This phone was made prior to the development of the
modern wall jack. In the days when this phone was installed, they mounted
the phone to the wall directly over the hole where the phone wires come
out and then wired the phone directly to the house wiring. This is
referred to as “hard wired” (as opposed to modular).
You have two options to mounting your phone. You can secure it to the wall
anywhere and run the line cord included to the nearest jack, or you can
mount the phone directly over an existing wall jack. I’m including
instructions for both, but first instructions on opening up your phone.
Removing the cover
To remove the cover of your phone, unscrew the button that the handset
rests on. This is the switch hook and should only be finger tight. When
putting the cover back on, finger tight again is enough. Remember that
this phone is made of Bakelite and is fragile. Cranking down on screws can
start breaking things.
After the switch hook is removed, loosen the two screws on the front of
the phone and slide the cover off.
Mounting the phone
Inside you will see holes in various places for securing the phone to the
wall. I recommend using at least three points. How you secure it to the
wall depends on the wall material you are going into. I recommend toggle
bolts on drywall for best holding power. If you’re not sure what to use,
ask at any home store for a fastener that will hold 6 to 8 pounds to the
wall securely.
To mount the phone over an existing wall jack, follow these instructions.
- Remove the wall jack from the wall and disconnect the wires from it
(you can’t get shocked, it’s all low voltage). Wrap the yellow and black
wires back out of the way, you will not need them. You will only be
using the red and green.
- If you have two wires coming from the back of the phone, you can
attach your house wires to these. If there is a line cord, then remove
the line cord, making note of which screws the wires were attached to.
Color matching doesn’t matter so long as you use the correct two screws.
- Mount the phone to the wall threading the wires through the hole in
the back of the phone. Attach the red and green wires to the terminals.
- Put the shell back on the phone and give it a try. Remember, no real
tight screws, snug is good enough on Bakelite.
- When putting the shell back on, be sure to watch out for the dial
wires near the top. There isn’t much room for them and you don’t want
them getting pinched.
Adjusting the ringer
When at it’s maximum, the ringer in this phone can wake the dead. To
adjust this, remove the cover of the phone and look at the bells. You will
see a screw in the center of each bell. You will also notice that the hole
this screw goes through is not exactly centered in the middle of the bell.
Loosen the screw enough so you can rotate the bell. The further you move
the bell away from the clapper, the softer the volume will be.
To test the ringer with the cover off the phone, screw the hook switch
back into it’s place on the metal bracket and push down on it to “hang up”
the phone. Call your number and you can adjust the volume as the phone
rings. One thing to keep in mind, ringing voltage is 100VAC. It won’t hurt
you, but it will get your attention, so watch where you’re putting your
fingers when testing the ringer. |
