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.
Accessing the inside of the phone
To remove the front of your phone, loosen the small screw in the lower
front face of the phone, just below the dial. Lift the phone off the base
plate.
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
- 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 front back on the phone and give it a try. Remember, don’t over
tighten the screw, snug is good enough on Bakelite.
- When putting the front back on, be sure to watch out for the wiring.
Excess wire winding around inside the phone can interfere with the
operation of the dial and ringer.
Adjusting the ringer
When at it’s maximum, the ringer in this phone can wake the dead. To
adjust this, remove the front 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 front off the phone, simply push down on one
of the plungers 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. |
