302 Problems!

[Sargeguy]

It's an early 1947 model.  The interior is cleaning up nicely without too much effort.  The dial is a 4H and was encrusted with mud.  It seems to work and should be okay after lubrication.  Most of the problem is with the exterior.   The housing is intact with only a few serious scratches but lots of dings.  It has a white cloudiness that looks like mildew stains imbedded in parts of the thermoplastic.  The leather is gone off the feet.  The phone must have been left is=n the sun, because the red numbers on the dial are faded while the black letters seem fine, and the celluloid has warped from exposure to heat.  Maybe it was rescued from the dump or junk heap.

I will wire it back up this afternoon and try to retain the original wiring.  Unfortunately the line cord is partially severed and needs replacement.  I may hook up a modular cord and give this away as a Christmas gift.  My other 302 is a lot better preserved.

[Dennis Markham]

I'm not sure what you paid for that phone but the 4H dial is a bonus. That is a very furbishable telephone.  The leather feet can be replaced or recovered.  It would take some time to sand and buff the plastic, tear apart the dial etc., but you have the makings of a nice phone there.  The white you describe sounds like mold.  I have soaked plastic in a mixture of bleach and water to "kill" the mold.  About a quarter cup of bleach in a sink full of water for several hours will not damage the plastic but will kill that mold allowing the plastic to be polished back to its original color and shine.

[Sargeguy]

The phone cost  $16.10 + $13.95 S&H

I broke down the dial as far as I could by unscrewing things.  I cleaned it with hot water, tuning the rotor as I did so to get the mud out.  Ithen scrubbed all the exposed parts with a brass brush to remove the more stubborn accumulations of dirt (which weren't many) and used a steel brush on the teeth. Once I could dunk it in clean water and not see any grit I dried it off, blew it with compressed air and left it in a 200 degree  oven for 20 minutes  The dial has been repainted, and washing the dirt off also removed some of the numbers but it appears to have been refurbished in 1947.  The dial is a little noisy but seems to be calibrated.  The switches look like they are working to my untrained eye.  I am off to find some sewing machine oil to lubricate the axles

What grit of sandpaper do you recommend?  What polish? 

[Dennis Markham]

Sanding is always a last resort for me.  But I have become fairly good at it.  What I do first is clean and polish.  If it has mold I'd do the bleach thing, even after polishing.  Then wash with soapy water and polish again.  Once it is polished you can see where the imperfections are on the case.  If you decide then to sand them out I begin with a low grit, depending on how bad the marks are.  I use automotive wet sand paper. It can be found in any automotive store like Pep Boys, Murray's Discount Auto, etc.  If it's not too bad I start with 800 grit, then move up to 1,000 and then 2,000.  Even higher papers are available.  I go up as high as the papers will allow and then re-polish and buff. 

I may have explained my technique before but I'll briefly write them again now.  When you begin keep all the sanding strokes going in the same direction.  If it's up and down then do the entire phone the same way.  Then using the next grit go in the opposite direction.  Do not go in circles.  But using the first grit, if the marks are deep go to a lower grit first...like 400.  I have even used a 200 series grit paper.  When after doing the second second paper dry the phone and examine the sanding job.  If you see any marks from the previous sandpaper, you must go over it again until only the strokes from the last paper used is visible.  Continue this procedure.  Be careful on edges so that you don't sand away the features of the phone.  I would recommend only sanding problem areas.  Don't worry, once you finish, apply polish and buff it up it will shine evenly.  It is time consuming---it may take you a while.

I use Novus2 polish, available on-line.  There may be other plastic polishes that work good.  Once you apply polish and have to re-sand you will notice it take a little effort to get through the polish. 

If you have questions I'm glad to offer what up what I know about this procedure.  It took me a long time to get the nerve up to sand one of these phones.  Actually the 302's are much easier than the 500's.  You don't have logos to worry about and most of the surfaces are flat making it easier to manipulate the sandpaper.  I do it under trickling water.  Make sure you wash the phone each time before moving up to the next paper.  You don't have to wash it with soap but I have a sponge I use and I run water over it while brushing away all residue with the sponge.  Once it is free of the previous sanding dust then I dry it with a paper towel or series of paper towels.  I just squeeze out the water and air dry them to use them again and again.  It's amazing how many times you can re-use a paper towel before it has to be thrown away.

Dennis

[bingster]

I'm not sure if the 302 is made of the same plastic the early 500s were, but with the early 500s, there's a milky cast to the plastic that appears on the plastic after it gets wet.  After letting it dry for a day, check to see if the cloudiness is still there, and then make your decision to try to sand it off or not.

The No. 4 dial is naturally noisier than the No. 5.  At the time that was seen as something to be corrected, but now people kill for that loud ticking.  If I were you, I'd swap the dials with the 202 in the phone niche.

