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New to restoring a Leich 901

Started by md1234, November 22, 2014, 04:06:02 PM

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md1234

I recently purchased a Leich 901 phone. The phone cranks although it is stiff and jerky. I can see an output around 70-100v on a scope and about 100mA with a variety of resistive loads so it seems to be working correctly in that regard. The phone appears to be in nice condition. It's clean inside and the wiring shows little sign of wear and I see no fraying. Since this is my phone phone project, I'm not clear on what I need to do to get the crank to spin freely. Also, are they any serial numbers on these phones that might help indicate how old the phone may be?

Thanks,
Mike

dsk

Hi, and welcome!

I have not worked on a Leich, but generally they were oiled with whatever you had, (in the kitchen). cleaning and oiling will usualle do the job.  Temporarily a dash of e.g. WD40 in gears and bearings will tellyou if its the right thing to do.

dsk

unbeldi

#2
Assuming that you have no mechanical obstructions, such as rust or dirt, there should be some positive resistance by the magneto against spinning.  No magneto really "spins freely".  In fact, if the magneto is under heavy load, like a short circuit, it can be quite hard to turn it at all.

I believe this is called cogging. It happens for motors as well as generators and is pronounced when the device has only a few magnetic poles, like in these magnetos where we have only two.

So, check if there is anything loading the magneto too heavily, but since you are measuring 70 V to 100 V, I suspect this is not the case.  Drawing 100 mA of current seems rather excessive though it only takes a few milliamps to sound a good ringer. Replace your resistors with a telephone.

901s were made starting in the 1940 until I think still into the 1960s.

md1234

I tried a little WD40 and that did help. It's still squeeky but I'm hoping that goes away once the spray soaks in a bit. The first few spins are harder but once it gets spinning it's ok so I'll assume that's the way it's supposed to work. The currents that mentioned were the peaks that I saw on the scope. Averaged values with a DMM would be much lower. Thanks for the help.
Mike

AE_Collector

Most of te Leich 901 "convertibles" that I have seen had the date clearly indicated on the base. Maybe just the month and year. Mine  are from the mid 1950's.

Terry

stub

#5
Mike,
        Here's a diagram to convert your Local battery phone to Common battery so it will work on todays telephone line. The magneto will have to be disconnected. I converted mine ( no dial) and it wasn't too bad but I wouldn't do it again. Hope this helps.   stub
           
Kenneth Stubblefield