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Refurbishing an European 1950's wall phone, a PTT Ericsson 51

Started by Matilo Telephones, December 01, 2013, 04:46:10 AM

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Matilo Telephones

Well, almost everything is clean now, so time for some re-assembly.

First the dial.

Please note that not all the parts are made of bakelite. That means in most cases it is very unwise to put a Dremel to them, even at the lowest speed.

Here we have some painted metal parst: finger stop and the bolt for the finger wheel. That is where my magic cloth comes in. It is a rag that I use for applying different polishing agents. Through the years it has become impregnated with polishing powder. So rubbing with this cloth is often enough to make thing shine.

It this case, with small parts, I fold the cloth a few times. Smooth it down on my work bench and rub the desired item over it. Workts great.

Also I have a special tool for tightening the bolt on the dial. It has 2 metal prongs that fit exactly in the holes. See pic 3.

Next, number card window. The frame of this window is also not bakelite. Not sure what plastic it is. It is softer than bakelite. And it melts easily. Be careful! Gave it the magic cloth treatment.

Also I cleaned the original transparent plastic window. It has yellowed over the years and has gone a bit wobbly. Great! Gives the phone nice character.

Here another difference to American phones becomes apparent. The number card is only reachable by undoing a bracket from the inside of the phone. Not easily accessable. A subscriber was certainly not supposed to do anything to this numbercard.

Please not the 4 digit number. It was common in the Netherland to only put the local number on. In small towns these telephone numbers could even be only 3 digits.

I seems that for the original subscriber an extra digit was added as the local network grew. A one was added with pen, first on the outside of the window, later on the paper itself.

Cleaned the window with a product called glassex. Yes it's true. Name has been around for years. And in out language the last three letters have the same meaning as in English.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

Matilo Telephones

So, here we are. All done. Everything cleaned, polished, reassembled.

Only one minor problem: damaged handset cord.

What shall I do now? I know, I'll make a new one!
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

poplar1

Quote from: Matilo Telephones on December 07, 2013, 06:42:21 PM
Yes poplar1. But I've never seen a phone with plug in components here. Not from before the 1960's anyway.



The point I was trying to make is that the AE 40 *does* have soldered components (ringing capacitor, induction coil, switch hook) and laced wiring (loom).
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

Matilo Telephones

Thanks poplar1, but isn't this one from a different generation? From the 30's as the Ericsson in this form is from the 50's?
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

poplar1

The AE 40 is probably 1940s (shown here with a newer dial). However, I did not realize that your comparison of technologies/workmanship/quality was limited to the 1960s.

In any case, the AE 40 (1939-?) , K1000 (1947-?) , and WE 302 (1937-1954) show 3 different ways of manufacturing phones--with soldered components, plug-in components, or parts with screw terminals--during the same time period.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

Matilo Telephones

Oh, I wouldn't want to limit the comparison to a very narrow period. But contemporary phones from my neck of the woods are different in an other way from that AE40 (and others I think).

Mostly they have all the components in the upper housing (not on the baseplate in any case), like the W28 and the Ericsson 1931.

Or they have all the components on the base plate. I've never seen a phone with a combination of that here, like the AE40 but also the masterphone and others.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

Matilo Telephones

Now, the handset cord, what do we need?

1 mtr 30 cm of cord, made by OPW. It has red, blue and yellow wires as is standard for the cords in this era in Holland.

Spades, piercing. Also made by OPW. The original spades were brass, nickel plated. Haven't found a source yet for new ones. I do pry open old ones and reuse them, sometimes.

We also need piece of rubber, to protect the cord near the handset. I almost never see that on American phones, phones here are never without it. Tried al kinds of methods to find a good source for this part. Reused old ones, but they are usually to deteriorated. Now a use a piece of fuel hose for a moped. It fits exactly around the cord.

A piece of strong ribbon, to make a strain relief.

Strong yarn. Original cords were wound with yarn at the ends to secure the strain relief, prevent the cloth covering unwinding and to secure the rubber bits.

A rubber piece for the housing side of the cord. Don't know the English word for it. Gromit? It is the same as the original rubber one. This one is made of vinyl and was salvaged from a PTT-phone from the 70's. Exact same piece, but much more durable because it is made of vinyl. Good rubber ones are rare.

Superglue. I am not able to wind the yarn as tightly as they did back then. Furthermore the windings were coated with a kind of wax to prevent unwinding, in case of damage. I cannot make the cords as strong if I do not use superglue. The strain relief isn't strong enough if I do not use it.

A tie-wrap. Same reason as superglue.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

twocvbloke

Quote from: Matilo Telephones on December 10, 2013, 06:26:49 PMA rubber piece for the housing side of the cord. Don't know the English word for it. Gromit?

