GPO Candlestick Problem

[Phonesrfun]

BRB,  I am going to check out a photo of the unmodified 150....

[Dan]

Should I unscrew the leaf swiches and see if three and four are stuck together?

here's some pics of a 150, if you need them

http://www.britishtelephones.com/candle1.htm

[Phonesrfun]

Take a look at this picture of the original 150.  Where the hang-up mechanism presses against leaf #4 there should be a rubber bumper to aid in the pushing to open it up.  Yours also seems to have this, can you verify that?  Also, would a little bending and cajoling be able to open #3 and 4.  I suspect not because it is probably already backed up against the wall so to speak.

Also, I don't want to spend a whole lot of time on leaves 3 and 4, because we can work around them and only use one set of contacts in the switch.

So, check these things out, and we can do this without the ohm meter, that would have been a nice to have but not essential.  Are you getting ready for the solder job?

-Bill

[Phonesrfun]

Unscrewing the leaf switches may be a can of worms.  Can you lightly pry them apart with the tip of a screw driver?

[Dan]

The rubber thing to open layers three and four is there but very little and worn down

[Dan]

yes they can spread apart with a screwdriver

[Phonesrfun]

One more thing to check.  Notice in the original 150 picture that the back leaf, #4 in our case, is curved toward the hook mechanism so that it naturally is in the path of that rubber bumper to open it up.  Yours seems to be more flat, but is possibly welded to #3 from a spark at one time.

[Phonesrfun]

OK, well, forget the welded together.  Again, if you can adjust it into behaving itself, then fine, otherwise we can work around it.  One other thing to try is to add some insulating substance to the end of the rubber bumper to open it up.  If you press with the screw driver tip on the very end of #4 will it open up?

[Dan]

yes, it will open, but you must press VERY hard

[Phonesrfun]

You are probbly coming to this same conclusion, but the only two things that will make this part of the switch work the way it should is to (A) curve it lightly towards the hookswitch part with the rubber bumper; and (B) extend the rubber bumper.  I don't know how you would do (B) unless you actually glued something to it.

[Dan]

Part A would work but I can't bend it up because the leaf 4 is trapped under the hook switch. I don't know how to add to the rubber (solution b)

What if I pry up towards leaf three between layers three and four. Would this could open up the space and make the contact open?(between 3 and 4)

[Phonesrfun]

Wow, my number of posts in the forum has sure gone up these last couple of days....

[Dan]

I promise not t put you above 1000 by the time we are done:)

[Phonesrfun]

Yes, give your last suggestion a try, carefully.  I don't know how fragile the switch pile-up is.

[Dan]

Two rusty screws hold the swirtches in place. If I unscrewed them I could bend layer 4 up tighter or I could be 'screwed too"