My new Frankenpayphone

[AdamAnt316]

Hello, everyone. A trip to the flea market today resulted in me finding something I've wanted ever since I first became interested in rotary-dial phones: a three-slot payphone. Was told that it had recently been removed from a home, where it had supposedly been wired as a working wall phone. Ended up paying $150, even though I figured it was probably hacked up internally. However, many of the original parts, such as the coin relay and chute mechanism, appear to still be intact. The coin box is gone, replaced by a dummy cover (held in by a bit of friction), and a single-gong ringer crudely installed in its place (with the condenser floating around loosely above). Oddly, the back of the paystation shows signs of being from a 212G (postpay?), while the inside of the upper section shows 233G markings. Was this a common conversion?

Any thoughts on this thing? I'm not even sure if it's Western Electric, given the lack of markings. The handset installed on it is from ITT, so I doubt the conversion was professional (especially given how the ringer and condenser were installed). Also, what would be the best way to mount it to the wall? A couple of screws were found floating around inside the phone, so I'm guessing those were involved. Do I need any sort of backplate, or could I just use the existing holes in the back of the phone? Thanks in advance!
-Adam

[rdelius]

It looks WE. Look under the coin return to see a "scar" where the Bell System /WE markings were.Note the instruction card has the phony 151 code.Some refurbisher -Long Island? sold these back in the 70s

[AdamAnt316]

It looks WE. Look under the coin return to see a "scar" where the Bell System /WE markings were.Note the instruction card has the phony 151 code.Some refurbisher -Long Island? sold these back in the 70s

Thanks for the reply. Figured something was off about the instruction card, especially given the 555 prefix used throughout (even if 555-1212 is a real number). Any idea who the refurbisher might've been? It'd  make sense if this phone was reworked by a third party.

Anyway, I've undone some of the hacking done to the phone, or at least minimized it. Irked by the condenser floating around near the bottom of the upper part, as well as the twisted-together wires between it and the ringer left uninsulated, I put a wirenut over the connection, and covered the condenser can with electrical tape. In looking at pictures on this page, I realized that the coin relay is in fact missing. Hopefully, I can find one (as well as a coin vault) at some point, though it'll do as-is for now.
-Adam

[AdamAnt316]

Finally got around to testing this payphone. The dial's running a bit sluggish, which is to be expected. How would I remove the dial, or at least get to the back of it in order to clean the contacts? The ringer is a bit weak, but does work. Anyway, here's yet more pics.
-Adam

[poplar1]

To remove the dial, you'll have to remove the coin chute first--there are two spring-loaded long screws that can be turned by hand, and one traditional screw. Then you'll see the three hex nuts that hold the dial. Once you remove the nuts, the dial can be pulled from the front.

[AdamAnt316]

Thanks for the tip! I tried to oil the dial by removing the fingerwheel and dial plate, but found a metal plate below that, so I'm guessing it's a #6 dial. I did try removing the coin chute, and found a few more coins jammed inside. I found it interesting seeing how its taking of two nickels compares to how it takes a dime. Oddly, it doesn't act quite the same way once the upper housing is installed back into the phone, with a nickel dropping directly into the return bucket, while a dime drops directly into where the coin vault would normally be. Maybe this has something to do with the coin relay being missing, but I have no real idea.
-Adam

[TelePlay]

There is a vane in the lower coin chute the works with the relay when present to direct the coins into the return bucket or the vault. It is easily flipped to one side or the other by hand using a longer, thin tool of sorts. Just tipping the phone one way or the other can move the vane. It might be the vane is not fully to one side allowing the larger and heavier nickel to go one way and the smaller, lighter dime to go the other way.

When I install a payphone on a set for a play, I make sure the vane directs all coins into the locked vault as part of my "rent." Made a whole $2.60 last time I did that.

[poplar1]

Are you removing the handset from the cradle before depositing the nickel(s)?

Originally, if the phone was hung up and you deposited one nickel, it would fall in the pull bucket coin return, the same as a coin deposited in the wrong slot or a penny in any slot. If the phone was off the hook, then the first nickel would be stopped in the coin chute by the arm of the electromagnet which extends into the coin track. When the second nickel was deposited, then both nickels would strike the 5c gong and then fall into the relay.

You may want to remove the dial and its plastic back cover, rather than trying to reach the gears from the front.

[Phonesrfun]

By the way, with respect to 1-xxx-555-1212 or just 1-555-1212 within the area code.  That is legitimate even if other numbers are bogus.  411 for directory assistance was also legitimate for local calling area directory assistance up to a point in time.  To be consistent, they eventually did away with 411 and went to just plain 555-1212.

In the heyday of DDD and for some time after divestiture, the US universal way to get directory assistance was the 555-1212 number.  When calling directory assistance from a prepay payphone, you did have to start the call with a dime, but got it back when the operator answered, even if you called directory assistance across the country.

[AdamAnt316]

There is a vane in the lower coin chute the works with the relay when present to direct the coins into the return bucket or the vault. It is easily flipped to one side or the other by hand using a longer, thin tool of sorts. Just tipping the phone one way or the other can move the vane. It might be the vane is not fully to one side allowing the larger and heavier nickel to go one way and the smaller, lighter dime to go the other way.

When I install a payphone on a set for a play, I make sure the vane directs all coins into the locked vault as part of my "rent." Made a whole $2.60 last time I did that.

