My first princess phone...

Sargeguy · January 04, 2009, 11:42:32 PM

I am not a huge princess fan. They seem a little too frivolous for me. I am a sucker for a round modular plug however, and I need something for the baby's room and a princess fits the bill. I put a bid of $15 on this one, transformer included:

~~http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160307095235&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:US:1123#ebayphotohosting~~
( dead link 05-13-21 )

I am hoping the yellow on the dial is the fingerwheel and not the dial plate. I am not sure anything can be done about the cords though.

bingster · January 04, 2009, 11:48:48 PM

I had that one on my watch list, and totally forgot to bid on it.

At least it went to somebody I know.

I wondered about the dial face, too. I'm no expert on princesses, but I don't recall seeing that sort of discoloration. It may be that a little plastic polish, or a bleach soak may help with that. I think bleach will definitely help the cords. Most people forget the cords when it comes to cleaning.

Dennis Markham · January 04, 2009, 11:49:57 PM

Were you the winning bidder? That is a real good price for a white Princess that isn't faded. It doesn't say in the listing if it's a 701B or 702B. The latter has the ringer. It's a nice looking phone.

I think I have some white handset cords laying around but it may need some modification for the Princess as the leads after the strain relief hook may need to be longer. I'll look in my boxes of goodies and see if I can come up something if you need one.

Sargeguy · January 04, 2009, 11:58:09 PM

Thanks, hopefully its just tobacco stains that'll wash off with some Armor-All. I'll let you know. I actually have a white princess dial from a parts lot. So I am not worried too much.

McHeath · January 05, 2009, 10:07:02 AM

Looks like a real good buy. I paid 10 for my Princess on e-bay but it was badly faded and had no transformer or line cord. You did well.

Sargeguy · January 05, 2009, 02:12:04 PM

How do you wire one of these up? Does the transformer plug directly into the phone? I have looked online but I can't figure it out. The modular version is explained, but not the standard/4-prong.

Dennis Markham · January 05, 2009, 03:43:11 PM

Greg,
Assuming that you have a 4 prong plug that is properly wired from the line cord, you could get one of those adapters that allow the 4 prong to be plugged in at one end and a modular end at the other. You need a splitter with two openings on one side and an output opening. On one side of the splitter you plug in the telephone. The opening next to it is for the transformer. Assuming you have a modular connection the transformer is plugged into the wall and the other end is plugged into that splitter next to where phone is plugged. Then on the output side that goes to the phone jack.

With those transformers, I have read where the model 2012C is the best to have. There were 4 that I know of made by Western Electric. The 2012A, 2012B, 2012C and 2012D. Lore has been passed down that two of them are prone to catch fire. Those are the models B and D. That can be remembered by thinking of BAD DOG. The 2012C is the most popular that I've seen. There are some off brands that I would stay away from. One in particular was also prone to fires.

You can buy what you need here: http://ericofon.com/catalog/parts.htm

I'm sure Oldphoneworks or Phoneco would have stuff too.

Look here: ~~http://www.porticus.org/bell/telephones-princess.html~~ ( dead link 05-13-21 )

This is a Princess page from the Bell Memorial Site. There is a transformer warning 3/4 of the way down the page. The bad ones are ones made by AULT.

Dennis

Sargeguy · January 06, 2009, 05:15:35 PM

Thanks Dennis, but I have most of my house wired for 4-prong. If the transformer is original to the phone, how does the 4-prong set-up work?

McHeath · January 06, 2009, 10:25:20 PM

Connect the transformer to the black and yellow wires that go to your phone on the line cord. You can wire it up so the whole house is thusly wired, or just go into the jack and have it work only for that location, which is what I did. It was remarkably simple to do.

Dennis Markham · January 06, 2009, 10:31:51 PM

Thanks McHeath. I had not had a chance to answer his question. I wanted to check one of my Princess phones wired to a 4 prong plug to recall how it was wired.

I once wired a transformer to an electrical outlet in the ceiling of my basement where the phone line enters the home. That way everything down-stream in theory would be charged so that no matter what modular jack I plugged in my Princess or Trimline phone they would light. And it worked fairly well. But I found that the lamps were a bit dim, especially if there were more than one connected. Then I read on the phone club list that this type of arrangement wasn't a good idea and I can't recall why. I think what it was is that I had that transformer on the entire system and then plugged in an individual transformer at a particular phone in one of the rooms. So in essence I was getting juice from two transformers. I ended up removing that transformer that was connected where the line entered the house and just use individual transformers when needed.

Sargeguy · January 06, 2009, 10:43:41 PM

Thanks. I probably won't use the transformer on a full-time basis, since the phone will be used in my daughter's room and the stories of transformers catching fire make me a little paranoid. I will definitely want it to be fully functional and as original as possible.

McHeath · January 06, 2009, 10:50:23 PM

I'm using some oddball transformer made by Conair in the late 90s. I have no idea what it was for originally but the output voltage was a match and it's nice and modern so it was press-ganged into service.

Konrad · January 07, 2009, 12:58:51 PM

Stupid newbie question.

The transformer is to power up the night light bulb built in?

McHeath · January 07, 2009, 09:24:14 PM

Yes, the transformer runs the built in light and it uses AC power to do it. Steps the voltage way down to something between 7 and 12 volts if memory serves.

Sargeguy · January 08, 2009, 11:13:45 PM

The phone arrived yesterday and I have been able to look at it in greater detail today. It is a model 702B from 11-65. The housing is pristine white. The cords and the dial are stained. The finger wheel is fine. The transformer is the "A" type and has the ends of two spade tipped wires attached (for reference). I hooked it up to test its functionality, and it works perfectly (of course) as a phone. I haven't delved into the night light feature yet. I don't have plugs anywhere near my 4-prong jacks. The plug broke when I unplugged it, a real bummer because I love the old round 4-prong plugs, especially color ones.

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