AT&T 500

[liteamorn]

I just picked up a beige AT&T 500DM circa 1980 from Craigslist for $10.00. The phone looks real good and works perfectly. The dial is smooth and it is all modular.

The dial seems to be a little off color from the rest of the phone but the numbers and letters are in fine condition.  I am going to try to clean it up. Do you guys think it was a good deal?

I figured I have waisted a lot more than $10.00 on things a lot less memorable.

So what say you guys, good deal? Is there anything I should try to use to clean up the dial? I am going to remove the finger wheel and add a dial card when I clean the dial.

Thanks

[liteamorn]

Upon further review
I opened it up this morning and found some interesting dates. The network is a from 9/60

I think I found a date on the ringer transformer , it is stamped II 60 and over that is C4A

The dial is dated 4/66

The receiver is dated 1980 while the mic is dated 72

I'm thinking I have a 1960 phone, maybe refurbed in 66, 72 and finally 1980

The dialer has a slightly different sound than my NOS 1973 WE 554, and the clicks heard when I dial it are louder and more pronounced (through the earpiece).

Frankenphone?

[Adam]

The definition of Frankenphone has been hotly debated, here and on other telephone collector's forum.

IMHO, a phone is only a frankenphone when it was put together with parts that do not belong with each other, done by a telephone non-professional.

What you appear to have is a telephone that was legitimately refurbished by AT&T from a phone that came from service in the Bell System.  Not original to the earliest date of its parts, but, in my opinion, not a frankenphone.

If it looks nice, $10 is a great price.  What color is it?

[liteamorn]

The body case is in great shape, the dial seems to have a slightly different tint to it than the body (only visable under bright light). It is beige. I have to get a couple of dial cards for both of my rotary phones.

[jsowers]

It's possible that the phone is painted, so only the dial face faded. Do you see a sort of orange-peel texture to the plastics? Or is it different looking in the places where it normally wears? That would be the switchhook and the spots on the handset that contact the switchhook.

I've seen plenty of painted phones over the years. Some paint is thin and easily removed with denatured alcohol. Other paint, which is likely Polane, is thick and hard to remove. Sometimes they even painted new plastics. But they can't paint the number ring/dial face.

Most of the modular phones seem to be refurbs with parts dated from all over and the plastics usually date to the time of refurb. Often there's a sticker on the bottom with the date of refurb, but it can easily fall off. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, they must've had a huge stockpile of returned phones and they recycled like crazy.

It's not a Frankenphone. Just a refurb. I bet it works like new too.

Here's the Number Card Archive site. You can print a blank one out or, if you're handy with Photoshop, change one around to have your home number on it.

http://www.telephonearchive.com/numbercards/we/we_blanks_forms.html

[liteamorn]

Very cool site Jonathan!
Looking deeper into the phone I think that the shell case is new during the last refurb (10/80), it does not appear to be painted. The handset does appear to be repainted, the engraving"Bell Systems Property, Western Electric" seems to be covered in a thick paint. The paint job on the handset is a great job because outside of that You can't really tell. I think that if I removed the paint on it the color would resemble the dial. I wonder if I could get a beige replacement #'s ring for the dial if it would look even better. i don't want to replace the entire dial as this one is the one I remember as a kid, it whirs a little more and the clicks are very audible in the receiver.

[GG]

I would suggest just giving it a good clean and not trying to strip any painted parts.  Use a clean rag dampened with soapy water, and a soft toothbrush for corners, also with soapy water.  Alternately use Windex.  But don't use any scrubbing cleansers, and don't soak any working parts, and do dry it all up when you're done, using a clean dry rag. 

The loud clicks in the receiver are most likely due to the dial's off-normal contacts or wiring being incorrect.  First check the wiring.  The two white wires from the dial should be connected to the same terminals on the network, as the white and green wires from the handset jack (or two white wires from the handset jack).  If they are, then look at the back of the dial, and gently remove the dust cover.

On #7 dials, the dust cover is transparent and attached with two screws; on #9 dials it is translucent and snaps into place so it can be pried off easily enough.  Look for the contacts that are associated with the two white wires on the dial, and see that they close completely when the dial is turned (the impulse contacts are the other set of contacts, that are associated with a little rotor that spins rather quickly). 

If they don't close completely, then: with the dial partially wound up (e.g. dial 3 and stick a pencil eraser in a hole behind the fingerstop to keep it there), use a finger and gently press one of the off-normal contacts toward the other, and then press the other contact inward toward the first. 

Then also, take a piece of plain clean paper and insert it between the contacts, and rub it around slightly e.g. by pulling it back and forth between the contacts.  This will clean any surface dust or film (as might result from use in a humid environment) off those contacts.   

Lastly, remove the pencil eraser and let the dial return normally.  Now go test and see if those pesky loud clicks are gone.  When all's working, you should hear very faint clicks in the background, or more or less silence, while dialing.

[liteamorn]

Thanks GG, I will clean it up and check the dial to see what I can find, again Thanks for the helpful tips.