New Year, New Phone

Well of course! A 1960s GPO Bakelite from Brighton. Plugging it in (already converted) it received calls but could not dial out. Oh dear.

Searching for clues online, I found advice that recommended checking the wiring and a drop of light oil on the dial spindle to increase dial speed. So I took the back off to check the wiring and find the spindle…

Hmm. The wiring was correct but the whole area underneath was drenched in oil, so I dabbed up as much as I could with cotton buds and slips of newsprint, and added a new drop to the spindle nut, feeling that this was not the answer. And it was not. The dial still returned too slowly. From zero it should return while you say “one, one thousand and one” and stop on the last “one”.

Further searching (on YouTube, the Facebook telephone groups were a dead end) told me to go on in from the front. (Edit: I would have tried to do the next part from underneath but I thought I would have more space going in from the front) The newer (1070s) models make this easy. This model is tricky if it’s your first go. Just take photos at every stage and make sure you do. I did not. These are photos I took putting the phone dial back together.

Getting this enamel plate off is an absolute pain. All the chipped enamel was not my doing, wiggle the number plate off very carefully. Take photos.

Ok we are in. Don’t be intimidated. It’s just like a typewriter only with two bells.

If the dialling is too slow, you need to gently squeeze these two metal prongs, (which have weights on the ends which you can’t see. ) Then test your dial before fitting the plates back on. Plug phone back into socket. Lift receiver, turn dial mechanism while listening. On return the dial tone should disappear when your number has dialled. If not, go back and squeeze a little bit more.

Fit your paper disc in place. This is not my number, by the way, it is the original Vintage Brighton number, and I have not tested it for time travel tickets yet

All done. Thank goodness for that! Radiator cover still needs a couple more coats of paint… Bit for now, let’s have a cup of tea and a biscuit. Happy New Year, all.

P.S! this is the only phone we will be fixing on type the clouds, for this year at least. Back to typewriters now. I have a new Lettera 22 to smarten up …