Trimline Cord Repair - Cord Repair in General

[Dennis Markham]

I recently read an article that appears on the Antique Telephone Collectors Association's web site.  The article was written by a member in 2006 and relates to Trimline cord repair.  However the information can be applied to the standard coiled cord.

We did some experimenting here on the Forum with various methods of cord repair a while back with various techniques, including boiling them.  This article will tell you NOT to do that but instead use the dowel oven method.  But times and temperatures are much shorter than what I used in my experiment although I got favorable results.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=202.0

I gave this another shot the other night with a coiled cord from a pink Model 500.  The cord is dated from 1962.  It wasn't really stretched but had many kinks in the coils that were bent out of shape.  I was thrilled with the results.

The article I'm referring to is listed in the public area of the A.T.C.A.'s web site so I'm hopeful I won't be stepping on toes by sharing it with all of you.  But again, it is a good opportunity for me to suggest membership in one or both of the phone clubs as the knowledge base, experience and helpfulness is unsurpassed.

Here is the link to the article.

http://atcaonline.com/trimlinecord.html

Picking out the points of the article as it pertains to a cord of this type, the oven temperature times and refrigeration rather than freezing are the main difference.  The author indicates the process is that used when the cords were made originally.

The first photo of the cord I repaired is from the eBay listing.  The second photo is how it looks today.  There is no stiffness, it retracts as if new.  Now again, it wasn't real bad to begin with but some coils were very distorted.

[JorgeAmely]

Looks really nice, Dennis. I have added the link to my list of recipes.

[Phonesrfun]

Dennis:

Good Job!  I have just printed Gerber's article for future reference.

Thanks for the reminder.  I saw the article a while back when I was not particularly interested in working on a cord.  So, now it is good that you have reminded me of this article, because I have a candidate all chosen to work on.

-Bill Geurts

[bingster]

An interesting point made was that originally, the process was "coil, reverse, wash."  So I wonder if it would be beneficial to reverse the cords before we do the oven treatment.  After coiling, we'd reverse them back, and that would seem to cause them to be tighter.

[Dan/Panther]

It's nice to know that I was able to come up with the very same method independently of the author of that article, I must be doing something right 

I would like to add a note about water and the connectors. Water is not the problem with items being damaged. I routinely submerge electronics in warm soapy water to clean them, (Old radio chassis, trains cars and locomotives), then I rinse them in clear water. The key to using water, is a two fold one, first don't use the item for a period of time, say 48 hours, secondly, you must use compressed air to blow the item dry. The damage occurs when the water is not completely removed, water in and of itself, will  not damage  almost everything on earth, with the exception of paper and dissolvable items.
In recently took my vacuum cleaner apart and completely hosed the entire unit, including the motor. I then used compressed air to blow iut all of the water, and set the vacuum in a dry area for a day, reassembled it, plugged it in and vacuumed my house.
Water is NOT the culprit, LEAVING the water in the item is.
D/P

[Dennis Markham]

Good points guys.  Dan I agree about using water.  I immersed that pink cord in warm water to wash it good before I "baked" it.  I still avoid leaving the ends in too long so that water doesn't seep up into the insulation.  I let it get good and dr before I reattached it to the phone.  I'm sure baking it, even at the low temperature of 105 degrees helps to dry it.

Bingster, I didn't try reversing the coils.  I think some cords may need more work than others.  And there are those that no matter what one does to it the cord can only be improved.  This pink one was in pretty good shape but the kinks had taken on a shape of their own. 

I look at bent and twisted cords differently now. Especially since they are not readily available and if they are they can often be expensive.

[Phonesrfun]

Dan,

I agree with what you are saying, but I have to add one other thing.  I have found that I cannot always blow things out adequately, and so water can gather and by the time it eventually evaporates, it has already done its damage.  

I also don't have an air compressor.  Thank goodness, Al Gore, or someone, invented the canned compressed air.  While canned air is not very forceful, it does take care of probably about 75% of things I need compressed air for.  Unfortunately, the canned air also starts to peter out when spraying for only a few seconds.  I think the rapid decompression inside the can causes the gas to get cold and become temporarily less pressurized.  that is something that really annoys me about canned air.

[JorgeAmely]

Some of those compressed air cans are not really air, but a liquid that vaporizes when you push down the button. The one I have in my office is Tetraflouroethane. When the liquid vaporizes, it sucks heat from the surrounding areas, thus turning the can cold. Same principle as in an air conditioner system.

I thought Al Gore invented the Internet only.  

[Dennis Markham]

Interesting Jorge.  Years ago I used to carry a can of Dust Off in my camera bag.  I found it to be frustrating when I'd use the can of "air" to blow dust off my lens only to have the liquid come out and coat the lens with some kind of filmy substance.  That ended up requiring me to clean the lens with cleaner and a lens tissue.  Now when I think of compressed air I think of using my compressor.  But I have seen where oils can come out of the hose in addition to air.

[JorgeAmely]

I think in your case, some of the liquid squirted out the valve and hit your camera lens. The lens probably fogged with water vapor and that prompted you to clean it, which brings the lens back to room temperature after being frozen.

There is always an oil and air separator gadget you can attach to the compressor so you always get just air. Your local Harbor Freight store should have one.

[Dennis Markham]

Jorge, I think that would happen when I tilted the can.  It always worked properly if I held the can upright.

Thanks for the tip on the oil and air separator.