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Red 1970 Trimline, $3

Started by Futuralon, December 05, 2017, 03:45:47 PM

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Futuralon

Irresistible at that price, no? Here are pictures https://imgur.com/a/EME6y Wall end has broken wires so I need to add a connector before I can test it. I optimistically believe this phone was set aside when the owner's home first got modular sockets, no idea why it took until 2017 to show up in a thrift store. Lucky me!

I am looking for a wiring diagram of the Trimline.

My first question: is that an incandescent light bulb? I have no experience with old LEDs but my google-fu indicates it's not an LED.

Ktownphoneco

Try the Telephone Collectors International (TCI) library here, and pick your model, "ADI", etc., etc.  :  http://www.telephonecollectors.info/index.php/browse/wiring-diagrams/western-electric/trimline/2235-trimline-telephones-ad1base-tl

Jeff Lamb

poplar1

Quote from: Futuralon on December 05, 2017, 03:45:47 PM
My first question: is that an incandescent light bulb? I have no experience with old LEDs but my google-fu indicates it's not an LED.

Western Electric Touch-Tone Trimlines:
       with round buttons = Incandescent Dial Lamp (on black and white leads of line cord) -- requires 6-8 Volts AC
       with square buttons = LED (line-powered)

Western Electric Rotary Dial Trimlines:
       "LED" on face of dial = line powered LED. Otherwise, incandescent.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.


Jim Stettler

Quote from: poplar1 on December 05, 2017, 05:30:34 PM
Western Electric Touch-Tone Trimlines:
       with round buttons = Incandescent Dial Lamp (on black and white leads of line cord) -- requires 6-8 Volts AC
       with square buttons = LED (line-powered)

Western Electric Rotary Dial Trimlines:
       "LED" on face of dial = line powered LED. Otherwise, incandescent.
I think some of the later round button sets are LED. Originally all "fat" mod sets were incandescent, They started putting the LED dials in (fat mod) sets later on. I suspect they put LED's on the IC sets at rebuild.

Some observations regarding round button trimlines:
Some round button trimlines have touch- tone "pots", other have a tone generating IC.
Some of the IC sets were originally made as IC sets  these can be 10 or 12 button sets from around 1968-69( per bell labs article).
Other round button sets got upgraded to "tone-generating" IC's at rebuild. These show up with dates starting around 1975-76. The IC chips can be clear, gray or black depending on when the set was built the clear chips are the oldest style and black seems to be the newest.
I think there were various attempts to protect the touch pad from static electricity. My guess is the metal overlay was for that purpose, also they used several methods of enclosing the board with a clear plastic shield.
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I have never found a MD date for the round button sets. I have had sets. with 1983 dates on them.
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I always buy WE  trimlines  when they are $3.00 or less. For  a round button set with the color mask like this set, I would go $10.00.   The phones are worth  more, but I am cheap and I have several hundred trimlines.
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I think trimlines are "sleepers" as far as collecting, most collectors don't realize how many different board variations there were.


JMO,
Jim S.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

TelePlay

Quote from: Jim S. on December 06, 2017, 03:32:27 PM
I have never found a MD date for the round button sets. I have had sets. with 1983 dates on them.
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I always buy WE  trimlines  when they are $3.00 or less. For  a round button set with the color mask like this set, I would go $10.00.   The phones are worth  more, but I am cheap and I have several hundred trimlines.
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I think trimlines are "sleepers" as far as collecting, most collectors don't realize how many different board variations there were.

About 3 years ago, I got real lucky and found a 1983 round button Trimline in slightly harder to find black in an antique mall for $15. I think the round button versions are a plus. Most of these were in color so finding a black one was nice. You have a nice phone there. Red phones, for some reason, always seen to fetch a higher price on eBay.

poplar1

I agree that many of the rotary dial Trimline handsets were upgraded to LED dials. And a clear modular adapter was added in place of the fat plug cords.

