F1 Problem

[LarryInMichigan]

I am trying to finish up a beautiful ivory plastic 302 which I received last week, but I have run into a problem.  The phone arrived without a transmitter.  When I tried to insert an F1 transmitter into the cap, I discovered the reason.  An F1 transmitter will not fit, even partially, into the transmitter cap.  The cap does screw onto the handset without a problem.  Is it possible that the plastic shrunk so much that the transmitter will not fit into it at all, but the threads still fit properly over the handset threads?  Were smaller transmitters used in these plastic F1 handsets?  Help!

Thank You

Larry

[Phonesrfun]

Take a look at the name box on the handle where it says Western Electric F1.  If there is a tiny dot after the F1, the handset was made for T1/U1 elements. 

What kind of receiver element is in it?  A U1?

[LarryInMichigan]

There is a dot way off to the right of "F1", but the receiver is an HA1, and the handset has the spring terminals for an HA1.  The transmitter area seems to big for a T1 to fit properly without sliding around.  In a box a parts, I found a newer F1 transmitter, embossed "STC" and date stamped "76-9" which does fit into the cap and works, but it is a bit too thick for the cap to screw on fully.  I did just try a T1 in the handset, and the sound quality was terrible, so i guess that I will have to settle for the newer F1 which almost fits.

Larry

[paul-f]

Take a look at the name box on the handle where it says Western Electric F1.  If there is a tiny dot after the F1, the handset was made for T1/U1 elements. 

I believe the dot indicates the handset is plastic, not bakelite.  See C32.203, issue 8 or the extract below the table here:

   http://www.paul-f.com/we300typ.htm#F1evolution

[Phonesrfun]

Yikes,  I stand corrected.

[poplar1]

Larry, I think the cap has probably shrunk because it was made for the same F-1 transmitters as the black handsets.

I'm not sure why the T-1 didn't work unless it was a bad unit. Do you have another T-1?  After all, there were lots of F-4 handsets which were F-type handles with T-1 transmitter and U-1 receiver, used on 302XGs for long loops and also on Continentals and Imperials.

There were also a lot of G-1 handsets used on 5302Gs though as I recall the more efficient transmitters made the sidetone louder than it should have been. (Thus a T-1 transmitter was being used with a 302 circuit.)

[Dennis Markham]

Don't the F4's designed for T1's/U1's have an adapter or spacers for the conversion?

[poplar1]

Yes, reamed out for the U-1 and two large plastic adapter rings for the T-1. I think Paul Vavarchak was making/selling the adapter rings. Might they also be too large though? I think I saw a homemade one somewhere made of clear plastic.

[Doug Rose]

Larry...is this what you need?...Doug

[LarryInMichigan]

I don't know what I need for this.  I checked another ivory plastic F1 which I have had for a while, and the standard F1 transmitters will not fit into it either.  I doubt that the problem is plastic shrinkage because the cap other wise fits perfectly onto the handset.  Can someone with a colored plastic F1 check to see what kind of transmitter is in it? 

Thank you

Larry

[paul-f]

Can someone with a colored plastic F1 check to see what kind of transmitter is in it? 

F1

[Doug Rose]

I misread your post, I thought you were looking for this spacer so you could use a smaller T1's/U1's in place of the transmitter element. Nevermind.

I have had color caps shrink and I could not get the element out. I can't believe WE would make different size elements with their penchant for reuse and not wasting anything....Doug

[LarryInMichigan]

I suppose that it is possible that both of my F1 transmitter caps have shrunken so badly that a WE F1 transmitter will not fit into them at all and that the handsets have shrunken the same amount so that the caps screw onto them perfectly.  I did just try to screw the ivory cap onto a bakelite handset, and it does not fit at all.  I will just have to live with the STC F1 transmitter which has a slightly smaller diameter, but which is thicker, so that the cap will not screw on all of the way.  I do not want to try to grind out any plastic, and I don't think that grinding down the transmitter will work.

Larry

[Doug Rose]

Larry....devils advocate....thermoplastic caps will not fit on bakelite handsets. I have found a few black thermoplastic handsets and the caps are not interchangeable. They are a tad too small like you are saying. So your Ivory caps might be fine. Did you consider going the T1/U1 route to make it fit properly? You want these beauties to look perfect and not have threads showing in the handsets. Just a thought. I can mail the spacers out to you today if you want to try...good luck....Doug

[LarryInMichigan]

I have been trying to find the parts from the ivory 354 which I dismantled a long time ago but never reassembled.  I want to see what kind of transmitter was in it.  Also, I am certain that I have a phone somewhere with the spacers for holding a T1 transmitter in the space for an F1, but I cannot recall which phone it is.  My memory is poor.  I think that it used to be better, but I don't remember.  At any rate, a T1 transmitter has too much gain for a 302, and the sound quality is therefore poor, so I think that I will stick with the STC transmitter in the ivory 302.  It almost fits.  The cap is only a turn or two off, so it is not very noticeable.  Thank you anyway for your offer Doug.

Larry