erik666's Phone Pictures

[erik666]

Hi Guys new member and another Erik ! haha
so here it goes Ill show you my collection so far
a 1953 Automatic Electric Payphone all original (except top sign a repoduction)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAy3b-p-R58
sadly Im in the process of selling it on e bay
to make room for this one  A all crome version (needs dial restoration)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yretdRY02Bc

but my pride and joy is this (1940s?) bakelite Tesla company from Czechoslovakia



thanks for looking

[bingster]

That's a beaut of a phone, Erik.  Welcome to the forum!

[GG]

Interesting, Erik.  Tesla is from Czechoslovakia, and that looks like a German W-48 except with the difference that the base unit is two parts: one, the metal bottom part that's rectangular with rounded corners; two, the upper part in plastic that contains the dial and hookswitch. 

[erik666]

what year do you think the Tesla is GG? and you can tell the bakelite has a crack

[GG]

Hi Erik-

Yes, I spotted the crack.  Pretty severe but can be repaired; the technique I use is to fill it with cyanoacrylate (Krazy Glue) in multiple "coats" or "courses," allowing each to harden overnight before applying the next coat or course.  Then build up the level to slightly above that of the surrounding material, and use a file or sandpaper or both to get it down to even level with the bakelite, and then buff to a high shine whereby the repair basically becomes almost invisible.  Best to try it on a less critical piece first. 

I'd guess that was just post-WW2, as follows: 

The design using the plastic handset cradle was post-WW2.  Pre-WW2 the cradle was made of metal.  However the design using the separate metal rectangular base, with the bakelite dial & cradle unit attached, was pre-WW2.  The dial on yours is of a type that was post-WW2.  The pre-WW2 dial had a metal fingerwheel and much less space between digits 1 and 0.  The handset on yours is post-WW2, the pre-WW2 version being "flatter" on top and with less angle to the transmitter and receiver sections. 

So I'm going to guess about 1946 to 1948.  They would have been using up the old metal housings with new plastic dial / cradle units and new handsets.  This would be a transitional model similar to the WE 5302 in the US, which makes it relatively rare. 

In about '53 they came up with a design that was much lower and rounder and didn't have the forked cradle.  That one was made in bakelite, and one of its unusual design points was that the "ground button" for PBX use was the entire rectangular area in the front of the phone that included the number card retainer.  The 1960s design used a thin plastic housing also rounded in shape, similar to a German desk set of that era but with round hookswitch plungers and a rectangular ground button in the center of the housing below the dial.  The 1970s design used a 2-piece plastic housing to get color variations, and a round ground button to the left below the dial. 

I have examples of a number of Teslas from the @ 1953 type to the mid/late 1970s that I should post pics of one of these days.  The 1960s version was sold in the US via Lafayette Radio & Electronics for about $30, at the same time as Radio Snack was selling the NTT 650 from Japan (the one with the straight handset cord) for about the same price.  The US version of the Tesla came with an alphanumeric dial; the Czech version used a numeric-only dial consistent with European practice at the time. 

[erik666]

wow nice reply GG thanks
I will consider getting  it fixed I want to get the dial fixed on my payphone first

[GG]

Hi Erik-

What sort of payphone, and what's the trouble with the dial?

-GG

[erik666]

I posted a video of it on my first post it's a automatic electric 3 slot the dial is frozen it seems

[GG]

"Frozen" AE dial:  Typical symptom is that the dial winds up but does not return.  Usually just needs a bit of a cleaning and lubrication.

Take upper housing off, turn over on a towel or other cushioned surface.  Remove screws holding coin chute mechanism to upper housing.  Lift out coin chute mechanism and set to one side.   Loosen screws holding dial to upper housing.  Now gently remove dial from front of housing. 

Ideally, get dial entirely free from upper housing.  This will entail unscrewing dial connecting wires from terminal block in upper housing (make careful notes of connections).

Looking at back of dial, place tiny quantity of light thin oil at both ends of governor spindle / worm gear: where the spindle resides in the center of the governor cup, and in the bearing screw at the end closest to the worm. 

To get tiny quantities of oil into these locations, put a drop of oil on a hard flat surface and then dip into it with the blade of a very small screwdriver or similar tool to get a small droplet of oil to cling to the end of the tool.  Then touch the end of the tool to the location where you want the oil, and the droplet will follow the contact between metal. 

The reason it's important to do it this way with the tiny droplets is that you want oil in the bearing surfaces but *not* in the governor cup at-large to where it gets on the governor fly-bars that contact the inside of the cup to maintain dial speed while returning.  If it gets on the fly-bars, it will cause erratic or varying dial speed and is a real pain to remove (significant disassembly required). 

