Damaged threads on cap.

[Greg G.]

Lesson for the day:  Don't force it!  The receiver cap on my recent acquisition, the green/blue AE, was on so tight I almost got a hernia trying to twist it off by hand.  I made the mistake of using a strap wrench on it with a lot of torque.  Yeah, it finally budged, but only because the threads were frozen together and they broke.  

Anyway to fix the threads?  As it is now, I can get it on part way before encountering some resistance.  If I play with it a bit, it will eventualy go all the way on, but it's a real bit** to get back off.  The damage seems to be on the handset part of the threads, the cap looks ok.

My other alternative, and it's probably the route I'll go, would be just to leave it for now and when I get it all sanded and buffed up, work the cap back on with the idea of never taking it off again.

[Dan/Panther]

Brinybay;
Where is the damage, I don 't see any.
You can use Novus, or Brasso, and coat the threads keep it wet, and turn the cap back and forth pushing and pulling as you turn it, the will widen the threads and make them looser.
D/P

[McHeath]

I've put Vasoline on some messed up threads to make them smoother, which works nicely. 

[Dan/Panther]

One more thing, in the photos, it appears they haven't been cleaned yet. Usually a good warm soapy water bath, and clear water rinse will remove any imbedded dirt that can make threads very stubborn. Use a final COLD water rinse, as warm water tends to made plastiic threads grab.
D/P

[Phonesrfun]

The cap looks like the part that survived.  It also looks like the previous owner jammed the receiver element in against the supports and did not let the element properly seat nice and easy before forcing the cap on.  This is apparent by the bunged up supports in the handset shell.  You might take a known good receiver cap off another AE handset and repeatedly put it on and off the damaged handset shell, trying to finesse some new threads back onto the hanset shell.  If you force it, you could also screw up the known good cap.  Also run the blue cap onto a known good handset. 

The whole idea is to try to get the threads back to where they should be on each piece before trying to put them back together again.

Good luck!

[Dan/Panther]

It appears that the receiver element being placed incorrectly, then forcing the cap on, may have forced the handset threads to become oval shaped. Possibly if you put them both into hot water and let them set awhile, maybe they will retain their original memory and go somewhat back round again.
D/P

[Greg G.]

It's a little hard to see in the pictures, the flash in one picture creates a glare, and the non-flash one is grainy, but part of the top thread ridge on the handset is gone, the cap is ok.  I'll try the suggestions youse guys mentioned, clean, soak, lube.

I just tried Phonesrfun's suggestion swapping caps with the other AE's I have, the AE 90 wall phone, the 183 spacemaker, and the AE 80, with mixed results.  On the 183, no problem either way.  With the wall phone, the wall phone cap will fit on the green handset, but not the other way around.  Same with the AE 80.  Keep in mind none of these phones have been cleaned yet.

In the future, should one encounter a very tight cap, what's the best way to loosen it?

[JorgeAmely]

Brinibay:

They all come off when heated with a portable hair dryer.

[Dennis Markham]

Vote #2 for the hair dryer.  On plastic and even Bakelite handsets it works very well.  There has only been one occasion, with an E1 that I needed a strap wrench.  Let the hair dryer blow the hot air from 3-5 inches away until it's just warm enough to touch.  They almost always come off with little effort.  If still stuck, warm it some more.  No freezing, no boiling, no struggle.

[Dan/Panther]

One thing I really think needs to be done, is cleaning the threads first, before trying to put the caps back on.
D/P

[Greg G.]

One thing I really think needs to be done, is cleaning the threads first, before trying to put the caps back on.
D/P

I have some time tomorrow morning, I plan to do it then.

[jsowers]

Thanks for passing along the hair dryer tip. I never thought of that.

What I use when the cap is really dirty and has crud in the crevice, so to speak, is spray on some window cleaner and try to get all the crud out with a paper towel and my thumbnail. Then I spray more into the crevice and wait for it to penetrate a little and then the cap will come off. I haven't wrecked one yet. Sometimes it needs a few applications before it comes loose. I deal mostly with soft plastic and don't work on many AEs or Bakelite handsets, so those could need more effort and the hair dryer.

As part of cleaning the entire phone,  I clean the threads of the cap and handset, and the handset threads get a small amount of Novus 2 and some light polishing. It works fine after that.

[Greg G.]

I'm trying that Oxyclean stuff, see if it's all it's cracked up to be.  Figures they say to use X scoops, but there's no scoop provided, so I used the "by guess and by golly" method for the amount.  Added hot water, mixed it, tossed in the plastic parts and will check them Tuesday morning.

[bwanna]

this product is great for cleaning everything. an old toothbrush would be good to clean out the threads after the soaking.

http://tinyurl.com/ykhsfup

[Dan/Panther]

this product is great for cleaning everything. an old toothbrush would be good to clean out the threads after the soaking.

http://tinyurl.com/ykhsfup

I bought a couple electric battery toothebrushes, for cleaning chassis with Brasso. It works pretty good, maybe they would work with the stuff you listed. How much is that big bucket, or is it a small one.
D/P