News:

"The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them." - Dan/Panther

Main Menu

$1.00 find today

Started by Dewdrop, March 29, 2010, 08:44:50 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Dewdrop

I've got dates from early 50's, mid 50's, late 50's and mid 60's. This is my first Western Electric green rotary. It's pretty heavy and it still WORKS! There are some issues with the housing. What suggestions or comments do you have on this?

Had to adjust the hue saturation up a bit for the date on the housing to show up. Very hard to capture and stay in focus.

If I have mislabeled anything, please correct me.

I may have to post pictures a couple of times. Hope I covered it all.

What exactly do I have here?

THANKS
Debbie
Debbie

Kenny C

do any of the dates match
In memory of
  Marie B.
1926-2010

Craig T

#2
Hi Debbie, it looks like you have a set that was painted at one time, more than likely by WE. That means you have Polane paint on the phone and I hear that stuff is a bear to remove.


In regards to color phones, I am under the general assumption that anything beyond June of 1959 is not soft plastic, so it is ABS plastic. You do have the original fat coil cord, very nice. You have a 6 hole ear cap on your phone that is also from the early green phones.


As for how to fix that flaking paint. I would sand the flaking area with a high grit 2000 or above and either paint it or leave it. You can remove all of it and paint it all again, but I hear that is a chore. One of the three amigos could tell you for sure. Hold on a bit and one of them will chime in  :)

-Craig

Dewdrop

Forgot to mention the caps were stubborn. I used a hair dryer to heat them up. Finally they came off and they STUNK. Actually the paint was not peeling when I got it earlier today. I washed the housing with Dawn and water. Was that a big BOO-BOO?

Inside the receiver cap "5-56" is stamped in white.

Two weeks ago I got a beige rotary Princess for 25ยข. It was missing the transmitter and has a very small hairline crack on the end of the housing. It worked once I put a transmitter in.

Here's the last of the pics.

Debbie
Debbie

Kenny C

i do know that phone came from somewhere near Nashville Tennesee because of the area code do you live in Tennessee
In memory of
  Marie B.
1926-2010

Craig T

#5
Yep, those are soft plastic caps on your handset. Looks like a grey gasket around your dial bezel too. All things considered very nice find!

As for the dawn dishsoap, I never use it to wash my car because it is hard on the paint. I guess a painted phone would be no different.

baldopeacock

The 8-59 date stamp inside the case - that's the transition year from soft plastic to ABS, isn't it?   The handset caps are right, wonder if that case is Tenite?    Pretty nice find for $1.

Dewdrop

Kenny,

I leave in North Central Arkansas in the foothills of the Ozarks. There are a lots of people from TN that move here or have vacation homes here. I guess the main attraction here is Greers Ferry Lake and Little Red River (trout fishing).

The lake is down the road from us. The road in front our house used to be a highway that people took to get to the northern part of the county. It crossed the river bottom before the man-made lake filled up. There is US Corp property between us and the lake, which has LOTS of trees. We can see the lake from our driveway and front yard.


Craig,

I didn't know my phone find today was painted. Do you think it will continue to peel and flake? How do you clean a painted phone housing?

Debbie


Debbie

savageje

Nice find, especially for $1!  Hard to buy anything for a buck these days.  I've always been partial to the green phones, but I don't have a green 500 yet.  I do lots of scouting around the antique stores, flea markets, etc.  I bet I find about 40 black phones for every colored set.

Dennis Markham

Generally speaking I have found that color phones dated after June of 1959 are hard plastic.  But there are always exceptions, especially that close to the change-over.  Soft plastic sets in Black existed up into the middle 60's.

It looks like the phone was born in mid 1964 as the bottom date, dial and ringer indicate.   I don't know what WNR indicates but the "R" probably means refurbish/repair with a date in July of 1965.  The plastic was probably recycled plastic that was built on the original chassis with the original dial, leaving the original dial plate. That could be soft plastic along with the handset and in fact the housing COULD be soft plastic.  The color code of -51 is Moss Green so I believe that was originally a Moss Green phone.  Perhaps it only sustained a paint job of the housing.  It's odd to see an older housing on a later phone.  The elements of course are different but one of them is from 1965.

It has a nice open center finger wheel.  You got your dollar's worth for sure. Stripping that paint may be a huge job.  Perhaps just polish it the best you can and enjoy it the way it is.  Good buy, Debbie.

Oh yes, I was going to comment on the yellow capacitors.  I've never seen one with two capacitors before.  They probably aren't needed but if it works then they're not hurting anything there.

Dewdrop

So what is the yellow part on the receiver? Also the date stamped in red looks like 10-30-53. That would be the oldest one I have for a 500 set. I believe ya'll have told me before the red means refurbished. Is that correct?

Thanks for your comments and suggestions so far.

Debbie
Debbie

Dennis Markham

Debbie, that is also a capacitor on the receiver element.  That date in "vermilion" red is not a refurbish date.  Those were often stamped in red, also in white.  The red stamping on the bottom of the phone would be a refurbish date.

One of our electrical experts would have to talk to you about the capacitors.  I don't know why there are so many on this set.

JorgeAmely

Dennis:

It is also a noise reduction capacitor. Perhaps the previous owner complained about hearing various AM or FM stations on his/her set.

Jorge

Dewdrop

I don't know what the part is called that's clear plastic that the transmitter sits on, but it also has a yellow capacitor.

Debbie
Debbie

Phonesrfun

All those capacitors seem to be hooked to places to keep a close by radio station from interfering with telephone calls. 

All of them can be removed, as they serve no purpose unless you too are located close to a radio station.  Mind you, they won't hurt anything being connected, but you really don't need any of them.  Looks like you have four.  On each on the receiver element and transmitter element, and another two hooked to the network.

-Bill G