Goodwill eBay - WE 5302

[Stormcrash]

Since I live in the Seattle area I check the eBay page for Seattle Goodwill fairly regularly, with phone as one of my searches. When I did so last week I got a nice surprise, A Western Electric 5302 in great shape for $9.99!

I promptly made a bid for the phone, and then quietly waited as the auction timer ticked towards the end, hoping not to get in a bid war.  Well the auction finally ended today and I was the only bidder, so I got the 5302 for $9.99 plus tax!  Since I'm local I can do in person pickup so I won't even have to pay shipping. While I don't know how rare 5302s are exactly, for $10 I'm really happy to have found this.

I'll be picking it up in a couple days and I'll share more then, but for now here's the auction pictures

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Rotary-Corded-Western-Electric-Bell-System-Telephone-/401818996684

?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=ybxIkcZXG1Y2oRDIewu%252F78FFR1w
%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc

[tubaman]

That looks to be a very tidy example and at a very nice price - well done!
A 5302 is on my hit list, but finding a nice one and getting it across the pond for a reasonable price (ie cheap ) is not proving easy.

[Pourme]

Good for you! That's a deal, on a phone you must have to represent telephone history from the 50's/60's!

Congrats!

[.....]

Sweet find, I wish I could find a 5302 like that. That's one model I don't have in my collection.

[oldguy]

What a beauty & for only $10, congrats.

[SunriseEarth]

That is a great find and a great deal!   Definitely FOTM material!

[Stormcrash]

So I picked up the 5302 today. It's in good shape but boy is it filthy. I didn't take any more pictures before I started disassembling it to clean but I'll put up photos at the end.

Couple observations, boy does taking this thing apart suck, I'm sooo glad the 500 switched to having all components mounted on the base, the housing was filthy but disconnecting the dial from the shell was a major pain, not to mention the shell from the base and the hookswitch from the shell.

Also I was using a little rubbing alcohol to remove caked on dirt when I made two unfortunate discoveries

1) Alcohol can start to remove the vermilion date codes, luckily I caught this before it fully took off the 11/45 date inside the base, though it looks more like 1 /45 now

2) It seems alcohol can strip/damage some of the softer plastics on the phone, specifically the number ring. I was again using a little alcohol as there was a stuck on residue, but it left some streaking on the surface

Luckily from an unrelated project I'd read a little toothpaste on a wet paper towel can somewhat buff out scratches on plastic so I tried it and it definately made it look better again, though not perfect. I'll have to pick up some novus polish or something to really buff it back, and the body could use a little polishing too, though there is only minor scuffing on the phone which I'm very thankful for.

Some other observations, this thing stank when I took it out of the bag it was in. I'm betting its the older plastics. The pins on the line cord were fully corroded so I'll have to replace that, but I was planning on that anyways.  Also wow are the caps on the F handset THICK!

[RotarDad]

Great find there for the money!  I like F handset on that one!

Several members here have used denatured alcohol on Tenite (soft plastic) to intentionally melt the very top of the plastic and restore an even surface.  The process is 1) wet sand with something very fine like 1000 grit, 2) use a cloth to carefully spread denatured alcohol on the surface until it evaporates, 3) polish with Novus 2, or similar.  If the 5302 parts are Tenite ( I think they are), then this method can repair the damage.

Here's a link to a repair I did using this technique:


http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=20430.0

[Stormcrash]

Thanks, that's good info on the alcohol. I hadn't realized it would eat into the tenite like that.

Here's some pictures of it now cleaned up a bit. You can see just a hair of streaking near the 9 and 0 on the dial ring but not too badly. And yeah I think some spots that I rubbed with alcohol did shine up a bit, but I really wish I'd just used soap the whole time.

It does have some problems now, it won't pick up the line properly, though it did before I took it apart, and the only connections I undid were those to the dial which I took a picture of first so I could rewire it properly.  The odd thing is that if I dial a digit I will get a burst of dial tone for a moment after the dial returns to the resting position, so something in the dial it holding the line open? Also the ringer doesn't ring properly. I hear a ticking, but the striker barely moves to the point of being near stationary. I did get it to ring once but then it went back to ticking. I'm going to take it with me when I go volunteer at the Connections Museum tomorrow and see if anyone has advice.

[Stormcrash]

Took the phone with me to the museum today and I think I've got the problem narrowed down. The other volunteers said it was likely either the dial rest contact not closing properly or the dial active contact not opening at rest.  I poked around a little tonight and superficially they appear to be opening and closing, but when I shorted the screw terminals going to the dial rest closed contact with my screwdriver I got a connection and dial tone, albeit a very poor one.

Next step is to get the plastic cover off the back of the no. 6 dial and try cleaning the contact springs

[RotarDad]

Stormcrash - your issue sounds similar to one I was just facing on a 500 set.  My fix turned out to be correcting a bent contact for the transmitter (mouthpiece) in the handset.  Might be worth ensuring those contacts are clean and reaching the mouthpiece for good electrical connection. 

[Stormcrash]

Thanks for the suggestion RotarDad, but I don't think the transmitter is my problem. I took out the capsule and shored the contacts with a screwdriver and while I could hear popping if the driver shifted the line was still held open. However shorting the screw terminals on the dial successfully closed the line and got dial tone in the receiver. I did make an interesting realization though, my 5302 has a T1 transmitter in the F handset along with a small gasket on top. It also doesn't fit particularly snugly, if you shake the handset you can hear it rattle and shift a bit. The receiver is the correct HA1 though. Anyone ever seen a half upgraded handset like this on a 5302? When I get it working I'll have to see if it causes any sidetone or gain issues

[rdelius]

Your #10 post indicates that the impulse cam is out of position.if shorting the dial pulse contacts results in dial tone. A close up photo of the dial would help

[andre_janew]

The transmitter shouldn't rattle when the handset is shaken.  Bend the contacts up slightly.

[Jim Stettler]

When the T1 is installed in the spacer, it should physically be the same size (and basic look) as the F transmitter. I have seen a T1 installed in a spacer backwards. I
That may be the problem.
Note that there are also aftermarket spacers that may not hold the transmitter as tightly as the originals.



Jim