A dirty old Black GPO 706...

[gpo706]

Congrats twocvbloke .. Nice project..

Thanks, should be a simple cleanup, assuming it hasn't been underwater or something...

It's a blank plate 2CV, my red GEC made one came with it, and curiously thicker handset cord, the GEC cord makes the GPO one look positively emaciated!

Hmm, I wonder if it's a GEC model then...

The handset cables on my green Mk1 746 and my Manual 706 are somewhat thicker than the rest of my phones, thought they're both by Plessey (746 by Plessey of Speke (SPK), the 706 by Plessey in Ilford (PL)) rather than GEC...

Apologies, you are quite correct 2CV just looked at the base and it's a PL61/2!

[twocvbloke]

Apologies, you are quite correct 2CV just looked at the base and it's a PL61/2!

Same as my Manual 706, I wonder if they were production line siblings...

[Matilo Telephones]

Good link 2cvbloke. I know Sams site, but had read this bit yet.

[twocvbloke]

Sam's site is pretty impressive, and has quite the list of N-Diagrams (the GPO equivalent to the BSPs) available aswell, which is helpful when trying to rewire phones back to what they should have been prior to the need for conversion to BT standards...

[twocvbloke]

Well, it arrived today, the packing leaves a lot to be desired, but thankfully the phone survived!!

The first thing to note about the phone's handset, it's thick, it's brittle, it's pretty shiny in places, it's, well, it's Diakon (Type 12 Plastic)!!! There's a couple of minor injuries in the handset onto which the receiver cap screws onto, being Diakon (better known as Perspex), it's chipped off in  a couple of spots, pretty much where the spring ring sits and locks onto, one piece is missing, the other came out as I removed the cap, so I can probably glue that back on!! 

The shell unfortunately isn't Diakon, it's ABS (Type 17 Plastic), most likely replaced when the Diakon was chipped or broken, not really an issue though, just so long as it cleans up nicely...

Inside was a bit spooky though, plenty of fine cobwebs and dessicated baby spider bodies all over, looks okay in there though, just needs a clean up...

The dial, I love it!! It's pretty much all metal and is heavy, makes the lighter weight dials of the 746 (particularly the ones made in the 1980s) look like a fisher price toy phone, the fingerwheel has a nice metal hub for bolting it onto the mechanism, and the label cover is one thick piece of plastic, thicker than the lenses in my glasses!!

And as per usual, the phone has had it's tail docked in the past, there's a stub of a line cable there (looks as though it was a fairly chunky one too), brutally chopped off by someone who couldn't face picking up a screwdriver and removing it, so will need one of those fitting, the handset cable is al there though, not tested it electrically yet, but looks pretty good, a little stretched out but they tend to be that way anyway, seems a bit longer than my manual 706 too...

I do have pics, but I've not finished taking them, they'll be up when I'm a little more awake...

[twocvbloke]

Well, I've given it a sanitation wash, I think I need to soak some of the parts in something a little longer than I did (I was worried about the schematic peeling off inside the phone), but it has cleaned up pretty well, and the differences between the ABS and Diakon is pretty obvious, the ABS has a duller finish to it post0wash (I'm sure a polish can fix that), whereas the diakon, as has been stated by other people, has kept a nice shine to it, even after about 50 years and a wash...

Upon dismantling the phone, I found  living creature inside, I think it was a small moth, but as I saw it fly toward my face and not knowing what was coming toward me I swatted it off to the side and it went for my window, dunno if it's still there (should be, my window's taped shut for the winter!!!), but I'm not going to go investigate!!

Anyway, after a wash, dust & de-web and a lube job (for the dial, of course), it's come up nicely, like I say it needs a bit more, but so far I'm happy with it, even the handset cable is nice and clean after a soak in a little Daz washing powder in warm water, needs a dowel treatment, but for now it's good, well, visually, have yet to wire the phone up to test it...

Anyway, some pics:

[twocvbloke]

And a few more with the finished (sort of) product:

[Matilo Telephones]

Great job, 2cvbloke. I enjoyed reading that.

I hope to get myself a red one one day. Maybe next year, when I´ll be in England for vacation.

What is that transparent electronic part in the middle of the 3rd pic. That part with the blue lettering?

[gpo706]

Its a Regulator No.1 - see here:

http://www.samhallas.co.uk/collection/bits_706_3.htm

"Early regulators had clear glass lamps. Of course they glow a dull red as the line current passes through them. The story goes that nervous customers telephoning in the dark saw the phone glowing and dunked it in a bucket of water thinking it was on fire. Whether this is true or not, all later lamps were painted black."

Never seen an unpainted one before!

[david@london]

....photo of lamp illuminated in darkened room pls, so we can judge whether it is a fire hazard.
gd to hear at least half of the phone is diakon.............& 1962 ?

[twocvbloke]

The regulator lamps are pretty much redundant these days, as the exchange hardware regulates the amperage going down the line to the phone, whereas the mechanical days, the lines weren't as regulated and could sent a lot of power down to a phone and cause these lamps (as they basically are bulbs, the ones in later phones like the 746 are basically 2 fairy lights back to back!!) to illuminate...

Forgot to mention that it employs escutcheons to hold the case on, rather than having a carrying handle (plastic or metal), that said, I still have the carrying handle I bought for the manual, so, I could fit that and store the escutcheons inside the phone somewhere, and I also forgot to mention, there's no feet, but again, the other 706 can help there as it doesn't need them being configured to be a wall phone...

gd to hear at least half of the phone is diakon.............& 1962 ?

Yep, the phone appears to be mostly of 1962 manufacture, like my other 706, it's from Plessey of Ilford (makes me wonder if they only made the 706 phones initially), and being partly Diakon makes me happy, at least it has no odd smells like Tenite does!!

Never seen an unpainted one before!

Yes you have, last picture in this post here of my manual 706!!!:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=7191.msg80876#msg80876

[Contempra]

Great job twocvbloke... its better than before ...this creature who was Inside, may be a SQUATTER .. now this creature SQUATTE your house ..

[twocvbloke]

Well, given that it was a small moth, it'll probably be dead in no time, unless it's a cloth-eating moth, which would be annoying...

[Contempra]

twocvbloke

[Matilo Telephones]

It was very interesting reading about that regulator. We don't have these here and I've never seen one before.

I think it would be very cool to see a 60's telephone glow red in the dark.