634BC Subset On AT&T Fiber Service

[rp2813]

Hi all,

It's been a while since I've posted anything here, but a year after moving I'm finally starting to think about adding more vintage phone equipment around the house.  Since I have an old phone niche in the hallway, I want to activate the manual D-1 set that's currently occupying that space.  I had a 634BC subset in use along with a manual 201 in the shop at my previous place, which was on POTS.  I had a lot of phones with ringers working there, and the voltage wasn't enough to allow the subset ringer to work properly, but at least it was trying.

Now at the new place, there's only my 1950 500 that's ringing in addition to a cordless Panasonic with answering system.  I tried connecting the subset to make sure it would ring and absolutely nothing happened.  There has been no change in the wiring, other than me reconnecting one of the leads from the ringer onto the proper terminal.

Could it be that AT&T's fiber service, which still gets dial tone from the CO -- it is NOT VOIP -- doesn't supply enough voltage to make a subset ring?  Does anyone else here have AT&T fiber and have any similar experience to share?  Is the ringer equivalency on a vintage subset like this (it has the 101A induction coil) so high that my fiber service can't support it?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.  I'd like to have this subset be the only ringer in the house.  With its central location, hardwood floors and plaster walls, it would be the only ringer required to hear anywhere in the house, basement, or even outside.

[RB]

Hi RP
I am guessing, first off, put that wire back, and try it.
Then, try unhookin all other phones on the line, and try it.
You may have a ringer too heavy for the line???
or a combination of stuff??
Good luck with this one!
I am liking your application, and the phone

[rp2813]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I know the wire needs to be on L1.  I had removed it from L1 because at the other house, the subset was causing my '60s chime ringer in the den to stop chiming. 

I'll unplug my 500 set and see if that helps.  The Panasonic's electronic ringer can't be drawing much.

It may also be a bad mounting cord.  I'll see what else I can dig up for that.

I've attached a better picture of where I want this situated.  The house was built in 1922.  It seems odd to me that there's not a recessed area below the phone shelf to accommodate the subset, and it also seems weird that there's a hard wired connector for the mounting cord way up high.  I have to wonder if this phone station could have been added at a later date, possibly after the 302 model was introduced.  I opted for a manual phone because I can't imagine myself ever initiating a call from the hallway.

The other picture is the closet wall behind the phone station.  I was going to use the original wiring but decided it would be easier to pull it out of the hole in the floor and run new wiring from the basement up through that same hole instead.  I'll never use the painted-over box for a connection anyway, as it would be more unsightly.  Eventually I'll remove it and repaint.

[RB]

RP, everything you have said about this subset...rings true...he he. for a low ohm ringer coil.
I would look at that subset, and find the ohm level of the ringer, as well as the cap in line with it.
you may need a new cap???
If your ringer is too low in ohms, or your cap is dead, it will pull heavy on the line, and stop other phones on the line from ringing.
sound familiar?
do you have the schematic for the sub and the phone?

[rp2813]

Yes, I lifted the schematics from here a long time ago and have been referncing the one for the 634.

The good news is, the trouble did turn out to be the mounting cord.  It's a '60s vintage with an aftermarket modular plug converter on one end.  I snapped off the converter cover and it revealed that the crimped metal piece on the end of the cord could have been shorting out the modular prongs.  I repositioned things and now the subset rings fine.

I knew this had to be something easy since I'd had it ringing before and had only disconnected that one lead from the ringer coil.  I should be able to finish this project before the week is out.

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'm glad it wasn't so complicated.

[shadow67]

Glad you got it working. I was curious about your statement that you have AT&T fiber but not VoIP. Do you mean that your internet is fiber but your phone line is still copper POTS? AT&T phone over fiber is indeed VoIP, so I was wondering about your setup.

[SUnset2]

I wonder if someone modified your telephone niche.  The ones I've seen always have a door on the lower part with some kind of slots or openings to let the sound of the ringer out.  Someone might have closed it off when they got a phone with a built-in ringer.  You might have to do some exploratory surgery.

