Vintage Phones

[AtomicEraTom]

Is that under the 'honesty is the best policy' clause?

What I lack in technical knowledge, I make up for in forthrightness.

 

[p71towny]

I thought it was weird being on this forum until I went to look at wiring for my old phone only to find a whole FORUM for old phones lol. Now the ringer works!! I was fairly sure I knew how it needed to be wired and sure enough they had 2 wires misplaced inside my phone.

 

[Argee]

I picked up a moss green WE 500 today at an estate sale for $1. It was the only rotary in a bin full of off white touch tone trimlines. It looked so lonely and out of place I took pity upon it and took it home.

 

[Mr_D.]

Now, If I can find a way to have my cell phone number ring to my 500 as well..

http://www.amazon.com/Xtreme-Technologies-BT-Bluetooth-Gateway/dp/B00135XU7Q

 

[Lily Powers]

Is that under the 'honesty is the best policy' clause?

Yes, it's in the fine print.

 

[Mr_D.]

WD 40 should never be used to lubricate.

WD-40 is made to lubricate.

 

[Mr_D.]

Ok, according to this site: http://www.porticus.org/bell/telephones-500.html and the schematic he has, there should be 4 wires coming from the ringer unit to the network box. Red, Black, Gray, and Red/Gray. My model 500 only has a Red and Black. can anyone please post a photo of a ringer unit and or coil from a WE 500 for me to see. Thank You


EDIT: Ok I have looked around the web some more and see that there should be 4 wires. I am missing the gray and gray/red.

If someone could take a pic of the coil showing me where the gray and gray/red wire connect to it, i can use new wire to fix this problem.

Thanks You

 

[p71towny]

On the front part of the coil you should see solder where the other two wires should go. Also, WD-40 is a poor lubricant. It is better at cleaning stuff and keeping moisture out. Hence the name "Water-Displacing" and 40 is for the amount of times it took to get the formula right. If it is all you have it might work, but there are proper weight oils for everything. Not that I'm one to talk as I have 10-30 Mobile 1 synthetic in all my small oil squirters for fans and such.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Don't forget about 3-in-1 oil. I buy that stuff in bulk!!

 

[Mr_D.]

On the front part of the coil you should see solder where the other two wires should go.

I see solder points but not sure which wire goes where. I have tried both and still no ring.

Here is the front (closest to the bells) of the coil.

Here is the back.

 

[Mr_D.]

Ok, So it is not "missing" those wires. According to THIS site.

...first thing to check is the wires coming from the coil on the bell (ringer) assembly to see if they are hooked up to anything inside the phone. Some coils have only two wire leads (newer phones) and other coils have four wire leads. If you find loose wires from your bell's coil then there is a good chance they were disconnected by a previous owner of the phone to avoid detection of the phone by the local phone company.

And then I found THIS forum that said:

Ok, try this. Red to "A" and black to "F". Now jumper "K" to "L2".

The guy on that site that has the same problem as me did this and it worked. I did this and still not working.

Here is the current set up. Just as described above.

 

[buzz79]

It's possible that you have a "frequency" ringer. On some old party line systems the different phones using the same number had ringes tuned to differnet frequencies so that only one would ring at a time. Look on the bottom of the phone and see if it has "XX Hz". If so it's likely to be a frequency ringer and won't work on a regular phone system. The only fix is to replace the ringer.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's very rare to find a frequency ringer in a Western Electric phone -- the Bell System didn't use them except in occasional cases where they bought out an independent company -- but if the phone somehow fell into the hands of an independent phone company it's possible one was subbed in. Is there any indication that the ringer isn't the original?

 

[Mr_D.]

It's possible that you have a "frequency" ringer. On some old party line systems the different phones using the same number had ringes tuned to differnet frequencies so that only one would ring at a time. Look on the bottom of the phone and see if it has "XX Hz". If so it's likely to be a frequency ringer and won't work on a regular phone system. The only fix is to replace the ringer.

The only markings on the bottom are (written in white)

A/6 (I think it's a 6)
591
2-59

It's very rare to find a frequency ringer in a Western Electric phone -- the Bell System didn't use them except in occasional cases where they bought out an independent company -- but if the phone somehow fell into the hands of an independent phone company it's possible one was subbed in. Is there any indication that the ringer isn't the original?

From what I see in my phone vs what I see online everywhere it is the original ringer.

 

[Mr_D.]

Ok, was just told on another site that it is a frequency ringer. so I guess I will have to get a 4 wire ringer and replace it.

 

[Argee]

you might want to consider trading it for a similar phone to somebody who wants a frequency ringer in their collection given that they don't turn up that often in Western Electrics.

 

[Mr_D.]

you might want to consider trading it for a similar phone to somebody who wants a frequency ringer in their collection given that they don't turn up that often in Western Electrics.

Well, my moms neighbor used to work for Bell and now collects old phones, mostly WE. he has a box full of parts So I am going to see if he has a ringer. I want to keep the frequency ringer since they are so rare.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

If it's not ringing, move the ringer wire from G to L1.

 

[Mr_D.]

If it's not ringing, move the ringer wire from G to L1.

Tried that and many other suggestions form other sites, like the one mentioned above. Still no ring.

So either the coil is bad, or as some have said, frequency ringers don't work on today's systems.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I can almost guarantee you that is a frequency ringer by the style of clapper between the gongs.