After spending some quality time one on one with my newly acquired chrome 1972 NE 2236QC I decided it needed it's own thread. I purchased it Saturday with a $195.00 tagged price that had dropped to $75.00.I offered $50.00 & took it home. I now have my 1st pay phone!
On another thread I said I was concerned about not having any keys. I removed the back to gain access to the vault. While doing so I heard a loose article tumbling around in the vault. Remembering another thread, I assumed there was a coin in the vault. What I found was much better than a coin....You guessed it, the vault key! Below you can see the envelope with the telephone number written on it, that the key must have at one time been enclosed in. I still need the other key but it is a common lock, 21B, someone please inform me how to proceed finding that key.
I can receive and make calls on the phone, coins do nothing but get caught and I retrieve them from the bottom part. There is some pitting on the chrome & the receiver has had it's share of abuse. I don't mind that at all, it has earned that from years of service at the Navel Training Center Hospital, Ward Building in area code 305...Florida...(Miami?)
Can't help to think of all the service men & women that called family, girlfriend & boyfriends with good & bad news over the years on that phone.
The mouth piece was rusted and I replaced it with one from a 500 that was just sitting there looking pretty. The rest didn't seem to be affected by living in the salty environment, save a little rust on the floor of the vault.
It looks good for display and can be used to make & receive calls, does anyone see anything in the pictures that jumps out to your experienced eyes?
Thanks in advance for your comments!
More pics...
It is great you found the vault key. That was the biggest problem with your phone. It is a a great phone. You need to put it in the "find of the Month"
JMO,
Jim S.
I Found a vault key for 1 of my payphones, rattling inside the upper housing inside the upper housing.
We used to put the vault key in the upper housing after we removed a payphone. When doing a takeout we were issed the coin collectors vault key so we could remove the coin box and also just in case there were mounting screws located behind the vault. Then since we all had our own upper keys we could zap (tie wrap) the vault key to something in the upper housing, close it up and recover (return) the phone.
There are always two vault keys but that second copy is guarded very closely as the only remaining life line if the coin collectors set of keys are lost which does happen from time to time. That almost happened to me once, you should see the panic when you realize that you have left a ring of 50 to 100 vault keys hanging in the side of the phone you collected just before stopping for lunch! I got back to the phone driving just over Mach 1 and a guy was talking on it oblivious to the large ring of keys hanging there.
Terry
Quote from: AE_Collector on March 07, 2016, 02:48:56 PM
We used to put the vault key in the upper housing after we removed a payphone. When doing a takeout we were issed the coin collectors vault key so we could remove the coin box and also just in case there were mounting screws located behind the vault. Then since we all had our own upper keys we could zap (tie wrap) the vault key to something in the upper housing, close it up and recover (return) the phone.
There are always two vault keys but that second copy is guarded very closely as the only remaining life line if the coin collectors set of keys are lost which does happen from time to time. That almost happened to me once, you should see the panic when you realize that you have left a ring of 50 to 100 vault keys hanging in the side of the phone you collected just before stopping for lunch! I got back to the phone driving just over Mach 1 and a guy was talking on it oblivious to the large ring of keys hanging there.
Terry
Oh my...I can only imagine the panic you must have felt!...Glad you found them....
Quote from: Jim S. on March 07, 2016, 01:12:17 PM
It is great you found the vault key. That was the biggest problem with your phone. It is a a great phone. You need to put it in the "find of the Month"
JMO,
Jim S.
I Found a vault key for 1 of my payphones, rattling inside the upper housing inside the upper housing.
I had a BIG smile when I saw that key....I was expecting maybe a quarter...I think I may enter it!...
Wow! That is a great find, and the key being inside is the icing on the cake. Very nice original instruction card too.
phoneco (Ron and Mary Knappen) has a few original 21B Keys for sale, for about what the good repros are selling for:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Payphone-Key-Telephone-21B-Payphone-Key-Not-Repro-/191822172644
Payphone Key ~ Telephone ~ 21B Payphone Key
New old stock (original Northern Electric Mfg; not from Taiwan, Korea, China, India; not re-pros!!!) made likely in the 1960's or 1970's: originally there were 10 to a sack. Those few we have came from this sack and labeled 21-B-44, N42853-N42862. Each is numbered with a 5-digit number. 21-B Keys $19 each. Since around 1976, we've had thousands of keys made in overseas. They've cost us between $1 and $3 each; we've sold them for $3 - $10 each and included them with each purchase of N.E. 3 – Slot until very recently where we ran out of re-pros. Re-pros were okay but often needed grinding. Sometimes, they bend or break. Lately we've relied on modifications of old locks: 21-B and 29S to work in place of 21B's. This is the only way we're able to provide a key to remove the upper housing. When we sell a N.E., we must include one of these modified. Gone are the days when we can take a re-pro out of a sack and wholesale it/them. Too few of the original exist. Everything else would go with a complete sell out, we'd want to keep only one wood wall telephone. There are few accumulation of payphones available and we care not to continue wheeling and dealing in them.
Thanks Popular1, the indication is that these keys are the same for all 21-B locks?...I will get one on the way. There is no hopper in the vault for the coins. I'll check phoneco for that as well...Thanks!
So far as I know, an original 21-B key should open any working 21-B locks.
Quote from: poplar1 on March 09, 2016, 08:14:46 PM
phoneco (Ron and Mary Knappen) has a few original 21B Keys for sale, for about what the good repros are selling for:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Payphone-Key-Telephone-21B-Payphone-Key-Not-Repro-/191822172644
Payphone Key ~ Telephone ~ 21B Payphone Key
New old stock (original Northern Electric Mfg; not from Taiwan, Korea, China, India; not re-pros!!!) made likely in the 1960's or 1970's: originally there were 10 to a sack. Those few we have came from this sack and labeled 21-B-44, N42853-N42862. Each is numbered with a 5-digit number. 21-B Keys $19 each. Since around 1976, we've had thousands of keys made in overseas. They've cost us between $1 and $3 each; we've sold them for $3 - $10 each and included them with each purchase of N.E. 3 – Slot until very recently where we ran out of re-pros. Re-pros were okay but often needed grinding. Sometimes, they bend or break. Lately we've relied on modifications of old locks: 21-B and 29S to work in place of 21B's. This is the only way we're able to provide a key to remove the upper housing. When we sell a N.E., we must include one of these modified. Gone are the days when we can take a re-pro out of a sack and wholesale it/them. Too few of the original exist. Everything else would go with a complete sell out, we'd want to keep only one wood wall telephone. There are few accumulation of payphones available and we care not to continue wheeling and dealing in them.
I spent about 10 minutes on the phone with Mary today. She spent time with me listening to what I need for three phones I am working on...she had everything I was looking for & more!...Thanks for sending me in that direction...