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White mold on plastic?

Started by guitar1580, January 11, 2011, 12:19:40 AM

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guitar1580

This may have been covered before, but has anyone else found white mold growing on the plastic number bezels of 1950's era 500 & 5302 models?  My house isn't large enough to display all of my phones, so some are packed in boxes in my basement.

It's not overly damp, and I do run a dehumidifier when needed, but when I get the phones out to clean them, sometimes I find the mold.  It is usually only on the plastic dial bezels.

It seems to clean off easily enough, but it's odd how it likes that particular plastic.  I'm thinking of putting something like coffee, baking soda, charcoal, soap powder, etc, into a cheesecloth bag to put into the box, to try to ward off the mold.  Maybe those homebrewing / hop bags can have another use, packed with the phones. ;D

Has anyone else had this mold problem?

Josh P

Greg G.

#1
One of my 5302s was coated with it.  I gave it a good soak in Oxiclean, it hasn't returned, but it's not stored in a basement either.    
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e

LarryInMichigan

Tenite (soft plastic) is made of cellulose, so it is a nutrient source for mold.  You need to use Oxyclean or bleach or something to eliminate the mold spores to keep mold from regrowing when moisture is present.

Larry

Dennis Markham

I have soaked the plastic in a bleach/water mixture after I've cleaned the mold.  I was told by a long-time collector that the bleach "kills" the mold from growing back.  It usually seems to be with the black phones.  The soaking doesn't effect the color.

Wallphone

As with Brinybay the only phones I have had this happen to was with two 5302's that I had in storage in the basement. The mold was on most of the phone but seemed to be worse on the dial bezel. I cleaned them up with dish soap & water and it started to return. So I cleaned them again with a spray bottle of 4 parts water and 1 part bleach and that did the trick. One of them was used with Russ Cowell's article on the 5302 in the Nov. TCI Singing Wires Journal. So it went from an oldie moldy to celebrity status.

Greg G.

Quote from: Wallphone on January 11, 2011, 08:53:19 AM
As with Brinybay the only phones I have had this happen to was with two 5302's that I had in storage in the basement. The mold was on most of the phone but seemed to be worse on the dial bezel. I cleaned them up with dish soap & water and it started to return. So I cleaned them again with a spray bottle of 4 parts water and 1 part bleach and that did the trick. One of them was used with Russ Cowell's article on the 5302 in the Nov. TCI Singing Wires Journal. So it went from an oldie moldy to celebrity status.

Dang, I always get "shiny phone envy" when I see phones like that!
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e

HarrySmith

I have had a few with the mold issue, mostly 302's. As I have stated before my usual procedure for cleaning a phone is to take it apart and soak the plastics in a bucket with Oxiclean and hot water. I use a very string mixture, approx twice what is recommended.  This removes it easily and I have not had the mold return but I also do not have a basement to store them in.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

HobieSport

I have a lot of moldy phones this winter. I've been cleaning them with regular Windex (ammonia, I assume).

I don't know if the Windex will kill the mold permanently. Does anyone else use Windex?

-Matt
-Matt

JorgeAmely

#8
Mold??

I thought it was powdered sugar ...

http://picasaweb.google.com/Amelyenator/EarlyNorth541PhoneWithAluminumBase#5350758335672190370
( dead link 06-24-21 )

Addendum:

This is the dial bezel of a North 541 from October 1956. I think it was used for 5-6 years and then stored in a shed in the state of Maine (Heck, now we buy iPhones to be later replaced in a year or two!). The fact that is very difficult to clean under the finger wheel is probably why it turned like as shown in the picture. Under the hood is all WE, except for the ringer and dial.
Jorge

Adam

I've heard of molded plastic, but that's ridiculous!

;D
Adam Forrest
Los Angeles Telephone - A proud part of the global C*Net System
C*Net 1-383-4820

guitar1580

Wall, that's a beautiful 5302.  Thanks for posting the pics.

Good to know about the bleach.  I was wondering if it was used on black as well as white, so I won't be afraid to use it now.

I got a good pic of the mold, and it looks really odd, but camera batteries are dead at the moment.  Will try to post a before & after pic later.  It's odd how it's on the dial bezel only, I thought the housings were tenite also.

Josh

JorgeAmely

#11
Quote from: Wallphone on January 11, 2011, 08:53:19 AM
As with Brinybay the only phones I have had this happen to was with two 5302's that I had in storage in the basement. The mold was on most of the phone but seemed to be worse on the dial bezel. I cleaned them up with dish soap & water and it started to return. So I cleaned them again with a spray bottle of 4 parts water and 1 part bleach and that did the trick. One of them was used with Russ Cowell's article on the 5302 in the Nov. TCI Singing Wires Journal. So it went from an oldie moldy to celebrity status.

I like your second picture a lot. The handset looks like made of black granite. Very nice shot.

PS: (There used to be a guy in the forum, fishlover or something like that, that used to show his beautiful, shiny collection to us. I wonder what he is doing these days.   ??? ??? ???  )
Jorge

Doug Rose

Jorge....Finlover....cars not fish. Greg pops on now and then. He is the master of plastics. His work is top notch. ....Doug
Kidphone

jsowers

Quote from: guitar1580 on January 11, 2011, 09:48:33 PM
It's odd how it's on the dial bezel only, I thought the housings were tenite also.

Josh, the dial bezels were made by a supplier and not at the Indianapolis Works, at least to begin with. It was rather high tech for the 1950s, molding two different color plastics together like that. If you look closely on the early bezels, you'll see MPCo molded into the back, in a circle.

Whether the plastic recipe was different or maybe the care of the molds (by that I mean what the bezel was formed in) was not as scrupulous as at WE or what--we'll never know--but the mold does seem to come more from the bezels. Maybe the factory was damp? It's nice to wonder about why things happened the way they did.
Jonathan

AE_Collector

Quote from: Kidphone on January 12, 2011, 09:52:37 AM
Jorge....Finlover....cars not fish. Greg pops on now and then. He is the master of plastics. His work is top notch. ....Doug

No...I think it was fishlover.

(Jorge is in a quirky mood these days...needs another sanding project)

Terry