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White 10 Button Trimline from eBay

Started by WEBellSystemChristian, January 08, 2018, 05:55:01 PM

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WEBellSystemChristian

I bought this nice 1220 Trimline from eBay last week. This one was sold alongside the Turquoise 1554 that was a recent Auction Contest (link: www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=19490.0 ), and I didn't think I'd win it, but I ended up snatching it for $70 plus shipping.

www.ebay.com/itm/352242319109

It came today, and it's about what I expected. It has a 1967 handset, along with a replacement 1971 base (which I don't mind...Trimline handsets were routinely switched out). There are a few cracks along the side of the handset shell, next to the faceplate, but those will go away with Acetone. And yes, it's as filthy and yellowed as it is in the picture. But, hey, it's a 10 button Trimline! Can't argue with that!

P.S; sorry about the strobing effect in these pictures. They usually don't show, other than when I use the white background and have a lighter colored phone pictured!
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

zenithchromacolor

I'm the one who sold that phone. I purchased it a while ago at the estate sale of a former Bell Telephone employee. It was even dirtier when I got it. I cleaned it up a bit so I could touch it without needing to wash my hands, but never made more progress in restoring it. Based on some of your past projects, it should be in good hands. Good luck with the restoration, I look forward to seeing it look like new again.


WEBellSystemChristian

Wow, that phone was really dirty before! :o I tried to get some of the other phones you had for sale, without much luck! Great examples you had for sale! ;)
What did you use to clean the handset cord off? I'm trying to remove the rest of the black junk with Denatured Alcohol, without much luck.

I tried to take the handset apart to get it ready for peroxide, but I decided it was too complicated, and I would end up breaking or losing something in the process. Besides, there are at least two ink markings on the lower half that could risk getting destroyed in Peroxide (even with a coating of Vaselene), so I'm going to semi-wetsand the faded plastic down to White. I'm only using a drop of water each time I lay the paper down, to avoid soaking the innards, faceplate, and ink markings. The rest of the phone will be dunked in peroxide for a long, long time! :)
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

WEBellSystemChristian

I also forgot to mention that I found a date on the shell for the housing (upper half): 1970. :-\ That only makes the lower half of the handset original.

At least the dates are in pretty close proximity--1967, 1970, and 1971. There's also no way you could tell from the outside that the phone isn't dates-matching, other than the base date.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

zenithchromacolor

I used a cleaner called "Krud Kutter" on the handset cord. I spray it on in the sink and let it soak for a few minutes. The black gunk on the outside of the cord came off pretty easily by lightly rubbing the cord, it was harder to get the inside completely clean because I couldn't easily get inside the coils to rub off the dirt.

I have disassembled the handsets on these Trimline phones before and they are tricky. There are multiple buried screws, and the flexible circuit has to be bent to access some of them. I was always worried about breaking the traces on the circuit. The newer square button Trimlines are much simpler to disassemble, maybe they wanted to reduce the labor time in assembling / refurbishing them.

Sorry, but I never noticed the 70 date on the upper shell.

I had another 10-button Trimline that also had a 1967 handset and a 1971 base. I guess switching the bases was pretty easy to do.

AE_Collector

#5
Trimlines like Stylelines were always two seperate items on the shelf. Would pick a wall or desk base to go with a dial or TT handset. So, they got pretty mixed up. Our PhoneMart (TelCo store) allowed people to make whatever colour combo they wanted with Stylelines as well.

I've got a 10 button beige Trimline that I'm going to sell. Think I also have a dial and 12 button TT Trimline in the same colour so I was thinking of selling as a "3 pack".

Terry

compubit

I was following the auction and glad one of us picked it up.

Can't wait to see it!

Jim
A phone phanatic since I was less than 2 (thanks to Fisher Price); collector since a teenager; now able to afford to play!
Favorite Phone: Western Electric Trimline - it just feels right holding it up to my face!

Jester

#7
Nice buy, Christian.  I found my example(handset only) in a five gallon bucket at a flea market many years ago.  The bucket obviously had water in it, although it was dry when I fished the handaet out of it.  It was in such bad shape that I didn't rebuild it until I found a round button 2220 donor.  I was able to salvage the network, but the springs for the buttons had to be replaced in the keypad.  I didn't have a way to replace the paper cover, and reused the one from the 2220.  If I can find a scan somewhere, I intend to replace that at some point.  Since twelve button keypads came out right after the trimline was introduced, I can't imagine there are many 1220 versions out there.
Stephen

WEBellSystemChristian

Quote from: zenithchromacolor on January 08, 2018, 11:02:22 PM
I used a cleaner called "Krud Kutter" on the handset cord. I spray it on in the sink and let it soak for a few minutes. The black gunk on the outside of the cord came off pretty easily by lightly rubbing the cord, it was harder to get the inside completely clean because I couldn't easily get inside the coils to rub off the dirt.

I have disassembled the handsets on these Trimline phones before and they are tricky. There are multiple buried screws, and the flexible circuit has to be bent to access some of them. I was always worried about breaking the traces on the circuit. The newer square button Trimlines are much simpler to disassemble, maybe they wanted to reduce the labor time in assembling / refurbishing them.

Sorry, but I never noticed the 70 date on the upper shell.

I had another 10-button Trimline that also had a 1967 handset and a 1971 base. I guess switching the bases was pretty easy to do.

I was going to buy some Krud Kutter for the cord, but I found that warm water does the trick. It's pretty slow to remove, and doesn't take many other spots off, so I'll try the washing machine, which has always worked well in the past.

The circuit is already pretty fragile, so I'm going to leave it alone. I'm making great progress on the handset already, the fading is nearly gone, just from sanding. The rest will be dipped in Peroxide.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford