Identifying plastic and paint on a WE 554 A/B

[mssusr9501]

Brand new to this world and really just planning on doing the one phone.
Recently acquired a WE 554 A/B, chassis had several date stamps the earliest of which was 1959.
I was surprised when I removed the cover to find the plastic is yellow and the unit was painted black.
I tested the inside with a dab of Goof-Off and found it softened the plastic so quit doing that.

The paint came off in one spot when I removed the "Property of Wisconsin Bell" sticker and there is a broken gap in the top left corner of the hosing.  There are several small spots of missing paint in various places.

What recommendations do folks have for

• Repairing the broken gap.  I have used Plastex and Q-Bond on motorcycle body panels.  Is either of      those a good bet for the phone housing?
• what is my best bet for touching up or refinishing the black coating?

I have an album of images here:

WE 554 A/B Housing

Thanks very much for any info or suggestions.


Bruce

[TelePlay]

I'm just going to address the painting of the housing.

It was painted but not by WE or a WE service/refurb shop. They would have painted it using two part epoxy "Polane" which does not come off, is impossible to remove and when not black (if a light colored phone), will not discolor over time.

Polane is an extremely tough surface that does not scratch, stays shiny and does not dissolve with a strong solvent (acetone, MEK, or brake fluid (members have tried using oven cleaner and brake fluid to remove Polane without success).

Someone probably had a discolored yellow housing and rather than taking the time and making the effort to remove the discoloration, that put a layer or two of rattle can black gloss on it, but didn't get the surface clean resulting in paint coming off in chucks.

You can prepare the black paint to accept a good quality "plastic" compatible paint but the adhesion would only be as good as the black paint now on the housing. Taking all the existing black paint off first is an option but will take time and some effort (if that is to be considered, whatever is used to remove the paint could also damage the housing, melt or deform it, so careful preparation and planning is needed.

Housing images are attached here for posterity (in case the Imgur account link fails in the future).

There are many topics on the phone about restoring our painting plastic parts.

[HarrySmith]

Since you addressed the question I will address the pictures.

We request that pictures be posted in the topic they are needed in. We have lost a lot of good pictorial info when hosting sites have folded. In the future please add pictures to your post.

There is a topic on here on how to post pictures: https://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?board=84.0
Not difficult as you will see.

[mssusr9501]

Thanks for all comments and suggestions.
So many of the forums I frequent actively discourage adding images directly to posts that it never occurred to me to do so here.  Now I know.

Since I am not trying to make a collectible, I will probably try some of the removal methods described for soft plastic and then repaint.  The existing paint job is certainly not what I would have considered as professional but it must have existed in Wisconsin bell inventory as a black phone at some time.  The missing patch of paint is where the "Property of Wisconsin Bell" sticker was.  It indicated a sale date in 1983.

Really appreciate the info participants have shared on the forum, I have learned a lot.

Bruce

[TelePlay]

. . . I will probably try some of the removal methods described for soft plastic and then repaint.

First, being a 544, it's most likely not made of soft plastic. That would make it less soluble with organic solvents, easier to with with when painting. A mixture of 25% acetone and 75% isopropyl alcohol would work well to clean the surface at any time.

You can do whatever you want to do. If it was mine, I would use clear plastic shipping tape to remove any other loose paint (stick it on the housing on all flat surfaces and immediately pull it off). Any other paint not attached well to the plastic will come off.

Then, use 600 grit to feather the removed chip edges and rough up the entire surface. The better the surface is before painting the better it will be painted. After that, clean off the surface with a clean cotton cloth soaked with the 25/75 mixture.

For plastic, I use Krylon Fusion "All-In-One" spray can paint. You would use gloss black, not the example red shown below. That paint doesn't require a primer and is quite hard when fully dried (cured - sitting for a weeks time would be good). Put on several thin coats, they suggest 2-3 light coats (IIRC) about 10 to 15 minutes between coats.

Paint in a dust free area and make sure the surface is free of dust before starting.

Being plastic, it cannot be heated to "bake on" the paint as can be done on metal phones. That's why it must be left to cure for a week.

After cured, I would use a liquid, spray-on ceramic auto wax to take that "sticky, fresh paint" feeling when touched away. A good ceramic wax like that in the image below would also protect the surface from scratches that freshly painted surfaces are susceptible to.

Finally, first test paint a piece of junk plastic first to get down the learning curve with this paint.

And, post before and after photos of your work.

[jsowers]

The OP is correct. This housing is yellow soft plastic. You can see the date stamp on one of his pics and it looks a lot like the year is 57 to me. It's yellow on yellow, so not easy to make out. I enlarged and rotated that area. See for yourself.

