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WE 302 59A Dial Gaskets, their purpose/function to reduce mechanical dial noise

Started by cloyd, January 20, 2016, 02:04:41 PM

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cloyd

Just wondering, are these gaskets available as reproductions?  I understand wanting the real deal but I think I could settle for a modern version.

Also, why are there two types but they are still 59A's?

Tina Loyd
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Van Gogh -- 1885

unbeldi

Quote from: cloyd on January 20, 2016, 02:04:41 PM
Just wondering, are these gaskets available as reproductions?  I understand wanting the real deal but I think I could settle for a modern version.

Also, why are there two types but they are still 59A's?

Tina Loyd

The 59A dial adapter was changed in ca. 1952 or 1953 with the introduction of the No. 6 dial.  As you can see, the first design is cut to accommodate the round shape of the governor on No. 5 dials. The No. 6 dial has a different shape at the top leaving much less room for rubber, and so they decided to simply cut the top half off, as there is no mounting screw in that area anyways.

The reproductions that do exist, aren't true to the original design, missing the grommets for the mounting holes as just explained this or last week in another thread.

AE_Collector

And finally....not being a WE person.....what is the purpose of having these gaskets in place?

Dials / phone housings werent designed quite right so a spacer is needed?

Keep spilled Rum & Cokes out of the works? If so, later modified version only does half the job.

Rubber isolation from phone housing to calm vibrations (like ringers)?

Terry

WEBellSystemChristian

Quote from: AE_Collector on January 20, 2016, 04:01:02 PM
And finally....not being a WE person.....what is the purpose of having these gaskets in place?

Dials / phone housings werent designed quite right so a spacer is needed?

Keep spilled Rum & Cokes out of the works? If so, later modified version only does half the job.

Rubber isolation from phone housing to calm vibrations (like ringers)?

Terry
Well, these gaskets wouldn't be in such high demand these days if they were used specially for their original purpose (dial sound control and vibrations), but the rubber grommets molded into them are just about the only things that hold the brass inserts in place, which in turn hold the dial screws in place.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Doug Rose

Little washers at Lowes do the trick. I would say 9 out of 10 gaskets I come across are well beyond being used. Some melted right to the dial.

Terry....No gaskets are need in 202s....Doug
Kidphone

unbeldi

I am sure that the purpose of the adapters was to control dial noise. This was a constant struggle until the end of the Bell System by which time even gears in dials were replaced by plastic parts that were more durable and performed more silently than the old all metal dials.

The effect of dial noise can be observed perhaps most impressively in the candlesticks where the mechanical contact of the dial with the base and the shaft to the transmitter is a perfect conductor for sound, one can hear every little gear rattling and any finger nail tapping or scratching on the metal parts which is amplified in the transmitter and transmitted to the receiver.

In the D mount (most 202 telephones) the dial only rests on three elevations around the dial mounting holes, but the dial still makes metal-to-metal contact with the housing which amplifies the clicking. The number 5 dial was somewhat quieter already than the No. 4 dial, but the designers added to the 302 housing these rubber adapters with grommets filling the mounting holes.  To provide better, more rigid support for the dial mounting screws they inserted those brass rivets with which the screws could be fastened tightly, in a way that the dial or the mounting screws made no direct contact with the metal housing at all.  Mounting a dial directly in a 302 housing, metal or plastic, is noticeably louder.

The No. 6 dial was again quieter than its predecessor, but initially all gears were still metal and therefore subject to wear which slowly raised the noise level over time.  Some No. 6 dials later had plastic gears, IIRC, and the other later dials (for 500-series sets and others) were again much quieter.