My First 302 repair - Lots of questions

[bingster]

All the wiring is correct when checked against the diagrams?

If it is, then you might check this post to be sure your dial contacts are operating properly:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=275.msg2500#msg2500

[winkydink]

Well after more than a months hiatus with Candlestick phone and subset distractions, I finally had some time to work on my 302 again. 

I removed the dial, switch hook, and wiring hing hook to free the shell from the base (after taking many pictures and making a few diagrams).  I then soaked the shell plungers and hand hold in warm sudsy water and tried to clean as much dirt as I possibly could.  I used an old toothbrush to get into the cracks.  I then dried out all the parts.  I also cleaned the ear and mouthpiece in the soapy water.

A few questions.

• How can I clean the handset.  It seems like it has metal connections, so I can't immerse it.  do I just hand clean?
• There seems to be a (rather brittle) rubber gasket where the dial fits into the shell.  Can I purchase or make a replacement for this part?
• How can I safely clean the sides and back of the dial.  Carfully with a rag and soapy water.  Polish?  I don't want to ruin the mechanism, but there is some crud on the sides
• What type of dremmel drill bit should I use to remove some plastic from the corners to make the shell fit on the base?
• The phone is dated 1947.  Did this have a straight brown cloth handset cord, a coiled cloth brown cord or a plastic black coiled cord?  Right now the cord is a platic coiled cord.
• Any hints and proceedures on how to clean the parts within the base.  What to do, and more importantly what not to do or touch?

Thanks again everyone.  Parts and polish for this and other projects are on the way.  I will post some pictures when I get a chance.

[Sargeguy]

    * How can I clean the handset.  It seems like it has metal connections, so I can't immerse it.  do I just hand clean?  I would just clean the outside and whatever I could reach. 

If you really want to immerse it remove the elements and make sure you dry it out before reassmbling it.

    * There seems to be a (rather brittle) rubber gasket where the dial fits into the shell.  Can I purchase or make a replacement for this part?

Replacements are available or you can make your own or you can just not worry about it if it falls off. 

    * How can I safely clean the sides and back of the dial.  Carfully with a rag and soapy water.  Polish?  I don't want to ruin the mechanism, but there is some crud on the sides.

Very carefully, making sure to avoid the switches.  I use rubbing alchohol on Q-Tips for dials that work already. 

    * What type of dremmel drill bit should I use to remove some plastic from the corners to make the shell fit on the base?

I would try heating the housing in the oven before I removed any plastic, but that's just me.

    * The phone is dated 1947.  Did this have a straight brown cloth handset cord, a coiled cloth brown cord or a plastic black coiled cord?  Right now the cord is a platic coiled cord.

Most likely a straight black cord, but anything goes.

    * Any hints and proceedures on how to clean the parts within the base.  What to do, and more importantly what not to do or touch?

I remove the ringer and the network and wash the base with WD-40 soaked paper towels and toothpicks.

[Dennis Markham]

I thought I'd answer your questions too, even though there has been a response already.  This is just my personal take on each of the topics.

A few questions.

    * How can I clean the handset.  It seems like it has metal connections, so I can't immerse it.  do I just hand clean?

Dennis>  I always immerse the handsets in warm soapy water and wash them before polishing them.  I remove the metal contacts.  There are two kinds of 302 handsets, the hollow ones with a red and white wire that run through the handle and the kind that are not hollow.  Either way, I remove the elements and each of the contact points.  If there are wires, they come out too.  As part of the cleaning process I clean each metal tip with a wire wheel (Dremmel) and then Simichrome polish.  The spade tips for each of the wires and the little brass screws are also cleaned.  I like to clean especially the bottom of the screw which makes contact with the spade tip of the wire.

    * There seems to be a (rather brittle) rubber gasket where the dial fits into the shell.  Can I purchase or make a replacement for this part?

Dennis>  The rubber replacement gaskets are available from various sources.  They are thin rubber and can be made oneself.  I think we had some discussion on this forum about this.  Maybe a search will turn up that post.  Here is one source for the gaskets:
http://ericofon.com/catalog/parts/dialgasket.htm

I have used these with tiny washers as these gaskets to not have the small brass grommet with them.

    * How can I safely clean the sides and back of the dial.  Carfully with a rag and soapy water.  Polish?  I don't want to ruin the mechanism, but there is some crud on the sides

Dennis>  I wouldn't use any cleaner or water that will remove painted letters from the dial.  I have polished the edges of the dials using Novus 2.  Any good 409 type cleaner, first placed on a rag and then wiped on the dial will remove dirt and crud.  Just be careful not to remove the characters/dates, etc.

    * What type of dremmel drill bit should I use to remove some plastic from the corners to make the shell fit on the base?