[TelePlay]

Interesting. A colored 554 soft plastic housing.

But too bad because being the more fragile soft plastic, greater care must be taken with solvents used. No acetone mixture, use alcohol only, for wiping/cleaning the surface.

I've never painted soft plastic and the paint I suggested has 25% to 50% acetone in its mixture.

That acetone would be used to slightly soften the surface of polycarbonate plastics allowing the pigment components to better adhere to the plastic surface.

That Krylon paint may work on soft plastics but thin layers would be crucial. If the wet paint got too thick, it could eat into the plastic. The black paint that is already on the housing would protect the plastic from the new paint but the new paint could also cut into the old paint causing it to bubble or alligator.

Repainting would be a trial and error, learning curve experiment. If the soft plastic housing gets ruined, another housing can be found (they come up on eBay occasionally).

Doing anything with soft plastic other than color restoration by removing the thin, discolored surface layer is always an unknown adventure.

[Kellogg Kitt]

I would say be careful with the alcohol on soft plastic.  I learned this the hard way.  It was either methanol (denatured) or isopropyl (I can't remember which), but the black plastic started melting and turning white.

Test a small area on the inside of the case first, just in case Something Bad happens.

[TelePlay]

Alcohol can be diluted with distilled water, say 25% isopropyl and 75% water to clean dust, etc, off of the surface. That 25/75 mixture is just a bit stronger than Novus 1 which is 5% isopropyl and 95% water.

Testing carefully before using, before applying anything to plastic is always good advice.

[SUnset2]

Other members have had some success with Easy Off heavy duty oven cleaner (with lye) in the yellow cap.  (Do not use the type with the blue cap, it has solvents that will destroy plastic).  Test in an inconspicuous spot, and do not leave it on too long.  I was able to remove spray paint from a soft plastic handset using this technique.  It still needed sanding and polishing afterward.

[mssusr9501]

The OP is correct. This housing is yellow soft plastic. You can see the date stamp on one of his pics and it looks a lot like the year is 57 to me. It's yellow on yellow, so not easy to make out. I enlarged and rotated that area. See for yourself.

I did not notice that marking until yesterday.  Here is a better image of the marking.  It is actually slightly more legible in the photo than it appears in person.
It does appear to be "11' "12" "57" not sure what the last two smudges are.

Thanks again for all comments and suggestions.

Bruce

[HarrySmith]

That is a rare find. Soft plastic wall phones in color are not plentiful. If you can restore it to original color that would be great. Please be careful!

[TelePlay]

The approach depends on the intended end result.

If the end is to give the housing an "as is" fresh look, simply roughing up the existing paint with 600 grit sand paper and painting it would meet that goal.

The only other end goal would be to remove all of the existing back paint with 400 grit paper and then work the yellow surface back up to a nice shine using 600, 800, 1000 and 2000 grit wet sandpaper and finishing with Novus 3 and 2 plastic polish.

Being soft plastic, I wouldn't try any chemical to dissolve the black paint. Too much risk of dissolving or deforming the housing.


The 554 housing is the easiest of all WE housings to color restore in that it does not have the curves and corners found on a 500 or Princess housing. It's mostly flat surfaces.

If the color is restored, finding a matching handset and cord will take time.

[poplar1]

What kind of paint did the WE Repair Shops use in 1958 to "upgrade" the oxford gray 500s to light gray, the dark beige to light beige, and the Mediterranean blue to aqua blue?


In 1971 Sherwin-Williams introduced POLANE, a coating designed to efficiently cover  metal surfaces but found to work exceedingly well on plastics as well.
https://www.company-histories.com/The-SherwinWilliams-Company-Company-History.html

[TelePlay]

I don't know what service shops used before Polane, I assumed it was "regular" rattle can spray paint. Easy to test by rubbing a Que tip wet with acetone on the paint inside the housing. It the Que tip does not show black, it's Polane. Rattle can paint will start to dissolve with acetone but acetone won't touch Polane.

The other test is rubbing it lightly with 600 grit dry paper (inside the housing on the overspray). Rattle can paint will show scratching, Polane will not.

Here's another soft plastic 554 that was painted - OP never replied with what was done but many others posted their experience with Polane, and it's durability.

https://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10612.0

Here's another post from January 2015 talking about a novel way to remove Polane. But not much to go on, hire to do it (or if it works).

https://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=14384.msg272982#msg272982


An AI search for this technique came up with this:

Based on the provided search results, electrolysis is not an effective method for removing paint from plastic. Here's why.

Electrolysis primarily works on metal surfaces: Electrolysis relies on the flow of electricity between ferrous surfaces to remove rust and some paint, but it won't effectively work on plastic. The electrical current needs exposed metal to properly conduct.