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WE J/K-500, 5-52

Started by Dan/Panther, May 07, 2010, 01:30:41 PM

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Dan/Panther

Right after Stephen posted his find of the CL finds I remembered, one of the last phones I got was also dated 1952, so I got it out and found a couple items that I need to have explained.
It's a model J/K 500, 5-52, I looked at Paul's site, and he lists a J, and a K,is J/K the same or is it a different designation ?
Also the gongs and clapper are missing, and show no signs of ever having been installed, it's a C2A ringer, I'm sure someone just removed them but I see no eveidence that the clapper was ever on the shaft ?
D/P 

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

LarryInMichigan

It looks to me like the tip of the clapper arm was broken off.

Larry

Dan/Panther

Larry;
Maybe even cleanly cut off, I just wonder why ?
Paul lists the J/K as a 501, but this is marked J/K 500, 5-52 ?
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Phonesrfun

J/K is probably the same as A/B, C/D;  that is manual (no dial) versus dial.

As to the ringer, it may be a do-it-yourself job, but they sometimes took the clappers and gongs off of ringers to turn thme into buzzers.  This was usually done on switchboards, but Western supplied them as such, and they had a different part number.
-Bill G

Jester

D/P,
Isn't this the phone with the 425A network with only a date stamped on the side of the pot?  I thought I noticed the gongs were missing in your network pic., but I didn't recall that the ball was missing from the striker.  If you scroll down that info. page on Paul's site to 500T, he mentions that "T" is possibly an earlier offering of J/K.  Your phone & mine are closely related internally.
Stephen

Dan/Panther

Stephen;
Yes one and the same, I missed the J/K500 reference earlier.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

McHeath

I've got a J/K from 12-51.  It's got way too much sidetone and I had to put a resistor in at the board for the handset wires to cut it down to tolerable levels.  Otherwise it's pretty normal.  Currently however it won't ring, and the ringer works in other phones so I've got a network problem methinks.

I've had a couple of phones show up with no gongs, but never no clapper.  Guessing that it was someone who wanted a quieted ringer and did not know that they could simply bend the stop tab out and turn it full off with the adjuster wheel.  (I did not know that either until someone on this forum mentioned it.  25 years ago I actually put tissue paper in the gongs of a 500 to quiet it down because I knew of no other way to do it)


Dan/Panther

This phone is starting to interest me, I hooked up a line cord, and dialed my number to hear what a ringer sounds like w/o gong, or clapper. It reminds me of one of those doctors office phones that makes a very soft vibrating sound. Actually it's nice, but I still prefer a gong. this would be great in a bedroom. would wake you, but not scare you. I'm convinced or leaning towards the fact that this phone may have been ordered this way.

McHeath,
I'm wondering if the Thermistor in the Equalizer has burned out, that is what regulates the side tone volume. By adding a resistor, you have duplicated what the Equalizer does, only the Equalizer varies the resistance for different distances from the main office in the loop..
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Phonesrfun

By definition, the 500 J/K did NOT have an equalizer. 

It was made purely for long loops where limiting both the current and the sidetone were not necessary.  that is why there is a flat terminal board in place of the equalizer.  It is not a matter of having a burned out component in the equalizer, because there is none.

Naturally, when hooked to a normal loop, it will have too much volume and objectionable sidetone if not limited by a resistor.



-Bill G

Jester

McHeath,
What was the value on the resistor you used, & what lugs did you connect it to?
Stephen

McHeath

Here is a picture of how I connected the resistor.  I'm not recalling how to read those color bars, I knew at the time but have since forgot, I'm sure someone here will know pretty easily what the value is. 

I tried several resistors in a sort of trial and error method, some blocked too much sound overall and some did not enough.  This one was, in the words of Goldilocks, just right. :)


Dan/Panther

#11
Quote from: Phonesrfun on May 07, 2010, 08:09:28 PM
By definition, the 500 J/K did NOT have an equalizer.  

It was made purely for long loops where limiting both the current and the sidetone were not necessary.  that is why there is a flat terminal board in place of the equalizer.  It is not a matter of having a burned out component in the equalizer, because there is none.

Naturally, when hooked to a normal loop, it will have too much volume and objectionable sidetone if not limited by a resistor.





Bill;
Paul's site says No SEPARATE equalizer. Was the Eq eliminated or incorporated into the network ? What was done to eliminate the need for the EQ. If all that was need was a resistor, why did they go to all the trouble of making an Equalizer, is that when they added the varistor to the Receiver, I'm confused.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

paul-f

The 500T was made without an equalizer for installation in zones that didn't require the equalizer -- for a cost-saving.

WE changed the base plate numbering scheme when seperate model numbers were introduced for manual and dial sets.  The sets are the same, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent -- and to clearly specify whether the set was manual or dial.

The 500 became the 500A (manual) or 500B (dial).

The 500T became the 500J (manual) or 500K (dial).

The base plate marking A/B or J/K 500 was a manufacturing convenience, as the same base plate was used for assembling either a manual or dial set.

A/B or J/K is NOT a part of a model number for a set.

Similarly C/D is not part of a model number for a set.

The 500C (manual) and 500D (dial) models indicate that they have the 425B network, which combines the functions of the earlier 425A network plus the 311A equalizer.

After the 425B network came out, there was no further need to make 4 versions of the basic 500 -- with and without dial, and with and without equalizer.
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

Dan/Panther

Paul;
thanks.

McHeath;
That 470 Ohms, at 5% tolerance.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Greg G.

Quote from: Dan/Panther on May 07, 2010, 01:30:41 PM
Also the gongs and clapper are missing, and show no signs of ever having been installed, it's a C2A ringer, I'm sure someone just removed them but I see no eveidence that the clapper was ever on the shaft ?
D/P 

Sounds like a clapper caper to me!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4RIBhQIkII
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
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