Dennis>  I will attach a photo of the Dremmel tool bit that I use on the inside corners of the thermoplastic 302 cases.  Personally I wouldn't put a case inside an oven.  I have read horror stories from people that have and melted or warped their cases.  Maybe it works but I don't see a need to warm up the case before grinding out the corner.  This Dremmel bit works real nice.  Just take it slow and grind out only what needs to be removed to make the cover fit over the base without touching it.  Generally that's just the corners.  If one isn't real careful, the bit can grab and move outside the case.  I scuffed the bit against the outside of the case once by accident.  Then I had another repair to tend to.

    * The phone is dated 1947.  Did this have a straight brown cloth handset cord, a coiled cloth brown cord or a plastic black coiled cord?  Right now the cord is a platic coiled cord.

Dennis>  As stated earlier, I think anything goes with the cord.  Even if it didn't come off the assembly line with a coiled vinyl cord it would have been appropriate to find one later that had been updated with a coiled vinyl cord.
    * Any hints and procedures on how to clean the parts within the base.  What to do, and more importantly what not to do or touch?

Dennis>  I remove everything that will come off the base before I clean them.  I remove the feet, the condenser, the induction coil and the ringer bells.  Of course I also remove all wires.  Then you can clean the base in warm water.  I have used Novus2 on the inside of the base and cleaned the ringer bracket with Simichrome polish.  If the ringer bracket has worn rubber around the three mounting points, I have used small plumbers O-rings to use as replacements.  They work very well.  I show an example of this in a photo album I made on a 302 restoration.  You can see that album here:

http://tinyurl.com/5kwfwp

Again, my tips are not any better than the next guy's.  These are just what work for me.

[winkydink]

Dennis & Sargeguy

Thanks for taking the time to reply and giving me your advice.  I know this is my first 302 and I won't do everything perfectly, I am just hoping to clean up the phone and make it look nice (and have it work as well.)

Dennis thanks for the picture of the dremmel bit and also your links!

If you recall earlier in this thread, I talked about the problem of the plunger sticking.  Well now with the shell and the plungers being washed and scrubbed the plungers now fall freely within the plunger holes.  Hopfully this problem has been solved.  I'll find out when the entire phone is re-assembled.

[Dennis Markham]

I'm sure that over the years people spill stuff down inside those plunger guides.  One soft drink and then there is dried sugar gumming up the works.  Glad I could help.

[winkydink]

Well a few days have past and now it's time for my next question ... the dialer.  Shown below is a picture of my dialer, removed from my 302 case.

Question:  How do I get the dial card ring off without bending it?

Question:  How do I remove the finger wheel.  Do I just take the nut off.  Do I use a box wrench, socket wrench.

Question:  Can I clean the finger wheel like the shell with soapy water and then Novus 2 polish.

Question:  What about the nut and washer? can I clean those up with simchrome polish or should I use something else.

just taking one step at a time...

I believe Dennis in a previous post said to use some 409 on a rag to carefully clean the dial plate underneath.  As you can see some of my numbers are faded, but will have to do for now.

At this point, I am just trying to make this a better phone than when I started, not necessarily a perfect phone.  In a few months, perhaps I can look back on this one, and more easily identify which techniques I should improve on.

These may seem like simple questions, but for the most part I have shyed away from mechanical/electronic hobbies.  I can do wood working, I have even built computers from the motherboards up and have a fascination with old radio sets (Have a Philco (42-PT-94) from '42 and a Zenith 6R087 console from '46).  Other than having someone else work on the radios (and using them myself on a daily basis)  I have stayed away from the inners since I am afraid I would electrocute myself.  Telephones on the other hand seem much safer as they are less complicated than a radio and have much lower voltage.

[bingster]

If you look at the top of the number card ring, you'll see a tab that goes straight through the finger wheel.  Depressing that tab with a very small screwdriver (you may want to cover the tip with electrical tape to avoid scratches) will allow you to lift the ring off.  Reassembly is the reverse:  hook the bottom tab in place, depress the top tab, push the ring downward until the top tab snaps in.

You can remove the finger wheel nut with anything you have handy.  A socket would be easiest, but I'll confess that I usually grab the nearest pliers.  Once that's off, the finger wheel will come right off.   The nut and washer can both be polished with any metal polish.

I generally clean finger wheels with dish detergent and warm water.  You can follow that up with Brasso or some similar metal polish to add gloss to the paint, if you want.

[winkydink]

Ryobi Buffer

I just received my order from HOF including an 8 oz bottle of Novus 2 polish.  I hand polished the shell first, and then I was going to use my new Ryobi 6" buffer.  Unfortunately I cannot figure out how to keep the tie strings from flying out.  After 15-30 seconds, they become whip like projectiles.

