PYRAMID WITH BELLSET

When the Telephone No. 162 was introduced it was designed so that the telephone would fit on top of a Bakelite bellset.  The first Telephone No. 162's had a base without a drawer and this fitted perfectly under the phone.  Later on a base with a drawer was introduced and this made the fitting of the bellset a problem.  In this case most people fit the base with the draw front on the outside of bellset cover.  Not the best look in the world but it works.

A 9 inch cord was also supplied to connect the telephone to the bellset.  This cord just looped out of the phone and into the cable entry slot on the bellset.  This was a Cord, Instrument No. 3/74 9inch.

This page explains how to mount a BPO 100 or 200 Pyramid style telephone onto a Bakelite Bellset.  To start with the Bellset must have the special double threaded screws.  These came as standard on early Bellsets, but were replaced by ordinary single threaded screws later on. 

The correct screws are shown to the right and have slotted heads with two threaded sections. The inner top and outer bottom threads are 2BA, whilst the centre threaded section is 0BA.

The special screws should be removed from the Bellset cover and then offered directly into the screw fixing holes of the Bellset chassis, from the rear.  The screws should be screwed past the two threaded sections until they are right against the Bellset and are free to turn.  The picture below shows a rear view of the Bellset with the two screws in place.

Generally the Bellset was fixed to the wall, so there were not a lot of phones with Bellsets attached to phones in circulation.

The two fixing screws fully in place

This view shows the two fixing screws from the front of the Bellset

Assembly procedure

1. Offer the Bellset cover (1) onto the Bellset (2) itself.
2. Place the Telephone body (3) onto the combined Bellset and cover (1 & 2).
3. Turn the whole lot upside down, so the Bellset base is uppermost.
4. Screw the special screws into the Telephone body, until the Bellset is firmly fixed to the phone.
5. On the Telephone base, open the drawer fully.
6. Screw the Telephone base (4) onto the bottom of the Bellset.
7. Shut the drawer, it stops against the Bellset cover.

Last revised: December 27, 2022