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Old 23rd Sep 2012, 10:47 am   #1
Ryan_1993
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Default Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

Purchased on eBay on Friday and it arrived Saturday.

Firstly, I gave it a major clean with Cream cleaner and soaked the plastic parts of the receiver in Dettol for 15 minutes and then gave them a major scrub cleaning all the bits of dirt and skin from them. Also disconnected the microphone and speaker and wiped them with a Dettol soaked cloth (I have a thing about germs).

Next I cleaned all the dials and printed off a new dial card for the centre.

My conversion kit also arrived Yesterday, but thought it would be wise to convert it this morning (was busy yesterday) it is now done and working flawlessly.

Now I'm just waiting for my kit so I can fit a telephone line and socket into my room and I'll be all set.

Next on my parts list is to get a new receiver cord though it's pretty stretched and twisted up.

Pictures below.
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Old 23rd Sep 2012, 1:06 pm   #2
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

Looks good!

There's a certain satisfaction to getting an old phone cleaned and then up and running.

Look out for a number 21 transmitter (the red and grey ones are best) and the sound quality will then be as good as any "modern" phone!

Robert
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Old 23rd Sep 2012, 2:31 pm   #3
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

Yes that's another purchase I intend to make, although I'm rather surprised at how good the older silver carbon one is. The audio quality in the speaker is actually better than our brand new BT Cordless phone what crackles like crazy sometimes, guess it picks up wifi interference and what not.
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Old 23rd Sep 2012, 6:31 pm   #4
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

That looks fantastic, well done!

The red transmitter that you've been told about improves the outgoing speech, i.e. makes it easier for the person on the other end of the line to hear you. You won't really know how well the existing one performs until you've phoned someone. If they keep saying "speak up, I can hardly hear you", then it's time to invest in a replacement.

Nick.
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Old 23rd Sep 2012, 7:19 pm   #5
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

Make sure the kit includes a 3.3k ohm in the bell cct as the REN may be to large for the other phones to ring (bell coils are 500 ohm not the later 2000 ohm).
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Old 23rd Sep 2012, 7:41 pm   #6
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

Yes the kit did include a 3.3k ohm, it's been fitted and all is fine. Although, that's not much of an issue as all our other phones are cordless and have to be plugged into the mains as well as the phone line.
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Old 23rd Sep 2012, 7:59 pm   #7
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nickthedentist View Post
That looks fantastic, well done!
Thanks a lot, it took pretty much all morning yesterday to disinfect, clean and polish, but the outcome was terrific.
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Old 23rd Sep 2012, 10:39 pm   #8
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

You have made me want to look for a green 706 or 746 now!

I have the "Monitel" call charge meter that was sold in the '80s and that the phone sits on - it's in green and my two tone grey 746 sits on it but doesn't match.

Well done again.

Robert
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Old 24th Sep 2012, 9:11 pm   #9
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

A little update.

My father and I drilled the necessary holes in the wall for the telephone cable to go through. The little kit I bought should be arriving either tomorrow or Wednesday. It will be nice to have the phone and my router in my bedroom as I have quite a collection of computers too.
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Old 24th Sep 2012, 10:57 pm   #10
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nickthedentist View Post
If they keep saying "speak up, I can hardly hear you", then it's time to invest in a replacement.
Well it might be, or it might be because the caller isn't speaking into the mouthpiece. You'd be surprised how many people did, and still do, hold the handset so the transmitter is down by the chin or even underneath it and then blame the telephone when the person at the other end says "speak up".
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Old 26th Sep 2012, 8:49 pm   #11
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

We have a nice two-tone green 746 which I converted some time ago. I also replaced the "curly cord" with a new one supplied by this company - a very helpful chap on the other end of the phone called Ray Sutcliffe (no connection, just a satisfied customer). I also added a "recall" button and switch to enable its use on our home BT Renown mini phone exchange. It works beautifully I'm sure you'll enjoy it too.
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Old 27th Sep 2012, 3:01 pm   #12
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

Hello guys just another update

I bought some parts from Ray at GPO spares. This ranged from...

Curly cord

dial and centre opal cover

then I replaced the transparent Recall button with a dummy plastic green one

Overall, extremely pleased at how it turned out looks like a brand new phone.

Pictures of how it looks now
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Old 27th Sep 2012, 4:40 pm   #13
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

Well done Ryan, you've done a good job there the first 746 I bought was a two-tone green model - they certainly look the part.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan_1993 View Post
Next on my parts list is to get a new receiver cord though it's pretty stretched and twisted up.
Do you still have the original handset cord?

If you put it in very hot water the cord will appear to come to life and the twists and kinks will errm! un-twist and un-kink I've also had some success in sliding the cord over the handle of a wooden spoon. pushing the coils together and holding them in place with a cable tie at either end. If you again put the whole caboodle into very hot water it will reduce the stretching - I can't think of a better way of putting that!

Regards, Lee.
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Old 27th Sep 2012, 4:49 pm   #14
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

ha ha thanks Lee

yeah I still kept the old cord just put it in a box along with the other old parts I took off it, you never know if it'll come in for something
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Old 27th Sep 2012, 4:51 pm   #15
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Default Re: Two tone Green 746 Telephone Conversion

This is getting a bit long for a success story.

Time to replace the receiver and ring off.
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