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Western Electric 302 Dial tone issues- Help!

Started by grahamwgordon, April 14, 2011, 03:45:38 PM

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grahamwgordon

I recently found a 1940 302 with a 6a dial. The phone worked. I cleaned the inside, with minor disassembly, and put it all back together. When I plugged it in, there was no dial tone(I did hear a very, very light humming noise), and every time I tried to dial a number there was a very loud click. I opened it up again, made sure the wiring was correct, put the phone together, and surprise, there was a dial tone. Unfortunately it only lasted a few seconds. As soon as I started dialing a number the loud click happened again, and the dial tone would not return. Any ideas as to what the problem may be? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Best,
     Graham

Dennis Markham

Graham, welcome to the forum.  As is often the case, a picture is worth a thousand words.  Any chance you can post a couple photos showing the back side of the dial?  It sounds like a problem with either wiring or a contact that isn't right. 

To post photos, simply click on "Additional Options" that appears below the Message box when you're posting a message.  You will see a "browse" button allowing you to upload from your file manager.  You may upload as many as six photos per post.

grahamwgordon

Gracias!

Pictures are so helpful

Phonesrfun

Looks to me like the lobe of the dial pulse cam is about 90 degrees off where it should be.  Did you, by any chance, take the dial apart while cleaning?
-Bill G

LarryInMichigan

Bill,

I was just about to say that.  The dial pulse cam can be carefully pulled off with a long nose pliers and replaced in the proper orientation.

Larry

Dennis Markham

Good eye Bill (and Larry).  Graham, I take a flat head screw driver and pry under that plastic lobe, carefully.  There will be a washer under it.  Reposition the lobe so that the center of it points toward the center of the nut on the main gear.  Jorge Amely posted a diagram of that alignment somewhere here.  I'll see if I can find it.  But that repositioning will push the contacts together while the dial is at rest.  That should fix your problem.

Dennis Markham

Posted is a section of the diagram from the TCI Phone Repository showing the proper positioning of the cam lobe.  The entire document can be seen here:

http://tinyurl.com/3l7udog


grahamwgordon

Perfection!!!!

The phone functions beautifully now.

Thanks so much for all the timely help.

All the Best,

     Graham

Phonesrfun

Good!

Hopefully this isn't your last old phone.  You KNOW this is addictive,  Take your example.  You dove right in and cleaned it up, and even though you had to get some additional information, you were able to make it work, which in an accomplishment. 

So, keep coming back.
-Bill G

JorgeAmely

Dennis:

This is the picture I posted a while ago, from the ITT TIMM manual.

Jorge