Trying to piece together two phones for an intercom

[Bob-Isaacs]

Hello All,

I'm new here--trying to mate two phones together for an in-house intercom.

The first phone is a WE 317H crank type wood wall phone.  I've put some batteries in it (4 - AA, 6V) and if I short out the L1 and L2 posts at the top of the phone I can hear myself talk so I think everything is working fine.

The second phone is a D1/102 Desk phone.  If I put a battery between the yellow and green wires I can hear myself talk so I guess the phone works ok.   I want to pair this with a 315A wood crank ringer.

My problem is wiring.  I've wired the desk phone to the ringer box via the three terminals on the left side which are labeled PS, L2, and P.  I've connected the red, green, and yellow wires to these terminals in that order.  I then connected L1 and L2 from the ringer box to the wall phone.  Both ends ring fine and I can talk from wall to desk but not the other way around.

I suspect the ringer box is looking for a battery; but would it need one if there's one in the wall phone?  I've tried connecting an AA cell to the "B" terminals (tried polarity both ways) but all I got was some clicking when I connected it--still no sound from the transmitter of the desk phone.

Any help would be appreciated.  I can take detailed pictures of anything you may need.  Thanks for reading!

[Kenton K]

You will need a local battery subset box for the D1 I believe.

KK

[poplar1]

Each phone requires batteries for its own transmitter. The transmitter, battery, and primary of the induction coil are wired in series in each set. Without a battery, one can hear but can't transmit. I wouldn't use more than 3 cells (4.5 VDC) on each station, since that was the original specification.

The 315A + desk stand (or 102) combination is equivalent to the 317-type wall set. You may have the 3 wires transposed where the phone is connected inside the 315A. I'll try to locate a diagram.

Edit: Here is a 315A diagram, showing connections for a desk stand. However, they are showing R, GN and Y terminals rather than PS, L2 and P. Your phone would be equivalent to a desk stand: Green wire is for the receiver, yellow for the transmitter, and red for the common transmitter/receiver. Notice in the diagram that the (Y) terminal for the yellow conductor from the phone is connected to B (by the factory yellow wire from one side of the bell box to the other).

My guess is that your 315A has the same order shown for connecting the phone to the box: red on top left terminal, green in the middle, and yellow on bottom.

http://www.telephonecollectors.info/index.php/document-repository/doc_details/4537-we-315a-subset-desk-stand-connections-i3

[unbeldi]

Here is a circuit diagram that should work for many of the 315/317 type sets, and explains the workings better than the connection diagrams.

[unbeldi]

My problem is wiring.  I've wired the desk phone to the ringer box via the three terminals on the left side which are labeled PS, L2, and P.  I've connected the red, green, and yellow wires to these terminals in that order.  I then connected L1 and L2 from the ringer box to the wall phone.  Both ends ring fine and I can talk from wall to desk but not the other way around.

Would you please double check the markings of the terminals that you say are on the left-hand side?
I have never seen a 315 subset in which they were labeled differently than  R, GN, and Y from the top down.
Below is a picture of a 315H with the terminal highlighted.

PS: I am correcting myself, because in fact I have seen one of these before, see diagram in later posts.

[Bob-Isaacs]

Thanks for your replies.  I guess the second battery is going to be the key--I'll run out and get another battery holder.

Here are some photos of my 315A ringer box.  I don't know what's with the PS/L2/P designations, but there were some stubs of wire on them which were red/grn/yel from the top down and that's the way I have wired my desk phone.

[unbeldi]

Ok. Interesting, you got a really old one.
Thanks for posting the diagram and the picture. 

So, you wired it correctly based on the wire stubs:

PS = R   (red)
L2 = GN (green)
P   = Y   (yellow)

The diagram is identical to what I posted, with the exception of the terminal designations. Here are your labels in red:

[unbeldi]

Since your subset is such a nice and old example, would you mind showing us pictures of the outside in whole, also a complete picture of the inside of the door?  I think there are some stampings into the wood below the diagram. Thanks.

PS: Withdrawing my asking, I have actually seen your type of subset before, and I have pictures with the same markings and I should have recognized your markings right away.  Can't remember everything, I guess.  (anymore).

The markings into the wood below the label are "TYPE 315A".

Here is an entry from a ca. 1907 or 1908 catalog for your desk set box
1315-A

[unbeldi]

Here is a ca. 1907 version of the label glued inside the door.

[dsk]

Hi and welcome.
You are close to getting it OK!


Sitting here in Europe its easy to fail in details on American telephones, but all ours are based on the American ones .  I did put in something in your picture to clarify how it should be working.  The exact location of the hook switch are not important, but it should be one for the receiver, and one for the transmitter. They should be connected to one common terminal, and one individual.  The battery voltage should usually be kept as low as 3-4.5 V to ensure a long life of the carbon in the transmitter.  The polarity does not matter, and ring and tip or L1  and L2 may be reversal too.

dsk

[AE_Collector]

According to DavePEI, most old cell phone chargers put out around 5 vdc of excellent filtered talk battery making them an ideal substitute for batteries in this situation. Just in case that helps....

Terry

[Bob-Isaacs]

You guys are great!  Thanks to you I'm up and running; the grandkids are gonna love it.