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Can't get Faceplate back on 2500DM

Started by Janeiac, July 01, 2015, 10:31:46 PM

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Janeiac

I bought a nice, clean 2500 on EBay, and while it works fine and everything is ok, the front panel surrounding the number key pad seems to have popped off during transit and I cannot get it back on. I see the little tabs and I tried holding back the springy top one with a small, flat screwdriver while I pressed it in but all I succeeded in doing was chewing up the edge of the plastic, (BOOO!) and it still would not pop in. What do I do?

Payphone installer

Use a paper clip note the small round have moon in the metal this is for a dial tool. The dial tool is the same size as a stretched out paper clip. