Phones to stay away from?

[FABphones]

Fab;

That's what makes it all so much fun.

D/P

True. It was written a bit tongue in cheek.     I truly enjoy working on old phones. And I adore Tribbles!

I have another huge box of spares on the way. Am hoping I will be able to immediately use... 2 or 3 bits of the contents...     

[kleenax]

Some of the Kellogg desksets have a weird-working dial that only works on their "closed" system.

[Zombie Dave]

Anyone in the US may find British phones are a bit tricky to get working so might want to stay away from them. The problem is the make/break ratio if the dials is slightly different and if using modern digital equipment like ATAs the difference could be more than the system can handle. I had this problem when using an American ATA with my UK phones. I had to adjust all the dial contacts very slightly. So unless you've got a lot of time to spare and want a fairly large amount of work, don't expect Uk thones to necessarily work on the US system.

I agree! Great info!

[compubit]

Aren't there some Stromberg Carlson dials that work opposite normal dials (short vs. open during the pulsing...)?

Jim

[Greg G.]

I'm in the USA and only at this collect rotary phones. I like them to be functional so my question is this.  Are there phones I should stay away from that won't work on our system? I hope this makes sense.

Stay away from so-called "French" phones.  They're not "French", they're usually 70s or 80s era Chinese-made garbage, especially the ones that have the push-buttons arranged in a circle to resemble a rotary dial.  Sure, they may work, but they're not worth spending any money on.  https://www.ebay.com/bhp/french-rotary-phone

Most of the vintage collectibles will work, depending on your phone line.  If it doesn't support pulse dialing, there are numerous converters you can get.

[poplar1]

Stay away from so-called "French" phones.  They're not "French", they're usually 70s or 80s era Chinese-made garbage, especially the ones that have the push-buttons arranged in a circle to resemble a rotary dial.  Sure, they may work, but they're not worth spending any money on.  https://www.ebay.com/bhp/french-rotary-phone

Most of the vintage collectibles will work, depending on your phone line.  If it doesn't support pulse dialing, there are numerous converters you can get.

The 1st and 3rd phones shown are Deco-Tel, and are equivalent to a 500 set. The bottom one even has Western Electric parts.

[Butch Harlow]

Some of the Kellogg desksets have a weird-working dial that only works on their "closed" system.

Specifically #11, #18, and #21 Kellogg dials. They made pulses in a way incompatible to regular phone service. They would be found on red bar Select o phones.

[Zombie Dave]

Thank you for all of the great advice and suggestions.