Bent WE 554 Hook-Switch

[tjmack99]

So, thanks to the USPS my 1956 554 was dropped during shipment. It landed right where the hook-switch was and bent it (also cracked the number bezel beneath). I opened it up and the hook-switch assemply is now bent as a result (especially the "cross bar" piece which rotates when the hook-switch is pressed). I'm not really sure how to approach bending these parts back into place, I don't want to make anything worse. Any experience out there with this situation?
Many thanks,
Tim

[LarryInMichigan]

Tim,

You have our sympathies.  I think that all of use have had such experiences.  If you can post some pictures of the damage, it might help other forum members to provide advice.  Chances are that someone here will have some surplus parts which can be used to replace some of the damaged ones.

Larry

[tjmack99]

Thank you.  I know from my own searches in this forum how helpful pictures are so I will post some tonight.
Tim

[jsowers]

Unfortunately 554s are more vulnerable to bad packing and mishandling than other models. The housing can crack easily if put in a bind. I've never had a damaged switchhook, but I have had plenty of cracks, chips and open holes on 554s caused by bad packing. The one that somehow escaped damage was a yellow hard plastic 554 packed in a slim Priority box with the switchhook actually poking through the box! I offer the picture posted below as proof they can survive packing as bad as this. But if it's a valuable one or one you're looking forward to adding to your collection, there is never a guarantee it will arrive safely.

The picture below is my phone and not Tim's, FYI.

[tjmack99]

Nice. Mine had newspaper stuffed in the box, but fared worse than yours! I should be thankful that there were no cracks in the soft plastic shell. The seller does have another old number dial that they will send my at n/c. Don't know if that part is dated, though.

[NorthernMan]

My question is how do the sellers of these poorly packed items stay in business. I suspect for the most part they are new to selling and in shipping valuable items.
I am not an expert  .. if it bent one way it will bend the other way  ... what can you lose by trying to straighten it out. Not a good solution but whats the alternative. I think there is a 50/50 chance of breaking it.

[tjmack99]

Thanks, I'll definitely leave the appropriate feedback for the seller. As far as bending, I'm wracking my brain for a "clever" way to do this gently, like some kind of reverse clamp or spreader, that I can use to move the bend in the opposite direction.

[Russ Kirk]

Thanks, I'll definitely leave the appropriate feedback for the seller.

You can also file a claim with eBay. Most people get thier  money back.

[jsowers]

The dial faces aren't dated, but the older soft plastic ones do have MPCo on the back (in a circle). I haven't looked at many black ones, though. Dennis would know for sure. He likes to call them bezels. We all have our preferred names for stuff.

Maybe you could use pliers with felt wrapped around the jaws? And a lot of brute strength. Maybe put the "inside the phone" end into a vise and hit the bent area with a rubber mallet? Or put a piece of soft pine between a hammer and the switchhook and take out your aggression toward the seller.   I'm just guessing. None of this is from experience. If yours is one of those over-engineered thick switchhooks, then good luck. Maybe an auto body place would have a solution?

[tjmack99]

Thanks, maybe I'll take my aggressions towards the seller our on one of my junky phones . It looks like bend is really in that horizontal rod, which in turn bent its housing a little. The over-engineered thick switch hook itself does not appear damaged. Its brute strength apparently spared it!

[Dennis Markham]

Tim, I have had a few 554's with the bent axle.  Sometimes I think it was just from the phone being slammed down too hard.  It's not difficult, normally to remove the axle that holds the switch hook.  It's just a matter of removing the spring and then sliding the axle out to the left, as the phone lays on its back with the hook toward you.

Once the bent axle is free I set it on either the concrete floor, or perhaps a flat piece of steel, like on the back of my vise.  Roll the axle so the high side is up and then strike it with a hammer.  Roll, hammer, repeat as often as necessary.  If the chrome hook itself is bent that's a different story.  I've never tried straightening one of those.  The metal is more porous and may break.

Is your dial bezel (dial face) black?  Does it mount to a #7 dial or a #9.  Put a photo on here of that.  I'm sure I have a spare.

[tjmack99]

Thanks Dennis, I've attached a picture. Hopfully I did it correctly and you can see it. It does appear that it's mainly the axele that's bent, not the hook itself. Glad to know it can be remeoved, it seemed like it should, but I didn't want to try to hard if it wasn's supposed to come out. That will by my project now, to convince it to come out.

[Dennis Markham]

Tim, that should be no problem. Just remove the spring that makes the hook switch pop back into place and it will release the tension on that axle.  Looking at your photo, I always remove them from left to right.  The way I described it was positioning the phone the opposite way.

Nice brushed/textured hook.  Looks like you have a 7 series dial there so I have a dial bezel for you.  It may not be perfect but it will not be cracked/broken.  I'm sure it will polish up nicely.

[tjmack99]

Thanks so much, you've relieved much of the anxiety over this! And it's good to know how that axele comes off, as I have another phone where the hook itself is broken.

[LarryInMichigan]

It looks like Dennis got you "off the hook"