[Sargeguy]

Alrighty!

Thanks for the advice.  I will probably try polishing it with the Novus (#1, #2 &#3 kit) I just ordered when it arrives and see if that works before I resort to sanding. 

I cleaned it up and rigged up a modular cord and...nothing!!!  Well not completely nothing.  If I pick up the handset the other phones stop ringing.  The phone does not ring and there is no movement from the ringer.  I will have to retrace my steps and see if anything is amiss.

[HobieSport]

Just chiming in to thank Dennis for the sanding/polishing lesson.  Very handy.
And Greg (Sargeguy), you're really lucky with the 4H dial.  Yes, people love the sound, and they seem to go for $35-$50 just for a decent 4H dial on Ebay.  It's great to see you fix up this phone, that I lot of folks might have considered a lost cause or "creature from the black lagoon".  I just love a good diamond in the rough.   -Matt

[Dennis Markham]

Greg, one more point about the sanding.  As I mentioned sanding was always a last resort for me.  I would not sand the phone to get rid of the milky condition, but only for deep scratches and the like.  The first time a collector friend of mine suggested I soak it in bleach I was apprehensive.  I did it with a model 500 (soft plastic).  In fact it was the Kellogg DK-500 that I brought back from the dead.  It caused no ill effect on the plastic at all.  I had already washed and polished it but when the light hit it just right you could still see beneath the surface of the polish a fog-like pitting of the plastic.  About 3 hours sitting in the kitchen sink with the water/bleach mixture got rid of that completely.  I was amazed.  I also soaked the dial ring.  Since then I have used it on a couple of sets, including the 302 shell but only when they had mold on them. 

The milky condition caused by soaking in warm water will disappear once it dries to room temperature.  But I don't think you'll ever get rid of mold without the bleach technique.

Again, sanding is a big job---especially when doing the entire phone.  Spot sanding to get rid of scratches our gouges goes much quicker. 

More 2cents worth......

Matt, by the way, you're welcome.  I am always willing to share what I have learned.  Most of it is from others sharing with me.
Dennis

[Dan/Panther]

Dennis;
Great tips.
I'Ve also learned by others sharing \with me, so how about everyone help me learn about money today, and share some of yours with me.
I'm a slow learner so this may take some time. But keep sending the dough. It won't go to waste.
D/P

[McHeath]

Looks like you need to apply for a government bailout!   

[Sargeguy]

I am considering hooking the 4H up to the 202, at least to test it since the 202 seems to be working for the most part.  I like to keep things as close to original condition as possible, though.  The 202 is a Frankenphone that someone tinkered with quite a bit.  I am inclined to replace it with an all-original attic-fresh version (although I will probably keep the E1 handset). 

I'm not worried about the bleaching.  That's my solution to everything.  And don't worry, it's got it share of scratches too.

[Sargeguy]

I re-did the wiring and still nothing.  I moved the wires around and I do get spark.  I hooked up the 4H dial to the other 302 and it works (there is a little noise on the line and the phone does not ring but I can dial out).  I have yet to crack the handset open, it is a little stubborn.  I may have to put this one aside for a while.

[Sargeguy]

Got another 302 in the mail today.  Another thermoplastic job with a date of April 1, 1949.  I shall refer to it as the April Fool's 302.  Cost $24.75 with shipping.   Interesting that in the 6 years that my 302s span I have a transitional #4 (1947), a #5 (1949) and a #6 (1953) dials.  I have cloth covered line cords(1949), thick black cords (1947), a thin black cord and a coiled handset cord (1953).  This one was intact, with a nice dial card holder with vintage card.   

Although not a dunker like the other two 302s it is moldy inside.  It has a lot of potential but it also has some issues:

It has the original rubber gasket intact.  How should I clean and preserve it, and how should I clean around it?

The central screw holding the hookswitch in place is stripped and will not budge.  Any tips for removing a stripped screw from a plastic phone? 

How do you clean cloth cords?  I have a couple really dirty ones.

Thanks

[BDM]

Aside from completely stripping and cleaning the main housing. I use an ultrasonic cleaner now. Works quite well on those small parts like buttons, receiver/transmitter caps. Even dial parts if you decide to disassemble the dial for a thorough rebuild. After the plastic parts are cleaned, I then give them a nice polish job on a low speed buffer. The ultrasonic cleaner is great for getting those "crusties" out of tight areas like receiver/transmitter cap holes & grooves. Plus it lifts any film or grime that's on these parts. Stuff that may give these parts a dull shine, like smoke, dirt, oil film, etc. etc.

[southernphoneman]

thankyou for this post I will need it when I start hooking my 302 back up again.