Is there a trick to tying the strings for the buffer bonnet?

Also which bonnet should I use the fluffy one or the terri cloth one?

should I apply the polish to the bonnet, to the phone or both?

Thanks again.

[Dennis Markham]

WalMart sells the terry cloth covers in a 3 pack.  They're not expensive.  They have elastic to hold them.  Those tie things are worthless.  I can NEVER get them to stay on the rotating head.  Even the elastic ones will come off if you don't keep the pressure against the object being buffed.  I have Novus2 all over my work shop because I fling a lot of polish.  I prefer the terry cloth covers.  The nice thing about them is you can throw them in the wash machine when they get really nasty.

I bought my Ryobi at Home Depot (a couple of them now) but they don't seem to sell the replacement covers.  WalMart, in the automotive department near the wax and car stuff.

[winkydink]

WalMart sells the terry cloth covers in a 3 pack.  They're not expensive.  They have elastic to hold them.  Those tie things are worthless.  I can NEVER get them to stay on the rotating head.  Even the elastic ones will come off if you don't keep the pressure against the object being buffed.  I have Novus2 all over my work shop because I fling a lot of polish.  I prefer the terry cloth covers.  The nice thing about them is you can throw them in the wash machine when they get really nasty.

I bought my Ryobi at Home Depot (a couple of them now) but they don't seem to sell the replacement covers.  WalMart in the automotive department near the wax and car stuff.

Thank Dennis

[winkydink]

I'm well on my way to buffing paradise.  I picked up a pack of the terry cloth bonnets this morning at the big WM.

[winkydink]

I'm well on my way to buffing paradise.  I picked up a pack of the terry cloth bonnets this morning at the big WM.

I couldn't wait to play with my new toy.  Slapped a new WalMart bonnet on the buffer at lunch and started to work.  The new bonnets worked like a charm.  The shell has a nice shine to it now.

3 questions.

1)  What do people use to polish in the smaller crevis areas like the cradle, a dremmel with a buffer bit, or just by hand?

2)  I have some deeper scratches just below where the dial is.  I have read that some recommend "wet sanding" of the plastic cases to remove the scratches.  How exactly is that done?  Is there a link or thread that someone can point me to?  Or is there some other tried and true method that I can try to use?

3) can I polish the receiver and plungers in the same manner as the shell (i.e. with Novus 2 and the Ryobi) ?

As allways, thanks for the help.

[winkydink]

I've been doing some more work on the phone over the weekend and my questions for today fall into 3 main categories.

• Issues/Questions regarding tight fit of shell on base
• Issues/Questions regarding wet sanding of shell to remove scratches
• Issues/Questions regarding cleaning/polishing of base

In the next several days I will post some pictures as to my progress, but here we go .....


Part I - Tight fit of the shell on the base

I have reviewed Dennis' posting regarding grinding of the corners using a dremmel and grinding bit.  I have done that, but the shell still did not fit propertly.  (If you recall, the shell was stuck tight on the phone and I had an extremely difficult time removing the shell.  I thought It was going to crack, when I tried several time to remove it).

After this, I noticed that some of the "non fitting" was not a corner issue but and issue at the front edge of the phone.  The metal in some places was bent outward.  I took a pair of plyers and bent this metal back in.  I also removed some plastic at the edge (not much however).

It is still a very tight fit, it does not go on and off easily, and after I get the shell on, I have to "pop" the shell off the base (or the base off the shell) to get it off, but it is somewhat better than I started.  This cover really has shrunk over the years, but I don't want to remove anymore material and risk cracking.

At this point, unless anyone can give me some other clever suggestion, I think I will leave this the way it is, and hope after I am all done, that I will not need to pop the shell off.

[winkydink]

I've been doing some more work on the phone over the weekend and my questions for today fall into 3 main categories.

• Issues/Questions regarding tight fit of shell on base
• Issues/Questions regarding wet sanding of shell to remove scratches
• Issues/Questions regarding cleaning/polishing of base

Part II - Wet sanding to remove scratches on the shell

I have researched this on the internet, so I am only looking for confirmation regarding the proceedure.

My understanding is that you start with 400 (or so ) wet grit paper and move your way up progressively to 600, 800, 1000 and so on.

One site stated that for each grit, you would sand in the opposite direction of the previous sanding and that you sand back and forth, not in a circular motion.  Lastly they stated that you wash of the area between sandings to remove any grit left behind and that it is preferrable to sand under running water rather than just wet sand paper.

What progression of grid do members of the forum use ?

After this is done, then a polish such as Novus 2 is used.

Am I close to the general proceedure?