[Telecom] Trimline Telephone Repair.

Dec 14, 2007 8 Replies
[Telecom] Trimline Telephone Repair. open original image

In my possession is a Trimline Telephone that I first rented from South Central Bell in 1982. Subsequently I bought it. It is rapidly becoming a piece of telecoms history.



However, the sound from the microphone is becoming increasing poor. It sounds quiet and "splashy". What can I do about this? Is it a repair I should attempt myself? Are spare microphones available?



Thanks



Adrian



It takes an ordinary transmitter which is still being made and still used in some new phones. You can certainly buy them from Phoneco in Wisconsin if you don't have any local telecom source.

--scott

If it microphone is made of carbon it may have compacted over the years, a couple of lite taps against something might help, if it is one of the newer ones it could be dynamic then you would have to find a replacement.

It uses a standard carbon element mic that you can salvage from any

500/2500 desk phone.

You probably just need a new transmitter. Mike Sandman has them for about $4. To replace the transmitter, unscrew the mouthpiece cover, tap the handset once or twice to free the transmitter if it doesn't fall out by itself put in the new transmitter, and screw the cover back on.

Regards, John Levine, snipped-for-privacy@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies", Information Superhighwayman wanna-be,

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ex-Mayor "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly.

If nothing else, on eBay it should be easy to purchase a similar telephone and swap parts. In fact, if you can identify some eBay sellers who regularly refurbish old telephones, write to them and see if they will sell you the microphone. (Assuming the microphone is the problem.)

If it were broken you would get nothing. Give it some percussive maintenance then dismantle it and clean it.

Trimline handset has to be disassembled to get at the transmitter element. Under the light plate there are two screws that hold the set together.

Here's a shot of mine with shell separated.

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There are four screws you have to remove to separate the guts from the shell:

Two on the transmitter end

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Two on the receiver end
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Be careful removing the transmitter element. It's got a tension cup on it that had to be pried off very gently because the plastics inside the phone are pretty old.

Then just take the element out and give it a few sharp raps.

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I'm sure our regular (away on medical leave) moderator, PAT, would say:

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've dealt with them and I'd second the motion. I don't know Trimline sets myself, but it's usually pretty easy to replace a mic.

Dave

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