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Started by carly28, February 18, 2012, 06:16:35 PM

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carly28

February 18, 2012, 06:16:35 PM
 Hi everyone, my names Carly I'm totally new to this so please be gentle with me  ;D

I have always loved these types of telephones and have always wanted to own one but never have for fear of people thinking I'm a bit strange. I guess now that there is a bit of a trend for vintage "shabby chic" items, it looks like I have jumped on the vintage bandwagon but anyway thats by the by. I have always loved how they look and sound and have longed to own one for as long as I could remember, and I am now 27.

I was searching on Etsy one day and came across what was listed as a vintage 70's rotary dial telephone in cream. It doesnt say in the listings wether it works or not, but by the pics it looked in an ok condition and I thought it would look nice in my bedroom. For the phone and shipping to the UK it worked at at just under £23, or aprox $35.

I recieved it today and upon opening it, I was pretty disappointed to find that the plastic body and much of the handset had gone that awful Nicotene yellow. I cleaned it up with a disinfectant spray (mainly because I wanted to know it had no germs on it lol). Then I sat staring at it for a while wondering how the hell I was going to get it back to its original colour. I searched google and came up with a few things, but these were for mainly restoring white plastic, not cream. I am a little concerned that I may end up doing more damage than good to the plastic. I am not sure if the ringer works either as the part that actually connects into the wall is apparantly (so my husband says) more like an Internet connector than a BT phone one. I didnt think they would be different but I have now been proved wrong!

So while searching google, I found this site and thought there would bound to be a few people who could help me out! I've looked at some of the pics where people have restored phones and they look great so any tips will be helpful. Like I say, being in the UK alot of products I've come across in my online search arent available here, so any universal products to use will be greatfully accepted.

Sorry to ramble so much, but I literally have NO idea what I am doing. On doing a quick wikipedia seach, I found that the phone I have purchased is a ITT 500. If that means anything.

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Snake

#1
February 18, 2012, 06:42:32 PM Last Edit: February 18, 2012, 06:53:10 PM by Reptile_Master
Hi Carley, welcome to the forum. :) I'm fairly new to this as well, and don't have much experience with restoring the color to plastics. I do know however that there are a lot of people on this forum that will read this and be able to help you. Also, there is a section on this  forum dedicated to information on restoring plastic you might want to check out:

Improving the color through chemical treatment:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?board=23.0
-
Improving the color through sanding:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?board=24.0

I think it might be helpful if your able to post some pictures of the phone, maybe one of the line as well so you can get some better help with that. Hopefully someone will come along and explain it a little more to you, sorry I couldn't be much of a help.

twocvbloke

#2
February 18, 2012, 11:43:14 PM
Quote from: carly28 on February 18, 2012, 06:16:35 PMI have always loved these types of telephones and have always wanted to own one but never have for fear of people thinking I'm a bit strange.

Nah, don't worry about people thinking you're strange, it's everyone else whose strange cos they do the same thing as everyone else... :D

I've been playing with old phones for the past year or so (only joined this forum relatively recently), and find them to be interesting to dismantle, repair and use, it's all a learning process so it's also educational, and it also teaches the history of the telephone, so you're covering a few good subjects to study, if you were still in education that is... :D

Anyway, the phone you have just needs a 2-wire BT to RJ11 line cable, which is pretty much a standard modem cable, like this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270878182994

It may need one bell wire moving internally (though by now it probably has already been done), but test it first just by plugging it in and ringing your line form a mobile, if it rings, you're fine... :)

twocvbloke

#3
February 19, 2012, 01:01:21 AM
Actually, I just had a thought as to whether or not it's hard-wired inside the phone, as in, does it have a socket on the back of the phone where the cable plugs in, or does the cable just go through a hole straight into the phone?

If it's the latter then you'd just need a BT-RJ11 adaptor such as this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180758492202

Which is easier to use than pulling off wires inside the phone... :)

carly28

#4
February 19, 2012, 06:46:16 AM
Thanks to you both. I'll get some pics up now. Hubby is getting me one of those connectors tomorrow so I can check if the phone is working. Its more the colour that is bothering me.


I did check out that part of the forum, but as I am new to this, I wasnt sure if it would apply to my phone or not.

