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Mounting & connecting wall-phones...

Started by twocvbloke, January 12, 2012, 01:56:20 AM

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twocvbloke

I've been looking at some Cortelco "small" wallphones on ebay recently, and, I've noticed that they all seem to have a plug on the back, rather than a socket as a Brit like me would expect, and as it seems that the matching sockets are pretty much US-only fitments, then, it wouldn't be easy to mount as is... ???

Soooo, is it possible to rewire these phones by removing the sliding plug on the back, and fitting either a socket somehow, or fitting it with a hard-wired line cord in a similar manner to converted GPO phones (as in, spades at one end, BT431A or RJ11 at the other)? Then mounting it by using it's normal hanging methods?  ???

I just fancy having a kitchen phone, and those small wallphones with the G-type handsets look perfect, rather than some cheap modern generic bleepy-toned ringer thing from Argos... :D

Willytx

It would be easier to get the US style wall mount rather than convert the phone. They are small enough to fit into a small padded envelope. Having a standard wall mount would allow you to swap out your collection of American wall phones with the seasons.

Here's a photo of one.

twocvbloke

Yeah, I've seen those on ebay too, but the problem is that US wall plates are a different shape and size to UK back boxes, so I'd have to get additional hardware to fit one, and I don't think the landlord would be too happy with me cutting a hole in the kitchen wall and then leaving it open if or when we move out... :-\

G-Man

Quote from: twocvbloke on January 12, 2012, 01:56:20 AM
I've been looking at some Cortelco "small" wallphones on ebay recently, and, I've noticed that they all seem to have a plug on the back, rather than a socket as a Brit like me would expect, and as it seems that the matching sockets are pretty much US-only fitments, then, it wouldn't be easy to mount as is... ???

Soooo, is it possible to rewire these phones by removing the sliding plug on the back, and fitting either a socket somehow, or fitting it with a hard-wired line cord in a similar manner to converted GPO phones (as in, spades at one end, BT431A or RJ11 at the other)? Then mounting it by using it's normal hanging methods?  ???

I just fancy having a kitchen phone, and those small wallphones with the G-type handsets look perfect, rather than some cheap modern generic bleepy-toned ringer thing from Argos... :D

You can easily install it in the manner that you described in your post.

If your inside wiring is concealed inside of an outlet box, the foot-print of  a modular wall jack will allow you to mount it with the two screws that are normally used to attach the wallplate or if you prefer, to surface mount it.



dpaynter1066

The us adaptor plate is held  by  top and  bottom vertical screws.
Its flat in the rear except in the very middle where the wires connect to the modular with screw connections. two vertical studs support the phone on the front.

Take a flat piece of reasonably stout scrap sheet metal, trim, mark and drill it to fit your British outlet, then drill a hole in the center for the back of the modular to poke through and mark and drill it to fit the USA plate's vertical screws.  don't drill too big a hole for the USA screws, they have to grip the sheet metal. lead your phone line through the hole and mount your plate to your outlet.

After connecting the modular to your wire, use self tapping or wood screws to then mount the USA adaptor to your intermediate plate on your wall, or just carefully glue a machine screw nut to the back of the plate hole if not sturdy enough to hold the phones weight with a tapping screw.

If the British opening is larger in some dimension than the USA plate, no problems. paint any sheet metal showing to match the wall. or disguise it as you please.

If the British opening is smaller, and the USA screws go over into the plaster/woodwork etc. then just make the plate out of nice thicker plywood or a handsome hardwood suchlike instead to match up as needed  and overlap over onto the wall. paint it black or whatever hides it the best.

then use  short self tapping or wood screws to mount the us adaptor on top of your mounted  plate. 

end result should be the adaptor flush to the wall , unobtrusive and tasteful, firmly mounted, no gaps showing and easy to undo when desired.  You will like the USA mount, it's easy to swap out the phone with another when the mood strikes.

twocvbloke

That's a great suggestion, but the problem is, the phone wiring in this house is surface-mount (it's kind of tough drilling through 18 inch thick stone walls!!), so the phone sockets in this house have to be surface mounted too, though the kitchen is yet to have any phone wiring fitted cos the extension phone wires only go to two sockets so far, I've yet to decide how to wire into the kitchen... ???

I'll have to look at the available wall-phone jacks to see what could be used here in the UK, in conjunction with a UK line cable with a BT plug on the end so I can remove it if need be... :)

AE_Collector

Most US phones that have the plug on the back will be able to have the plug removed and be converted to a modular cord. Some later AE models that originally had the "sliding plug" were changed to having a built in jack/socket and then a 6 inch modular cord was plugged into the phone base so that the other end could be inserted into the wall jack.

Terry

twocvbloke

Yeah, I'm sure I saw somewhere a socket that fitted in the slot on wall phones somewhere, but that was probably last year when I wasn't really looking at phones from over the pond, so haven't a clue what I'd be searching for... ???

Still, at least I know that I could at least just wire in a regular cord, if all else fails... :)

GG



Yo Twocvbloke: 18" thick stone walls:  Make us all green with envy over here, eh?  If you saw how our houses are built you'd laugh.  Ever hear of something called "sheet rock"?  It's 1/2" to 1" of plaster between two layers of cardboard.  So we put up a "stud wall" that's framed in 2x4 timber (more like 1-5/8" x 3-3/4" but who's complaining?), and we screw sheet rock to each side of it, and that's a "wall."   In apartments you can overhear your neighbors' conversations, television, etc. 

Anyway, so here's how to get phone wiring into the kitchen and be able to remove it if/when you move out:

Look for these little square thingies that consist of a square of plastic (anywhere from 1/2" square to 1" square) that has double-sided foam mounting tape on the rear, and little slots in the raised area in the front.  These are intended to enable you to stick them on walls (sheet rock walls, but will probably work on stone surfaces, plus or minus lifting off the paint when you remove them), and then use a zip-tie through the little slot to tie down telephone and data cable on top. 

If your landlord is picky, just use one of these in each corner of the room to keep the wiring close to the wall.  Yes the wiring will droop in the middle, that can't be helped, but at least it's easy to remove. 

For permanent installations of surface wiring we usually use "Wiremold" or similar, which is metal or plastic (your choice) duct that is mounted with the foam tape on the back (which we supplement with drywall screws), and looks "similar to" wall baseboard molding.  This stuff comes in various sizes and there are also corner transition pieces made.  It looks OK in a commercial setting, not exactly residential aesthetic but can always be painted over.   In a residential setting the best bet for that stuff might be to use it in a corner.  The very smallest variants of that are not too obtrusive though.

I would suggest using a rectangle of 3/4" thick plywood as the surface upon which to mount your modular wall jack.  Attach it to the wall mounting box and then attach the jack to it.   

GG


Here's what I'd did once I had that plywood rectangle on the wall at another place where I lived years ago:

Obtain modular wall phone.

Gently de-modularize it by removing the modular thingie from the backside; this is not difficult, they can be popped inward. 

Get a short length of modular cord and put spade lugs on the center pair of one end.  Connect the spade lugs to where the Red and Green wires from the original wall jack are connected (you may need to remove those before you can stick your new ones on the terminals).  The end with the plug coming out hangs below the phone, a few inches should be sufficient.

Mount the phone on the wall.  Mount a modular deskphone jack below it.  Plug it in.  Done. 

The advantage of this configuration is, you can install a short mod cord in any wallphone you buy, mount the wallphone per its standard practices, and then plug it into the little mod jack below it. 

When I did this, funnily enough, the wallphone in question was a GPO 711 in two-tone gray.  So needless to say I didn't need to de-modularize it, just mount the T-bracket on the wall for it (IMHO a very clever system for mounting wallphones; better than what we do here) and add a short length of mod cord to plug it in. 

twocvbloke

Yeah, we have that sheetrock stuff here, we call it plasterboard generally, compressed or liquidised gypsum sandwiched between card sheets, the walls in the kitchen (being a 20th century add-on extension) are made from those, and I've seen how houses in the US are made, wood frames and cladding, it's no wonder hurricanes blow whole neighbourhoods down... :D
(although that's not a laughing matter, it does make me wonder!!!)

Usually wiring here in the UK in old houses like this is tacked along the skirting (base) boards, and around the doorframes, the standard 4-wire UK cables are pretty small so usually not noticeable, it's just the length of time it takes to tack it all in place, and I'd have to add an extra junction box somewhere cos I don't fancy putting in another wire from the master socket from where I put it... :D

At least I don't have to buy new phone cable, the mother's ex was a BT engineer until made redundant, so he always had telephone cable lying about, so I nabbed a reel, and his BT krone tool (even though I have my own!!), forgot the clips though, but they're plentiful in DIY places...  ;D

I don't think the landlord would be too bothered about me adding telephone sockets, after all, there were only two when we moved here, and they were for some reason both NTE5 Master sockets on one line (not good), there's now three (1x Master, 2x extensions), it's just mounting up and connecting a US type wall-phone that they wouldn't like too much because of the differences in the sockets & back boxes and the potential alterations, but I now know I can work with a US phone with some minor modification... :)

The usual method for mounting modern phones in the UK is to just put in two or three screws in the wall and hang your phone off them, no wall sockets behind the phone or anything, and just plug the phone in the nearest socket, but we lack a nearest socket so I need to sort that out first before anything really... :D

twocvbloke

Well, I'll be getting this phone here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330651382323
(it's still an active listing, but, it's not an auction as there's more than one for sale)

A Cortelco 255447-VBA-20M, in red, not really vintage, but at least it's based on the same technology as developed by Western Electric... :)

Won't be getting it for about a month, as a friend in the states has got it for me (aswell as getting some vac parts too, cos they're helpful like that!!), but at least it gives me time to put in a line to the kitchen in the meantime... ;D

Obligatory pictures if the listing ends and disappears off the web:

Willytx

You might look for one of these phone shelves. It give the phone the old time 'it belongs' look.

If it was mine, I would still wire up a standard wall mount, rather than later the phone.

twocvbloke

Yeah, looks like an idea I'd think of, but the position I've decided to mount the phone is a bit too narrow to take a phone shelf like that... :(

As for altering (I presume "later" was a typo!!), it'll be a sympathetic affair, rather than just butchering to fit it where it's not quite suited... :)

twocvbloke

Well, I got word that the phone arrived at my friend's place, and they say it's like new, barely a mark on it, aside form some slight marking where it sits in the cradle, which is to be expected, so, I can't wait to get the phone...  ;D