Yeah, I noticed the lever located near where the coin relay would normally be. As it is, it's been moved all the way to the left, though there seems to be a 'dogleg' down below where it's sitting now. How should it be positioned? As it stands now, more often than not, inserted coins get stuck within the coin chute with the upper housing installed in the phone. With the chute mechanism removed from the phone, things seem to work as they should. Would being tilted forward slightly be enough to throw the whole works off?

Are you removing the handset from the cradle before depositing the nickel(s)?

Originally, if the phone was hung up and you deposited one nickel, it would fall in the pull bucket coin return, the same as a coin deposited in the wrong slot or a penny in any slot. If the phone was off the hook, then the first nickel would be stopped in the coin chute by the arm of the electromagnet which extends into the coin track. When the second nickel was deposited, then both nickels would strike the 5c gong and then fall into the relay.

You may want to remove the dial and its plastic back cover, rather than trying to reach the gears from the front.

Whether or not the handset is removed seems to have little to no effect on how the coin chute works. Not sure if it's because something's jammed in there, or what. As I said above, the coin chute works fine when removed from the upper housing, but goes haywire when everything is back together, with coins sometimes getting stuck inside the works.

As for the dial, I couldn't even get to any gears from behind the porcelain backplate. All I could do was apply oil to the top of where the dial screws onto, as well as to what of the spring-loaded shaft I could reach. Guessing it's a type 6 dial with the works on the back, with which I've had little experience. What would the best way to lubricate its mechanism?

By the way, with respect to 1-xxx-555-1212 or just 1-555-1212 within the area code.  That is legitimate even if other numbers are bogus.  411 for directory assistance was also legitimate for local calling area directory assistance up to a point in time.  To be consistent, they eventually did away with 411 and went to just plain 555-1212.

In the heyday of DDD and for some time after divestiture, the US universal way to get directory assistance was the 555-1212 number.  When calling directory assistance from a prepay payphone, you did have to start the call with a dime, but got it back when the operator answered, even if you called directory assistance across the country.

Yeah, I figured the info on the card was at least partially based on reality. Would be nice to find an instruction card that could actually have been found on a real payphone back then. Either that, or I might try using Photoshop to alter this one to have legitimate info on it. Would the number at the top of the card have been for the phone equipped with said card, or for something else?
-Adam

[poplar1]

You may want to remove the dial and its plastic back cover, rather than trying to reach the gears from the front.

As for the dial, I couldn't even get to any gears from behind the porcelain backplate. All I could do was apply oil to the top of where the dial screws onto, as well as to what of the spring-loaded shaft I could reach. Guessing it's a type 6 dial with the works on the back, with which I've had little experience. What would the best way to lubricate its mechanism?

You will need to remove the coin chute, then you will see three nuts that hold the dial posts. If you remove the nuts, then you can pull the dial out from the front of the phone. After noting where the dial wires are connected (might not be the original factory connections since the phone has been modified), remove the dial leads and then you can work on the dial apart from the phone. Remove the yellowed plastic cover. There are many threads here on dial lubrication. You may want to start with contact cleaner that doesn't have any lubricant in it.

[AdamAnt316]

You will need to remove the coin chute, then you will see three nuts that hold the dial posts. If you remove the nuts, then you can pull the dial out from the front of the phone. After noting where the dial wires are connected (might not be the original factory connections since the phone has been modified), remove the dial leads and then you can work on the dial apart from the phone. Remove the yellowed plastic cover. There are many threads here on dial lubrication. You may want to start with contact cleaner that doesn't have any lubricant in it.

Thanks for the tip. I removed the dial, and finally discovered my first concrete evidence of who made (at least part of) this thing: the dial, with a date matching the rest of the upper housing, is Western Electric. Sprayed a little DeOxit on every shaft I could get access to, then applied Tri-Flow teflon lube once the cleaner had dried. The dial's speed now seems much closer to what it should be. Next up will be to try and figure out the best way to mount it to the wall.
-Adam

[AdamAnt316]

Well, I finally have the payphone mounted on the wall. At first, the dial wasn't working correctly, even though I removed it once again to clean the contacts with an emery board, but it seems to be working correctly now. However, the ringer definitely isn't working right. I disconnected one of the other phones connected to the line, and yet the phones in the house still refuse to ring for more than a fraction of a second when a call comes in. Could the condenser being incorrect have something to do with that? I'm guessing it's the same one which was in this phone originally. What would be a proper condenser value for this single-gong ringer? Once again, thanks!
-Adam

[poplar1]

Yes, the condenser was originally in the phone, but it was part of the coin signal circuit, not used with any ringer. The ringer is actually a C4 type from a 500 set that was cut in half so that it would fit. This model pay phone didn't have a ringer inside; rather both the ringer and the 425 network were in a separate 685A subset. This ringer requires an approx. 0.5 MF condenser (capacitor). You could try using the capacitor located inside the network--it's the A and K terminals on the network, but this would mean having wires running between the upper housing and lower housing. 

[AdamAnt316]

Thanks for the reply. I figured that condenser wasn't meant for a ringer, but am guessing its value was close enough when used in a household with few phones hooked to the line. I removed the coin condenser, installed a modern 0.47µF 630V capacitor, and buttoned it all back up. Unfortunately, though it no longer completely loads down the other phone ringers in the house, it now refuses to ring. I wired the new capacitor in series with the ringer, just as the previous condenser had been wired. According to my ohmmeter, the ringer coil reads a bit above 1K ohms. Might there still be something wrong, or is the issue elsewhere?
-Adam