Just to show how times have changed though, my daughter caught sight of the phone this morning and asked me what it was and how it worked haha.

carly28

#5
February 19, 2012, 06:56:29 AM
Ok pictures. They are not the greatest but the light in my house is awful.

LarryInMichigan

#6
February 19, 2012, 07:03:58 AM
Carly,

Your phone should do well with the hair peroxide treatment.  I have a phone the same color which was in much worse condition, but the peroxide restored the original color.

Larry

carly28

#7
February 19, 2012, 07:05:20 AM
Hi Larry.

Whats the peroxide treatment? Is it something thats easily done at home. What would I need for this?

twocvbloke

#8
February 19, 2012, 07:23:31 AM Last Edit: February 19, 2012, 07:26:01 AM by twocvbloke
Looks like a nice phone, and definitely a prime candidate for the peroxide or even retr0bright treatment too, it's probably white behind the yellowing... :)

And yep, just needs that adaptor and it should just work straight away... :)

If you have an ADSL modem hooked up to one of them plug-in filters or an NTE2000 faceplate on your master socket (has an RJ11 socket one side, and a BT socket the other), you can connect the phone to that to test it out (though I'm sure you'd annoy others in the house by unplugging the modem!!), as the phone only needs two wires to operate... :)

carly28

#9
February 19, 2012, 07:40:28 AM
Ok, so the peroxide treatment from what I can gather basically involves me coating th plastic in peroxide, and leaving it somwhere warm and checking on it periodically? Thats what I can glean from another thread that I found.

If I was to buy a homhair dye kit, would I be able to use the bottle of peroxide type liquid in that, or is it something totally different?

Our modem is a sky one. Not sure if it would be the same?

twocvbloke

#10
February 19, 2012, 07:55:34 AM
Quote from: carly28 on February 19, 2012, 07:40:28 AMOur modem is a sky one. Not sure if it would be the same?

Sky use ADSL modems, the only company who uses a different setup is VirginMedia who use cable modems which are a completely different connection... :)

Just follow it's cable back to the socket to see what plug it has on the end to see if it has the same one as your phone, and if it has, just unplug it (giving any family members notice that the internet'll be off for the next 10 minutes while you play with, I mean test your phone!! :D ), plug in your phone and call the line from your mobile... :)

Dialling from the phone is something to get used to though, I'm 26 and brought up with mostly push-button phones (any rotary ones were used for answering only most of the time), so getting used to dialling with a rotary is fun, and even moreso if the dial's not quite running at the right rate and your exchange doesn't like it, but I like my old Western Electric phones (what your ITT 500 is based on) for their ringers rather than the dialling... :)

carly28

#11
February 19, 2012, 08:14:06 AM
Just unplugged the modem and plugged in the phone. IT WORKS! Yay. Dial tone, and rings lovely. Have turned the volume down as otherwise I think if it rings in the night next to my husbands head he may have a heart attack lol.

Have been looking on Amazon and ebay at peroxide but I dont really know what I am looking for. Any recommendations on brands?

twocvbloke

#12
February 19, 2012, 08:32:24 AM
Glad the phone's working, they are VERY loud, that's for sure!!! :D

As for the peroxide, you might want to have a read of the retr0bright articles which has details on peroxide and other treatments to remove the yellowing from plastics... :)

http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/

carly28

#13
February 19, 2012, 09:50:17 AM
Ok brilliant. I think I've got it, just got to track down some Hydrogen Peroxide and I'm done. Think iy may be best to wait until spring/summer for this since there isnt much sunshine around at the moment. Going to use the recipe with arrowroot in since a) I can't be bothered buying ingredients such as the gum that I will never ever use again, and b) I don't have a blender (and I call myself a housewife).

Thanks twocvbloke (guessing thats not your real name lol  ;D), you've been a big help! :)

LarryInMichigan

#14
February 19, 2012, 10:18:24 AM
Carly,

The stuff that some of us have used is emulsified hydrogen peroxide which is sold for bleaching hair.  It is called "creme developer" for whatever reason.  You want to apply a thin, consistent layer of it to the plastic and let it sit in UV light or sunlight.  The light is essential.  The plastic should be covered to keep the peroxide from evaporating.  Do not overdo it, because the plastic can be overbleached.

Good Luck!

Larry
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