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Temperamental Styleline Ringers

Started by markosjal, February 05, 2018, 12:43:38 PM

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markosjal

I have been dealing with some tempremental styleline ringers and wanted to post what has worked for me.

Much of this was derived from comparing and swapping parts on the WE and AE/ITT ringers

First I want to discuss the Styleline ringers. Whay I have seen looks just like the WE Princess ringer same mounting holes etc however GTEs may have ITT labels stuck to them. In one case an AE ringer had a sticker saying it was to be used with a capacitor other than .47uf but did not even try to ring with the provided capacitor. Changing the value to the normal .47uf capacitor caused the clapper to move

In some cases I have seen clappers wiggle slightly (after changing cap as above ) but not enough to ring the gong.

this has a simple solution and apparently is a deficiency in the ITT vs WE design or materials. One big comparison note is that the 'pivot" (for lack of a better word) on the clapper is stiffer on the AE/ITT riingers than on the WEs . This means it take more magnetism to cause them to move. On some AE/ITT ringers I have seen there is also no bias spring.

You can loosen the upper screw and wiggle parts around particularly the coil with the elctromagnet . If you can get more movement from the clapper then read on.

in the area circled in red this is the electromagnet elemet that activates the clapper

in the cases I have seen it is too far from the clapper. Bend it closer with needle nose pliers .

also you can remove the clapper and work the "pivot" back and forth where the thin copper should bend back and forth when the bell is ringing.


Added second and third photos showing a ringer label and ringer cap. Changing cap to .47uf made all the difference in the world.
Phat Phantom's phreaking phone phettish

rdelius

That sticker shows it is a 66 2/3 cycle ringer. that would explain the .08 capacator the ringer does not look like a freq ringer though

markosjal

#2
This styleline said it was sold in GTE store and date I believe was 1985 . Under those circumstances it would be hard to believe it was anything other than a 20hz ringer

Also resistance of ringer was the same as other styleline ringers if I recall correctly 1700 ohms or so
Phat Phantom's phreaking phone phettish

Babybearjs

I have a C4A that's a PL ringer... added a .47uf cap to it and adjusted the gongs... works ok... just quiet though... I have 2 of those GTE Styleline ringers I use for outside bells on my shed.... what makes them stall? I cant count on them at all! always having to check them...
John

markosjal

Quote from: Babybearjs on February 06, 2018, 06:43:18 AM
I have a C4A that's a PL ringer... added a .47uf cap to it and adjusted the gongs... works ok... just quiet though... I have 2 of those GTE Styleline ringers I use for outside bells on my shed.... what makes them stall? I cant count on them at all! always having to check them...

First iif it is connected to anyhing other than a copper phone line that could be the problem.

Second see the magnet tweak posted above that got at totally dead ringer moving.
Phat Phantom's phreaking phone phettish

markosjal

Just one of my findings...

I not only release the bias spring ( when they have them) but I bent it and effectively reversed the tension on the bias spring!

These photos are from a Starlite

Phat Phantom's phreaking phone phettish

RotoTech99

Dear Markosjal :

Something I've experimented with is taking the mechanism from a WE Trimline or Princess ringer and adding it to a AE46 ringer, and then adjusting the new assembly until I get a ring that is satisfactory to me.

Because the WE mechanism is slightly different, that's what allows for a little "play" in getting the ringer set to where it sounds..

The AE46A can be done in the same way, changing out the coil mechanism but might need slight changes to allow it to fit the ringer frame.

One thing to remember is the clapper to gong clearance gap, the closer the clapper is, the softer the ring will be. The further away it is, but not so far it won't strike the gong will produce a better ring sound because there is enough clearance for the clapper to strike and move away, creating tones that reverberate.

Although it's not mentioned, the ringer is creating a series of tones and overtones that is the ring we hear.

Rototech99

MMikeJBenN27

Those ringers were probably made by ITT for AE Co, as "normal" ITT ringers are the same as WE ringers, or maybe the opposite, made by AE Co for ITT.  All AE Co ringers made by them are solid-mounted, rather than rubber-mounted, at least as far as I have seen.

Mike

RotoTech99

That has been my experience as well, but I remember the AE 46 did have rubber grommets, And a brass sleeve in them.

The gong resonator was different as well being made of zinc and sitting on a short threaded mount on the frame of the ringer.

The gong boss on its top had the screw hole plus an alignment tab that fitted into the hole and slot in the gong.

The gong was most likely the ones from the 700 series sets, and the key system desk phone.

Rototech99