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I've got a 232

Started by Stephen Furley, July 25, 2009, 03:52:57 PM

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Stephen Furley

I've just won a 232, the Pyramid-shaped British 'phone, on Ebay; it was delivered this morning.  This model needs to be used with a matching Bellset 26 which I bought one of a few weeks ago.  The bellset contains only the capacitor and the bell, unlike the Bellset 25 used with the previous model 162, which also contained the induction coil.  Telephones 162 and 232 and bellsets 25 and 26 look just about identical externally.

My telephone is actually a 1/164 CB, the leading 1 indicates that it has a drawer in the base, and the CB that it has no dial, which it does have, so either it's been converted at some time, or the base with the markings on has been swapped.  I do have a dial blank which I may install just for a photograph, but I do not intend to permanently restore it to this condition.  The No. 10 dial which is fitted is the correct type, and in good condition, and the 'phone is far more useful with it than without.

There are pictures of the 162 and 232 models here:

http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/phones_pre1960.htm

I believe the date they give for the introduction of the 232 is a year out; I'm pretty sure in was 1936.  My one seems to date from 1946.

I have the necessary parts to assemble it either attached to the bellset as a combined set, or the more conventional way, with the bellset separate, which I think looks much better.  At the moment it's in bits being cleaned, but I'll post some pictures when it's finished.  It was very dirty when it arrived, and the cords were not in very good condition, especially the handset cord, but I think they are restorable.  I've re-bound the badly-frayed end of the handset cord, some wear on the bellset cord where it enters the 'phone can be hidden inside, and some dark brown fabric dye should cover up the worn patches where the white cloth underneath is showing through.  I'd rather keep the original cords if possible.  The line cord will have to be a modern reproduction, but they look pretty similar.

The handset cradle is thermoplastic, similar to the 'soft' plastic you have over there, but on a 'phone of this date it could be original.  They were originally made of Bakelite, but due to the shape were easily broken, so later 'phones had this part made of thermoplastic, and many of the original Bakelite ones were replaced when they were broken.  If the telephone was knocked off a desk they would be unlikely to survive.



McHeath

Sounds like a very interesting phone, and I will look forward to seeing it.  What happened with the phone production in the UK during WW2?  If your new phone is from 46' then I assume that production either continued or ramped up again real fast. 

Stephen Furley

#2
I don't know.  Many factories made other things during the war; aircraft parts were made in everything from car factories and railway workshops to tunnels in uncompleted extensions to the London Underground system.  However, telecommunications equipment would obviously be needed during wartime, both for military use, and to replace the many sets that must have been destroyed in the heavy bombing of cities such as London and Coventry.  Equipment would also have been needed by fire brigades, police, ARP, railways, docks etc., so I suspect that a considerable production continued during the war.

The GPO also had links to the intelligence services, and a lot of secret work went on.  The GPO, and later the Post Office and then BT were involved in a lot more than just running the normal telephone system.  BT still occupied part of the Bletchley Park site, the secret codebreaking place near London where Alan Turing and his team worked, until a few years ago.  'Colossus' contained a lot of standard GPO components, which was fortunate, because when they came to build a replica a few years ago some of these components were being taken out of use, and were able to be obtained for use in the re-build.

http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/colosusfilm.rhtm


gpo706

Nice to see it isn't just me that imports "foreign" machines.

The 232 is indeed a lovely looking phone, less so with the bellset on the base, you can get replacement parts for practically all the bits in the UK, I really need to get my 232 back up and running and put it on my desk (dont need a bellset as the others will ring for it).

If you want details of suppliers of spares message me and i will dig out the links for you.

Scot
"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"

gpo706

Tssssk!

Just read some of your other posts Stephen, of course you're on the same side of the pond as me!

silly Scot
"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"

Stephen Furley

#5
Where are you from, gpo706?

This was my 232 as it appeared on Ebay; it looks rather different now, but nothing very drastic has been done to it.

http://tinyurl.com/nqn29q

I've managed to save both of the original cords, the badly frayed end where it entered the handset has been re-bound, and the bellset cord had been pulled about 20mm further into the telephone body to hide the worn bit.  The cords are rather different colours, and the white cotton underneath is showing through in places; I'm thinking about trying to dye them.  I've added a reproduction line cord with BT plug to the bellset which I bought in another auction; it's slightly darker, and slightly thinner, than the originals, but looks pretty similar.

The whole thing was very dirty; and there was a pile of dust inside it which fell out when I opened it.  Lots of tiny spots of white paint all over it.  Gave it a good clean inside and out, and then gave the Bakelite parts a good going over with Paste polishing No.5, and then finished them with Greygate Plastic Polish.  Did this while the cellulose Acetate parts were removed as the plastic polish mustn't be used on this material.  Polished the finger wheel and dial label circlip with Brasso wadding.  The dial, an old No. 10 slipping cam type works fine, and needed no attention.

Gave the enamel dial plate an acid wash which has removed most of the brown staining.  Fitted an original '50s GPO dial label, and a laser printed copy of a '60s dial code card in the drawer.  The receiver terminals inside the body are too far apart to easily fit a rectifier element 205 equivalent, a pair of diodes, and the design of the receiver doesn't allow it to be fitted there.  In the end I fitted it inside the transmitter housing, on the handset cord terminals for the receiver wires.  It was a bit fiddly, but I managed to get it to fit.

Will post some pictures soon.

gpo706

Hi Stephen,

I'm in Edinburgh.

Your 232 looks like my 332 when I "liberated" it from a demolition site, was chock full of brick dust etc.

My 232 bought from a shop here for £60 about 20 years ago, came with a weird black bakelite bellset (definately not GPO), but was PST wired and worked fine.

It's now a shelf filler till I get round to overhauling it.

Still a nice bargain for a 232 on ebay for the price you paid, I'm sure it will be a corker when you finish it.

Scot
"now this should take five minutes, where's me screwdriver went now..?"

Stephen Furley

#7
I didn't notice at the time, but it was a charity auction.  One in restored condition seems to go for about 200 (pounds).

I've also got the short bellset cord and strange screws, so I can assemble it in the combined set configuration from time to time.  I don't really like the look of this configuration, it's huge, even bigger than a 300 series, and the cord from the heft side of the bellset to the back of the 'phone looks a mess.

I can also do a third configuration; according to the markings on the base it used to be a CB model.  I've got a suitable dial blank, and have fitted an extra set of spring contacts inside it.  Combined with the hand-cranked ringing generator, another cord and a bakelite block terminal 20/4, all of which I have, I could set it up as a point to point local battery model.  I have the circuit diagrams.