However, I don't recall seeing any round button Western Electric LED Trimlines, at least not from the WE factory or WE Service Centers. Already by 1974, in NE Atlanta, the installers-repairmen carried Trimlines that needed transformers, but in the areas that had converted to modular jacks, the Phone Center Store stocked only LED sets. For Trimline and Princess sets with incandescent lights, the installers had to install 2 side-by-side modular jacks, one for the phone and one for the transformer. So this made it impractical to offer these sets in the modular areas, since this would require an installer visit even if the customer picked up the sets at the phone center store.

Perhaps I haven't seen any LED round button sets from Atlanta because at some point, Southern Bell told the WE Service Center in Atlanta that they didn't want any more C-stock (refurbished) round button Trimlines. They didn't have money in the budget for new sets, so they paid WE to upgrade the round button handsets to square button LED. The only parts that were salvaged from the old handsets were the transmitter units (or maybe it was the receiver units); the rest of the handset parts were junked.

If the rotary 220A handsets with upgraded dials and modular 227 adapters were recoded 220AL, and the 10A dials were recoded 10AL, then what were the assembly codes for the round button 2220B Trimline handsets that were converted to LED?
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

Jim Stettler

Quote from: poplar1 on December 06, 2017, 05:23:40 PM
I agree that many of the rotary dial Trimline handsets were upgraded to LED dials. And a clear modular adapter was added in place of the fat plug cords.

However, I don't recall seeing any round button Western Electric LED Trimlines, at least not from the WE factory or WE Service Centers. Already by 1974, in NE Atlanta, the installers-repairmen carried Trimlines that needed transformers, but in the areas that had converted to modular jacks, the Phone Center Store stocked only LED sets. For Trimline and Princess sets with incandescent lights, the installers had to install 2 side-by-side modular jacks, one for the phone and one for the transformer. So this made it impractical to offer these sets in the modular areas, since this would require an installer visit even if the customer picked up the sets at the phone center store.

Perhaps I haven't seen any LED round button sets from Atlanta because at some point, Southern Bell told the WE Service Center in Atlanta that they didn't want any more C-stock (refurbished) round button Trimlines. They didn't have money in the budget for new sets, so they paid WE to upgrade the round button handsets to square button LED. The only parts that were salvaged from the old handsets were the transmitter units (or maybe it was the receiver units); the rest of the handset parts were junked.

If the rotary 220A handsets with upgraded dials and modular 227 adapters were recoded 220AL, and the 10A dials were recoded 10AL, then what were the assembly codes for the round button 2220B Trimline handsets that were converted to LED?


Good points, They may not of made the TT LED.
Logic would make me think they would of gone with LED at least on the IC sets.
I live in Mountain Bell territory. I have bought trimlines and was told the light doesn't work anymore because the phone company quit allowing it .
Over the years I decided that it was probably on  incandescent sets and maybe the recalled transformers.
It may of been a policy change in regard to incandescent lighting. I know that they made non-lighted princess phones.
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I do like trimlines, I have 2-1/2 bankers boxes of assorted (abused) trimlines set aside for dis-assembly, I am curious as to what turns up.
In the boxes are also various wall base styles  hardwire, hardwire adaptor, Modular   in a couple of different wall base styles.
I can see how the "how many different 500's" question Led to Paul F's web site.
If I ever get around to my trimline project, I will work with Paul F. so he can document it.

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I may as well point out that the trimline was a 2 piece phone.  All the handsets were supposed to work with all the bases. The handset and base dates probably don't match on most sets. My guess is  non-promoted colors are more likely to have the dates matched.
Jim S.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

poplar1

The only non-lighted Princess sets were the "CS 702BM" rotary and "CS 2702 BMG" Touch-Tone sets. These were the retail sets that no longer had sockets for the lamps, even though the cork pad still had a cutout for where the lamp socket would go.

There are a few "CS" sets that still have the lamps. They were sold in the same green boxes with no mention of the lamp feature. These are the exception to the rule.

When leasing  Princess sets at the phone center stores here, the clerks tried to talk the customers who asked into "trying" to plug them in without the transformer kits, just to see if they would light up anyway.

By about 1993, they introduced the 2703BMG "Signature" Princess sets, for lease only. These had line powered LED dials, but still required a transformer kit if you wanted the night light feature.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.