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Fixing a Distorted coiled Handset Cord.

Started by Dan/Panther, October 17, 2008, 12:20:15 AM

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Dan/Panther

Spray it with "Armoral", "Son Of A Gun" or a like product, may soften it up a bit.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Dennis Markham

Greg, in my experiment(s) I didn't actually boil the cords but poured boiling water over them while they were on the dowel.

McHeath

I'm cooking a distorted black 1960 handset cord right now in an attempt to get it back to some springiness.  Here it is in the oven:



Dennis Markham

Heath, I didn't think to suspend it from above.  Good idea.  I did another one a few days ago and didn't get real good results.  But I'm going to give it a shot again....before it warms up too much outside.  Let us know how that one turns out,  please.

Dan/Panther

Best luck I've had so far was the dashboard/freezer method.
Wrapped aropund a dowel, placed on dashboard for a week, put in freezer overnight. However that is pretty much a summer system.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

McHeath

Okay here is a picture of the finished cord.  It came out quite well and it looks good.  The coils are much tighter and it retracts, albeit slowly.  Since it's for a lightly used desk phone this was a great fix, and I think it will be successful on a couple of other distorted cords I have.  Wonder if it would work on modular cords? 

Dennis Markham

Heath, how long did you bake it?  What temp?  Then the freezer??

McHeath

Bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours. 

Place in freezer for 4 hours.

Allow to adjust to room temperature, 1 hour.

Serves one.
:)


Firefyter-Emt

Well, I gave this a shot myself.  I had picked up a new desk cord for my WE500, but felt that the cord was a bit too hard, and a bit short at my desk.  The old one was decent, but had some stretched spots and one or two reverse twists.  I let it sit for about three hours at 250 and will bring it in tomorrow.  It's snowing right now so I have it inside a length of PVC pipe. 

We shall see, this is a newer cord with a 71 date stamp.

Firefyter-Emt

Well, after digging the cord out of a foot of snow, I unwrapped the cord and it looks great! (Wish I had remembered how much of that cord protector stuck out of the head set.  I have a zip-tie mark on it now)   :-\

Oddly though, I have some light static on the line now??  Any thoughts?   It might just be the lines, we did get a foot of snow today...   ???

Dennis Markham

If your cord's internal wires are wet or have moisture I would think it could produce static.  I'm thinking more in line with your foot of snow and some external static.  Try a different phone if you have one.  If it's your cord, just let it dry out good.

Better you than us (snow).  For once we dodged the bullet here in Michigan.

Firefyter-Emt

Well I found the problem, I had re-wired my phone system this weekend with new boxes and that new flush mount wall outlet I picked up.   I have DSL internet,  so filters are needed on the phone lines. Although I had a filter in the DSL line with one end going to my fax and the other to my cordless phone, the Bell phone was picking up feed back from the DSL.  I just added some more filters and the line has cleared up now. 

Here is how the cord came out.  It was not too badly stretched, but  the ends were a bit rough and there were a few reverse twists that would not "un-twist" without looking messed up.  So far with a full day's use, it is holding up well and is long enough to not have to be pulled. The replacement cord was a bit too short for my desk (it's 36" deep) Now I can use the phone without moving the phone closer to me.

Now my phone cord was not "shot" but it fixed the messed up coils 100% and the cord looks new now so I am very happy!



Firefyter-Emt

Thanks guys, I appreciate the post as I would not of thought of doing this myself.  This cord is perfect at my desk both in length and elasticity. In fact I am on hold with the phone tucked on my shoulder as I type)

The phone is a 1958 and "might" of been tan once.  The dial has a marking that listed it as being tan, but all the phone internals have matching numbers.  The cord is a 72 and the headset innards are 60 & 61 so who knows.  The dial could be a red hearing, but with everything number matching, I would be supprised that they put a used dial into the phone, changed the ring to black, and matched down to the month!

It is in wonderful shape and just a mild cleaning with Simichrome was done.  As I have posted before, the best part is the original thick cord and 4-prong bakelite plug that was on it.  I paid about $20.00 for the phone on e-bay.

KeithB

#43
Tonight I came upon a PDF file documenting how these cords are manufactured.  I thought it would be a good addition to this thread.

The most telling paragraph is at the bottom of the first page:
QuoteFinally, the cords are tightly wound on a steel rod and baked for 8 minutes in an oven at 268 degrees Fahrenheit to permanently set their coiled shape. Additional spring comes when the coils are re-wound in the opposite direction, causing internal stresses in the plastic jacket which result in a uniform, long lasting spring action.

<Anatomy of a Springcord>

Dennis Markham

Thanks Keith.  A nice document.  I guess we were on the right track with our baking method(s).