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Craigslist Find - AE50 - Now in Service

Started by LarryInMichigan, November 23, 2009, 04:13:46 PM

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LarryInMichigan

Dan,

Thank you.  The dial centers on the AE40/50s are complicated.  I do not know exactly what the proper procedure is for removing them.  I gently pried mine out of the finger wheel, but the tab which is supposed to point inward, on mine was bent the other way.  I ended up breaking it off trying to bend it back the right way.  I am sure that there are members here who could explain the proper procedure.

Larry

ntophones

#31
I just saw a website that says the Brockville phones were made in the '50's. I'm currently deciding whether to bid on a couple of those phones, myself, but, the price far exceeds your price.  You did a good deal.

Here's a description of removing the dial card, although, I've seen a description with a picture, I just don't remember where:
http://www.vintageswank.com/ttnumbercards.html


P.S. I'm the world's worst bidder--can't seem to win anything!  :'(
--nto

LarryInMichigan

nto,

I don't think that AE50s were made anywhere after the 1950s.  I guess that I got a fairly good deal on mine.  I was ready to pay the seller $40 for it, but when I saw how pathetic it looked, the breaks in the sides, and the stuck dial, I decided to offer him $25 and see what he says.  He called his girlfriend, the phone's owner, and convinced her, while we were standing next to his car trunk, to accept the offer.  I spent many hours removing the horrible paint and then polishing it.  Fortunately, the big hole in the left side is not normally noticeable because of where it is mounted.  If I consider the amount of time I put into it, it would have been cheaper to pay $100+ for one which already looked good.

I was fortunate on a few counts with this phone.  Firstly, the seller's office was on a route which I was already traveling that day on errands so I had to driver only a few hundred feet out of my way to meet him.  Secondly, the phone, for whatever bizarre reason, had its handset connected to the base with a straight moss green WE cord, and on the very next day, I received a moss green WE 500 which was missing its line cord, and thirdly, despite the designation on the back and the diagram in the phone (showing a 50 Hz ringer), it actually has a straight line ringer which works perfectly.

Good luck on finding one for a good price.  Make sure that the one you buy is not missing the hook switch plunger.  Since the plunger must be removed to remove the case, they probably go lost frequently.  When I was buying mine, I fortunately noticed that the plunger was missing, and the seller found it on the floor of his trunk.

Larry

stub

#33
Larry,
        Use a small pocket screwdriver, flat blade, and insert it under the dial card holder at #5 and push counter clockwise.  You should feel the little tab as you push counter clockwise. It should come off as you get to#7. This phone was made from  1938 - 1956             stub    Try this link


                                        http://tinyurl.com/ycmvak6
Kenneth Stubblefield

ntophones

Larry,
I found that information about the Brockville phones at:http://www.islandregister.com/phones/ae.html. About halfway down the page is the information about the phones AE40 and AE50's being manufactured in Brockville. But, you are right, they weren't made after the 50's.
Thanks for posting that link to the picture about the dial cards--I knew it was somewhere! :)
--nto

LarryInMichigan

nto,

I remember seeing that page once before.  Since mine says "Phillips Electrical Works" on it, it must have been made no later than 1954.

Larry

AE_Collector

#36
Phillips Electrical Works made AE phones for the Canadian market. In 1954 a new plant was built in Brockville Ontario and it became "AE Canada" rather than "Phillips Electrical Works". There were probably some AE50's made in 1954 and for a couple more years after but they would obviously not have had Phillips Electrical Works on them after 1954.

There has been some mention of the code on the back of this set "PL50xxx" indicating Party Line 50 Hz ringer. I do not believe that is correct. The 50 labelling is because it is a model 50 and I do not believe that it would be a SL50xxx if it had a Straight Line ringer. Decoding the AE codes has been a mystery in many ways that no one has come up with paperwork to decipher completely. I would guess that this phone has always had a Straight Line ringer in it.

Oh and of course the reason that the screws holding the bracket that holds the switchhook assembly had gone missing is because someone couldn't figure out how to get the cover off of it. After loosening the two chrome screws in the front, the cover still wouldn't come off so they removed the two screws from the back which did the trick. Of course that left the switchhook assembly inside the cover still. Removing the plunger to get the cover off was the missing part of the puzzle to whomever had opened it up.

Terry