Almost, it's Grommet, as Gromit is Wallace's sidekick pet dog... :D

Matilo Telephones

Thanks, twocvbloke. I love Wallace and Gromit. That's why I got confused, i guess.

Is that the correct term for it? Even in Dutch I'n not sure of the correct term.

I also found the word cable gland.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

twocvbloke

I think the term is strain relief, but, a grommet is basically just a rubber or plastic spacer-come-insulator to allow a cable or wire to pass through something without damage to the insulation, so, I think the terms are somewhat interchangeable... :)

Matilo Telephones

#40
Right, next step in making a handset cord for this ericsson. I have been busy lately, so didn't have time to type this all out. It takes a lot longer than actually doing it.

Pic 1. Make shure the black hose is cut straight. Doesn't look good when it isn't. Then slide back a bit of the cotton sleeve to expose the inner wires. Cut off one cm (oh darn, metric. Ehm 2/5th of an inch). Slide back the sleeve, so it is longer than the inner wires. You'll need that bit longer to pull it through the hose.

It takes a bit of twisting and turning, and you'll need to grab that extra bit of sleeve to pull it through. Then slide it down the cord.

Pic 2. Measure out where the stain relief needs to go. Keep in mind the needed lenght of the yellow wire. In needs to go all the way through the handset.

Then put the piece of ribbin lenghtwise along the cord and tie the yarn around it. The ribbon is going to be the strain relief. Now wind the yarn around the cord with the ribbon. For about 1 cm, about 20 turn. Wind real tight! Now fold back the end of the ribbon (pic 3) and wind the ribbon thightly around it. As tight as you can!

To the windings close together for about 1 inch in length. Cover the entire beginning of the ribbon, especially including the fold you just made. The ribbon is now anchored to the cord. It is really hard to pull loose now. This is how it was done originally. Mind that the cord with windings is not too thick to fit into the handset.

Pic 4, test fit the cord. Make sure the yellow wire is long enough and the strain relief is in the right place. Made the mistake of keeping it to short once. Had to do it all over again.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

Matilo Telephones

So, after making sure the yellow wire is long enough and the strain relief is in the right place, I can finish this end of the cord.

I secure the yarn windings with superglue. I draw a line of superglue along the wound part of the cord, lenghtwise at three places. This prevents the whole thing from unwinding if the yarn is damaged and secures the strain relief.

I'm afraid I cannot wind it as tight as they used to. They must have used a machine or a tool I do not have. Haven't figured out how they did that.

Also they used some kind of waxy substance after winding. I think it was to prevent unwinding after damage and to prevent fraying.

Now I crimp the spades. I do not have a crimper yet, so I use pliers.

This end of the cord is finished. I can fit it to the handset. The strain relief ribbon needs to be sandwiched between these 2 grooved little metal plates. see pic no 2. Pull it tight, tighten the screw, slide the rubber hose towards the handset untill tight. Presto, this bit is finished.

See pic no 3 for the end result and an original one for comparison. IMHO looks pretty good and if done well, it is fairly durable. Suitable for daily use for years.

I'm still puzzling over the way they used to wind these cords. The rubber bit was also wound, to keep it in place.

Anyway, still to do the other end of the cord, then fit it and hang the phone up.

Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

Matilo Telephones

#42
Now, the other end of the handset cord. Almost finished.

First problem, the rubber thingy, that acts as a strain release is too narrow for the cord.

As it is made of vinyl, that is luckily quite easy to correct.

Is shove it over my yawl (priem in dutch) to stretch it to the right diameter. Then I heat the yawl with a lighter. I heat the strain release on the outside too, very carefully. I make the yawl really hot. Then leave to cool. I put it in my vise for that.

Then slide it off. I might take a bit of effort.

Now slide it over the cord to the correct lenght and a little beyond. Make shure you have enough lenght to connect it up. Wind with yarn again, at the position where the strain release is. One layer of yarn is enough. Wind tighly again. Then do the same trick with the supergleu.

Slide the strain release to the correct position. I use a tie-wrap to securde the strain release to the cord.

Remove excess cloth covering, crimp on spades, connect all the wires and hey presto, it is finished!

I hung it up in our hallway. There I have a board put up to hang phones. I made it myself. Sanded it smooth and sanded away the sharp edges, to give it an old fashioned feel. Then primed it white and gave it 3 coats of paint, again for that old faishoned look. Used 4 regular screws (not Philips head!!!), brass, nickelplated, to mount it.

I regularly change the phone there. My house is from 1934. A lot of woondwork, terrazzo floor, stainglass windows, panel doors. The phone really looks lovely there. Come and see!  ;)

Please note this was a basic restauration. The state of this phone was in to begin with and its (not so) rarity make a deeper restauration unnecessary.
Hope you enjoyed reading this.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones