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New troll here... Quigglebags

Started by Quigglebags, May 10, 2012, 10:12:27 PM

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Quigglebags

Not that kind of a troll, but it's a reference from Warcraft 2, if you've played that game.

Anyway, hello everyone, my name is Quigglebags and after a long time of yearning, I finally got my hands on an old rotary dial phone. I'm 24, and I've been wanting one because they bring me back to the times when I was young and at my grandmothers house. I used to have a lot of fun just turning the dial, and surprisingly, I still have just as much fun!

My Mom picked me up a Northen Telecom Model 500 at a yard sale the other day and I was tickled pink. I'm going to upload photos tomorrow, but I just wanted to make this post because I signed up 3 days ago and haven't got around to introducing myself to ya'll yet.

I think I got lucky, it seems to be in perfect working condition for the most part. It doesn't have the number card and the wheel is tilted, but other than that the casing is is really good condition, no scrapes or cracks. I plugged it in and made a few phone calls and I can hear pretty good, and the talking is pretty good but when I talk I hear a little bit of fuzz in the ear piece on my end, This fuzz is not present on the receivers end of the call. I haven't heard it ring yet because I haven't kept it plugged in long enough, but I'm assuming it works. I'll give that a test tomorrow.

My question right now for you guys is, how do you disassemble the handset? The label on the handset is Northern Telecom G-type Handset. I can unscrew the ear piece, but the mouth part almost seems to be glued on. I tried forcing it, but I started hearing creaking sounds and stopped because I didn't want to break it until I have a another phone for parts.

Pics tomorrow!

HarrySmith

First another phone for parts, then another color or another model, get out NOW!! These phones are highly addictive and there is no known cure :D

Seriously, welcome to the forum. Good to see young people interested to keep this hobby going. Try heating the handset with a hair dryer, that will often expand it enough to open it.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Quigglebags

Quote from: HarrySmith on May 10, 2012, 10:25:53 PM
First another phone for parts, then another color or another model, get out NOW!! These phones are highly addictive and there is no known cure :D

Seriously, welcome to the forum. Good to see young people interested to keep this hobby going. Try heating the handset with a hair dryer, that will often expand it enough to open it.

So it is supposed to just screw off like the top piece? I'll give it a try, once I've got another phone.
I got the same cream coloured phone as the one in your avatar. Do you know how I might go about getting the tilt out of the wheel?

paul-f

Yes, it should unscrew.

You can see the major parts of some common Western Electric handsets here:
  http://www.paul-f.com/weHandsets.html#Parts

Caps can get stuck if years of accumulated grit is trapped in the threads.  Some can be very challenging to remove.

Some handset caps were replaced when phones were refurbed.  Caps made from soft plastic had the unfortunate characteristic of shrinking over the decades, making them very difficult to remove.  Heat, cold and strap wrenches are often helpful.  There are other threads here with details.
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

jsowers

I've had good results spraying window cleaner in the crack between the mouthpiece cap and the handset. Spray it all the way around the crack. Let it soak in and then try to remove as much accumulated dirt as you can with a paper towel. A fingernail helps.

Sometimes you have to do it two or three times before it penetrates. Since this was where the handset was held by some people, it got lots of accumulated crud in there. When you get it open, clean all the dirt off the threads of the handset and cap so it will screw back on easily.
Jonathan

Quigglebags

#5
Pics as promised!!! Sorry if I upped too many, wasn't sure what parts you guys are interested in, so I used my best judgement. Pics of the bent dial at the bottom.

In all it's glory!


Handset off.


Handset with earpiece disassembled..


Naked phone..


Close-up of some part, thought you guys might be interested.


The ringers..


Underside of the dial piece...


The bent dial.



Anyone know how to fix that dial? Thanks for the tips about the handset piece.

Phonesrfun

#6
Maybe someone has cross-threaded it in the past.  Phone companies only glued down the transmitter and receiver caps on handsets that were in public use and suceptible to vandalism, like a pay phone.  Ordinary phones never had the caps glued in place.  Besides, they would not have glued the transmitter cap and not the receiver cap.

You could get a strap wrench and get it loose that way.  

If the other side of a conversation does not hear any distortion, then why take the transmitter out of the handset to begin with?  The transmitter is not adjustable, except for the old stand-by fix of rapping it on the table top to break up any clumping of the carbon, which you can do with the transmitter element still inside the handset, by banging it on something that doesn't mar the plastic.

Remember that these transmitter elements are carbon microphones.  They will be fuzzy as compared to a modern electret microphone used in newer devices.

Back to the transmitter cap.  If you really need to get it off, do what you can to get it off, even if you break the cap.  A Northern Electric will have used the same mold design as Western Electric, and so a beige transmitter cap would certainly be easy to find.

Or, if you are like the rest of us, just go out and buy another phone.  And another..... and another..... and another.  Do you see a pattern here?  They are like rabbits and they keep multiplying.
-Bill G

TelePlay

Quote from: paul-f on May 10, 2012, 10:59:56 PMCaps can get stuck if years of accumulated grit is trapped in the threads.  Some can be very challenging to remove.

And some can be cross threaded. Got a 302 handset that way and it took lubricant along with a strap wrench to get the cap off. It creaked and screeched all the way off. After that, the cap screws back on and off easily. And the threads were not damage which amazed me.

Greg G.

Nice looking phone, very clean!  What year is it?  Post a picture of the bottom, the manufacture date is usually there.
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e

HarrySmith

If you still have trouble with that cap you can get strap wrenches here:
http://www.sloanplumbingparts.com/sloan-ebv-22-strap-wrench
I got two of them and have not had a handset I could not get the caps off since.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Quigglebags

Thanks Brinybay, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to upload pics of the bottom. Just looking at it myself I don't see a date on it, but I'll still up a pic for you.

My step father managed to get the transmitter cap off, simply by unscrewing it. Maybe I loosened it or he just twisted real hard and it didn't break. There was no real reason to take off, it was just bugging me that it was the one part of the phone I couldn't take apart. As for the fuzziness, I guess I'll just live with it.

Really is a beaut, wasn't quite as pretty when I got it but I whiped it all down with an alcohol cloth. I don't think I'll ever get over the sound of the rotary dial, I love turning it!

Greg G.

I think the "75" on the network is the manufacture date, but I'm not sure, I'm not familiar with Canadian phones.
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e

AE40FAN

Go to Wal-Mart and buy a Jar Opener.  I've had plenty success on 3 different monophones with stuck handset caps.  Best Method and cheapest method in my opinion at less than $5. It has handles that you squeeze tightly around the handset caps for excellent grip!

George Knighton

Quote from: Quigglebags on May 10, 2012, 10:12:27 PM
I'm 24, and I've been wanting one because they bring me back to the times when I was young and at my grandmothers house.
I understand that feeling completely!  :-)

But...I'm a lot older than you.  You've gone after 500's and I've gone after 302's!
Annoying new poster.

AE_Collector

We tend to collect things as we get older that remind us of our youth. Wood phones were highly collectible but in recent years prices have fallen dramatically while prices for Bakelite and early Colored phones have risen dramatically.

Terry