Candlestick Cord Question

[Gilas]

I am just in the beginning stage of starting to learn more about candlesticks and the various parts that go with them.  Thanks again poplar1 for your help and the informative posts that you have done Sarge.  I do have some questions about cords.  Many of the phones that I have found need some help in the cord department and I wanted to try and order some from OPW. However, I see alot of various kinds spade/spade, pin/spade, pin/pin etc etc.  I can easily see the ones that I have now and what they need but I also would rather order extra so that I have them in the future and save postage.  Can anyone explain which belong to what and maybe which I would need more often than the others.  Sarge I see on one post that you list the cord like 400, 289 etc...what does this relate to? Is there somewhere that I can look (either in a book or online) that would show me the differences?  Thank you all for your help in advance.

Mike

[poplar1]

151-AL refurbished in the 1940s usually had cords with rubber insulation on the wires and cloth covering for the cord. They were coded D4U (4 conductors with S hooks on each end) and R2DW (S hook on one end).

[Gilas]

Thanks pop but what about the other cords for various candlesticks. The subset cords will always be spade spade with various amounts (3 or 4) right? But transmitter and receiver are they always spade spade too no matter which it is? 

[poplar1]

1908 WE Catalog:

Receiver (2 conductor):

#92---red and blue worsted covering---pins on each end

EDIT: This cord was used only on wall phones.

#178---green silk----pins on receiver end, spade tips on other end

To subset (3 conductor):

#180---green silk---spade tips on both ends

Desk Stands include 20-B (nickel) and 20-S (black)

cords: page 23 (40/184)
receivers: page 63-64 (80-81/184)

Look inside your 143 or 144 receiver and you will see that either pins or spade tips can be used. The 122 receiver (outside post terminals) will accept only pins on the receiver end.

http://telephonecollectors.info/index.php/document-repository/doc_download/11201-weco-telephonic-apparatus-and-supplies-catalog-1908ca-ocr-r-large-file

Thanks TCI library and Remco.
[/quote]

[Sargeguy]

You can never go wrong with spade tips and cloth insulation except when you have an OST transmitter.  Even subsets wit binding posts used spade tipped subset cords, judging from the spade tips I just removed from my 101 the other day.  I agree that the later candlesticks, especially the 151-AL and equivalents used rubber insulation, and these were also used for replacement cords for earlier phones. I think brown cloth insulated cords were phased out some time in the 1930s.  Green cords were phased out once nickel plated candlesticks fell out of fashion, around WWI.  Some nickel phones continued to be made (20-PC for example), and I assume green cords were still used to replace worn cords for several years after that.  I have never seen a green cord with vinyl insulated wires.

[Gilas]

Thanks alot for the info. Just what I needed.

[poplar1]

WE Catalog #6 (c. 1925?):

549 receiver cord
550 desk stand cord

BSP Section C36.101/C63.701, Issue 6, 1-18-39
STATION CORDS--ALL TYPES:


Desk Stand Cords
Earlier standard:
D3P-9 (rubber insulated conductors)
or D3H-9 (textile insulated conductors)

New standard:
D3AK-9 (rubber insulated conductors)
or D3AA (rubber insulated conductors + rubber jacket)

Receiver Cords:
Earlier standard:
R2A (textile insulated conductors)
R2B (rubber insulated conductors)

New Standard:
R2DW (rubber insulated conductors)
or R2BU (rubber insulated conductors, rubber jacket)

"1.02 In general, cords with rubber insulated conductors
are standard for station use. These cords supersede
the earlier standard cords with textile insulated conductors
except in a few cases where cords with textile insulated con-
ductors have not as yet been replaced. It is expected, how-
ever, that the latter cords will be replaced when existing
stocks are exhausted. Reissued cords may, of course, be of
either the rubber insulated or textile insulated types....

"2. Code numbers
The characters in the code numbers for cords such as
D4S-9 have the following significance:

(a) The first character of the code designates the princi-
pal use. The letters generally used for station cords
are as follows:

D--Desk Stand Cord. Also includes hand set and
telephone set mounting cords and switch cords
used between the switchhook contact spring assembly
and the base of desk stands.
H--Hand Set Cord
L--Operator's Telephone Set Cord
M--Miscellaneous Cord
R--Receiver Cord
T--Transmitter Cord
W--Test Cord

(b) The second character of the code corresponds to the
number of conductors in the cord.

(c) The letter or letters immediately after the number of
conductors have no special significance and are arbi-
trarily assigned to indicate a variation in physical struc-
ture, such as insulation, cord tips, etc.

(d) The dash number,  for example (-9) indicates the
color of the cord. When no dash number is included,
the cord is available in only one color. Regular brown
(-9) cords are in general standard for station apparatus.
For information concerning cords used with colored
apparatus see section entitled 'Station Sets--Colored Finishes.'"