Once you've got a tiny droplet of oil into both ends of the governor spindle, put another tiny droplet into the area where the worm gear is contacted by the drive gear that is on the same shaft as the dial impulse cam. 

Now take the tip of your small finger and use it to try to gently rotate the governor by rotating the governor's fly-bars. This should get the governor moving and may un-stick the dial entirely, as the oil you've applied spreads around and does its job. 

If that isn't sufficient to free up the dial, please post here and I'll continue with further steps. 

[erik666]

got a few more to show

metal 302 with cloth cords works great

nice 1939 metal 302 works
obligatory 1940s monophone works

1940 bakelite monophone 40 series payphone

1920s or 30s WE 3 slot 2 piece

[erik666]

a couple new ones
Old 2 peice AE with chrome under black paint should I remove paint?
rare Brass plated AE 3 slot has added ringer inside and works great anyone know any info about this?

[paul]

The 2 piece might be a product of Three Slot Payphone (http://www.threeslotpayphone.com). If it was, it was probably shipped in black.

I've seen a similar brass AE in an auction before (http://www.ebay.com/itm/150889856706) it was described thusly:

My father is retired from the telephone company, where he has worked his entire life. He spent 60 years collecting unique telephones. I have recently convinced him to start selling part of his collection. This phone was one of six copper pay phones that were installed in a government building in the state of Louisianan. My father's friend (who also worked for the phone company) was ordered to remove the pay phones many years ago, to install modern (non-pay phones) for the offices. My father purchased this phone from the phone company as they were going to discard them.  It was in good working condition when it was uninstalled, however, my father used it for display {...}. I was told it was from the time period around the 1950's but I am not an expert and know very little about phones.  It takes three coins. Quarters, Nickles and Dimes.  It has a brown painted rotary dial, phone receiver and cord. I'm not 100% certain but I believe it is copper plated, rather than solid copper as I can see some wear.  

I do notice the difference between yours and the one that was offered here in the dial surround and the coin return.  Of course, this leads to the question, did AE do this for other special installs, or is it 'aftermarket'?; something I can't answer, unfortunately. (Could even be another Three Slot product.)

[kleenax]

a couple new ones
Old 2 peice AE with chrome under black paint should I remove paint?
rare Brass plated AE 3 slot has added ringer inside and works great anyone know any info about this?

Hey Eric;

Your AE 2-piece is unfortunately made up of various parts, and is not really that old. It appears to have a Western-Electric bottom housing, and a mid-1970's dial shroud. The transmitter is from an AE hotel phone. It does appear to have an original Gray/Early AE vault door however. The truth be known, AE never really produced a 2-piece payphone. Can't speak about the Brass example; sorry.

[erik666]

Got a new one I really like
this puppy is old
Ill take better pics later withe better light My camera sucks
This is a old Gray Paystation  says at the bottom
gray paystation manufactuered for western electric cananyone help ,me date it thanks

[poplar1]

These turn up sometimes on ebay. It is probably stamped 150GJ-55 on the back and inside the upper housing.

This particular phone appears to be one that was modified by Rochester Telephone. One collector told me he has a receipt showing one of these modified phones being sold by Rochester Tel to a customer for $1.00. (However, there are also Rochester Telephone handbooks showing how to convert some older pay phones to newer models, but for actual use by the company on pay phone lines.)

The Gray/Western markings indicate that the lower housing was once part of a 50 or 150 "transmitter-receiver type coin collector" (or "two-piece pay phone"). Since 1934 is the year that WE started making their own pay phones, this part was made before 1934.

Notice that on this particular phone, there is an AE chrome hookswitch, a Stromberg-Carlson Bakelite handset, and a WE or NE dial. Also the red instruction card on the front and an area code 716 instruction card on top (716 includes Rochester, NY). It probably has a later model Automatic Electric  lead 10 cent coin chute inside. The coin gauge has been changed from cast to steel. There is probably a 4010 network added inside (rather than a separate subset). The "open throat" coin return has been changed to the AE bucket style.

The thing to look for is other old parts in addition to the Gray/Western lower housing. Some of these have evidence of an old transmitter that was once mounted on the front of the phone. (Look underneath the  instruction card holder on the front.) Some even have the "double lip" cast iron upper housing and/or cast iron backs. The cast iron Upper Housing will have evidence of the 5-cent gong and 25-cent cathedral gong that were mounted on the sides of the UH instead of on the coin chute.