[rp2813]

Shadow, in my case both the internet access and the land line services are provided over AT&T fiber.  The dial tone for the land line still comes from the CO.  It is not VOIP.  A lot of people assume that if it's not coming over copper, it must be VOIP, but that's not true for my service.  This is why I can still use rotary phones.  AT&T also offers U-verse internet access where fiber isn't yet available, and land lines in those cases are indeed VOIP.  I have a friend with that set-up and she can't use a rotary phone.

The one thing about my fiber land line service that makes it different from POTS over copper is that it does run through the wireless gateway in the basement.  The gateway runs on 120v electrical service, so when the power goes out, I lose my land line.  That may sound like VOIP, but I assure you it's not.  I think fiber service is so rare in most areas that people aren't familiar with how it works.  I also think that most people who have fiber internet access don't care about having a land line.

I still get a bill for my land line using my telephone number as the account number, and my internet access is billed separately with a nonsensical account number.  I'm not sure, but I assume with VOIP, you get one bill for everything and there are no long distance charges, or they're minimal.

[rp2813]

SUnset, the thing that seems curious is that the braided cloth covered original wiring to the niche appears to be pretty old.  And yet it's running to the hard wired connecting block way up high.  There are no splices, yet if a subset had ever been used, it seems to me that this wiring would have exited the closet wall at least 2' lower than where it does.

I agree with you about these niche arrangements having a screen or some other covering over the lower recessed area so the subset ringer could be heard.  I'm not going to try and (re)create something like that.  I'll instead mount the subset onto the surface of the lower panel. 

Just for kicks, I hooked up my 554-C subset while I was troubleshooting and it rang fine.  In fact, it has a nicer "brrrrrrrrring" sound to it than the 634, which isn't as rapid and makes a bit of a knocking sound.  I've adjusted the gongs for the best and loudest ring, and it will do.  I don't want to separate the pristine 554-C from my 1931 D-1 with 4H dial and E1 handset.  That's too nice a package to break up, even if the side tone from the 554 can be annoying when combined with the original E1 receiver element.

[HowardPgh]

I see what looks like a door under your shelf. If you can get it open, you may find a subset that was left behind and bypassed when a more modern phone was installed.  Is it possible that a subset may have been up where the connection block is?

[Doug Rose]

The phone does look fantastic there. I think Howard May be correct. Subsets had to go somewhere.

Did I mention how good it looks there  . Beautiful....Doug

[rp2813]

Thanks guys.

The last thing I wanted after living in a 1927 house with major infrastructure issues was a house five years older, but this one has been tastefully redone with great respect for the original architecture and areas of unpainted woodwork, and every component of the physical plant is all new.  The only thing they didn't do was go solar.  It was a no-brainer for me after losing out in bidding wars time after time on houses that were going to need work.  Fortunately for me, the sellers' agent was BFF of my agent.  A deal was struck less than an hour into the initial mid-week open house. 

Of course when I saw the phone niche I knew I'd be using it.  I'm almost there, and now the idea of an abandoned subset has me intrigued.  But, there's no evidence of a door having been on the lower section or wiring having ever been routed to that area.  It occurred to me that the niche could have been part of the original construction but the original occupants may not have had a phone installed immediately.  This may explain the box up in the corner, but that still seems like a really odd placement, subset or not.  And I'm pretty sure that the house my family lived in until late 1960 still had the D-1 set that was installed by Ma Bell in the phone niche in 1949 when we moved out, which suggests that just like the 500s, the 302s were likely delayed in distribution here on the west coast by a dozen years or more (we were issued a 302 at the next house in 1960).  This may be an unsolvable mystery.

[HowardPgh]

The connectors placement  is somewhat logical. If a 302 type phone was used with its standard cord, having the connector up high would keep the cord from trailing on the floor.

[rp2813]

Howard, that was my thought too. 

I'm wondering what to do with the excess length of cord between the phone and the subset.  I don't want it to look sloppy, but that cord is going to be exposed and will have to run up and around the phone shelf.  If the bottom panel was recessed, I'd drill a hole in the back of the shelf for the cord.  At this point, I have to locate a 4-conductor cord before I can hook up the phone to the box.  Meanwhile the sound of the ringer is filling the entire house and can be heard in the back yard.  Yay!