Hotel phone - line cord, ringer, left over doo-dad.

[Greg G.]

Finally got around to putting this thing together.  Still needs some minor cleaning on the outside of the case, but I can get that later, I wanted to put this thing together and get it mounted.  The problem with the other transmitter not fitting was resolved by sanding down the area just below the lip.  Didn't take much, about 20 minutes worth of sanding with the coarsest grade I had.  It's still a snug fit, but didn't need force and I was able to get it out again w/o much effort.

Line cord - Most correct one to use?  For now I'm using some misc. line cords I've been buying on ebay.  I just guessed as to how the line cord was strung.  I don't even know the manufacturer, but a line cord is a line cord to me, I'm not picky about that as long as it works, but I still would like some suggestions as to the proper line cord.  Cloth or rubber?  What would you use if it were your phone?

Ringer - It goes ding-a-ling as the dial returns, what's with that?  Do I have it hooked up correctly?  (See picture below).

Left over doo-dad - What is this?  It was in the cup that I put all the small parts and screws in, so I know it came from this phone.  

[Jester]

Briny,
Most of these were directly wired & didn't use a line cord.  Your arrangement will work fine.  The ringer bias spring looks like it is at the weakest setting.  If you you move it one notch to the right, that should lessen feedback ringing or cure it completely.  The little wire hook is installed on one of the hinge screws & is used to hold the wiring harness.  There are usually two of these--one on the top lower hinge screw, the other on the bottom upper hinge screw.

[Phonesrfun]

I actually do not see a biasing spring on the ringer in the photo.  This could be a problem, since there is no way to bias the thing from dinging when dialing.  You may need to find some other way to put some resistance on the ringer so that it won't be affected by the dial pulses.  In the absence of a spring, you might try reversing the line green and red wires and see if that makes a difference.

Since this is a wall phone, it did not have a line cord as such.  It would have been hard wired with station wire, either hidden inside the wall or run on the surface of the wall.  So, you can use whatever you want.

I agree with Jester,on the extra part.

-Bill

[Jester]

You're right, Bill--the bias spring does look like it's missing.  The only thing I noticed before my first post is that the clapper arm is resting toward the left side.  If there were any tension on that assembly, it should rest toward the right, in my experience.

[bingster]

If you want something that looks older than the line cord your probably using, you can use what some ebayers use with the subsets of their restored phones.  I often see them with a piece of cloth covered modular cord installed.  They've got a mod clip on one end and spades on the other end for connection inside the subset.  You could do this with your wall phone if you want--OPW sells them.  Personally, I'd use whatever matches the receiver cord--if the receiver cord is rubber, use a rubber or black vinyl cord, and if the receiver cord is cloth then use a cloth cord.  But as the others have mentioned, they never had line cords.  These were screwed to the wall so there was no reason to have a removable cord.

[Greg G.]

I actually do not see a biasing spring on the ringer in the photo.  This could be a problem, since there is no way to bias the thing from dinging when dialing.  You may need to find some other way to put some resistance on the ringer so that it won't be affected by the dial pulses.  In the absence of a spring, you might try reversing the line green and red wires and see if that makes a difference.

Since this is a wall phone, it did not have a line cord as such.  It would have been hard wired with station wire, either hidden inside the wall or run on the surface of the wall.  So, you can use whatever you want.

I agree with Jester,on the extra part.

-Bill

Reversing the red/green line wires didn't do anything.  Just for kicks and giggles, I also tried switching the ringer wires, same result.  Not sure if this means anything, but the clapper also dings when the switch hook is pressed down and released.  Maybe that's part of the same thing.  Perhaps this wasn't the correct ringer after all?  I looked in "Electricity for the Telephone Man" and there's a section on ringers that I scanned, not sure if that will help.  I noticed this book has study questions at the end of each section, so maybe I'll get some use out of this after all.

The receiver cord is brown cloth, but I want to try to rig this in a way that the line cord is hidden.  Since I live in an apt and can't be punching holes in the wall, I had in mind making a facade that would sit flush with the wall (or very close) to mount it on.

[Phonesrfun]

Your book does talk about biasing springs starting in paragraph 3.06.  It talks around the fact that biasing the ringer also keeps the ringers from tapping during dialing. The older style biasing spring used a piece of actual string and a spring that looked like one out of a ball point pen.  Perhaps there is something you could rig up.

I can also check with Charles McDonald here in Walla Walla and see if he has a ringer magnet/clapper that would work for you.

-Bill

[Greg G.]

Your book does talk about biasing springs starting in paragraph 3.06.  It talks around the fact that biasing the ringer also keeps the ringers from tapping during dialing. The older style biasing spring used a piece of actual string and a spring that looked like one out of a ball point pen.  Perhaps there is something you could rig up.

I can also check with Charles McDonald here in Walla Walla and see if he has a ringer magnet/clapper that would work for you.

-Bill

Looking at the diagrams in the book, it appears I'm just missing the biasing spring.

[Dennis Markham]

Briny, I don't know what the age of your phone is compared to a 634A ringer box.  But I thought I'd show you a couple photos of the ringer on the 634A, showing the bias tension spring that has been mentioned in the previous posts.

I had the same problem with this box until the bias tension spring was tightened enough to eliminate bell tap during dialing and when coming off hook.  Sometimes the gongs can be adjusted (widened) to eliminate the bell tap and still allow for proper ringing.  Since you don't seem to have the bias tension spring, you could try moving your gongs, if they are movable.

~Dennis

[bingster]

Dennis, that's one of the ringers that should be in one of these wall phones.  The ringer in Briny's phone isn't original, and is a later replacement.  It could be that the original one wasn't working, or it had gone missing, but it's an odd ringer that looks like it can't be adjusted.

[Dennis Markham]

I wasn't sure about the ringer.  It looked like the B1A (302 Ringer) except for the gongs.  Perhaps the gongs are original and the ringer was situated between them.

[Greg G.]

Briny, I don't know what the age of your phone is compared to a 634A ringer box.  But I thought I'd show you a couple photos of the ringer on the 634A, showing the bias tension spring that has been mentioned in the previous posts.

I had the same problem with this box until the bias tension spring was tightened enough to eliminate bell tap during dialing and when coming off hook.  Sometimes the gongs can be adjusted (widened) to eliminate the bell tap and still allow for proper ringing.  Since you don't seem to have the bias tension spring, you could try moving your gongs, if they are movable.

~Dennis

The phone has a 3-30 date stamp on it, but the ringer says 4-59.  The gongs don't appear to be movable.

[LarryInMichigan]

Briny,

You should be able to make a new bias spring like the one that used to be there or at least buy a spring at a hardware store and rig it between the clapper stem and one of the gong posts.  All you need is enough tension to hold the clapper still when it should not be ringing.  I have even used rubber bands to do that.

Larry

[Jim Stettler]

Briny,

You should be able to make a new bias spring like the one that used to be there or at least buy a spring at a hardware store and rig it between the clapper stem and one of the gong posts.  All you need is enough tension to hold the clapper still when it should not be ringing.  I have even used rubber bands to do that.

Larry

I would experment with  a ball-point pin spring. I suspect it should work.
Jim S.

[Greg G.]

Briny,

You should be able to make a new bias spring like the one that used to be there or at least buy a spring at a hardware store and rig it between the clapper stem and one of the gong posts.  All you need is enough tension to hold the clapper still when it should not be ringing.  I have even used rubber bands to do that.

Larry

I would experment with  a ball-point pin spring. I suspect it should work.
Jim S.

I thought of that too, ball point pen spring.  Rubber bands I have lots of, only a couple bp pens, and I need them for work.  I'll try the rubber bands first.