I am new to phones but have an electronics background. Can someone give me a starting point for restoring this phone, ie diagnostics before I plug it in to the wall. I was thinking about replacing any capacitors but they are potted so that killed that idea. Would it be safe to connect l1 and l2 to a rj11 and plug the phone or is that not a good idea. Thanks
The voltages going through the caps are so low that replacement is almost never necessary--they're good. It's fine to try and hook it up without doing anything to it. There's nothing that can be damaged if it's done incorrectly. Go ahead and hook the red and green conductors from a modern modular cord to the L1 and L2 terminals (doesn't usually matter which goes where) and see what happens. We can troubleshoot any problems after you determine whether it rings on an incoming call, dials out properly, etc.
Welcome to the forum!
Hi and welcome. You won't electrocute yourself with these phones, nor burn anything up in them. I know from personal experience, I've moved wires all over the place trying to make one work without a wiring diagram, no sweat.
Thanks for the welcome. I read somewhere that I need to rewire the guts of the phone so that it will ring. (gnd issue). I rather do this in the phone then anywhere else. What needs to be done here?
So I take it the black and red wires are a pair in a rj11 and the other 2 colors are another pair?
I am in the restoration phase( replacing trashed wires), anything I can or should check out with a meter while I am rewiring. Thanks.
Welcome ;) Go here for further wiring info.
http://www.telephonecollectors.org/library/sberg/sberg.htm