy.
robby

[dsk]

Still congratulations:
Quite a job to strip for paint, but it seems to be a nice phone.
My guess is; the taped unit is a mini-network. The transformer in the end, and a printed board, a littel wider in one end.

I'm quite sure the red coil belongs to the ringer, and the bars should be the core in the coil, fixed  in the ends to 2 points in the ringer.

What to do? If you want it back to original, you have to replace the ringer and network. The mini-network will probably be as good as the original, but not that solid. The ringer is a single gong, and will give wrong sound when ringing. Only collectors will notice.

Keep us updated, you cant give it up now  

dsk

[LarryInMichigan]

John,

I recently bought a ringer for a 1212 from Steve Hilsz.  He may have an inductor coil and condenser also.  I expect that you should be able to obtain a newer style handset without much trouble.  I do not know about finding a replacement shorter plunger.  If you decide to replace the handset, keep the old one as they are a bit difficult to find in good condition.

You should be able to remove the paint with stripper.  I use 3M "Safest Stripper", which I know is safe on bakelite, but other people have used Citristrip.


Larry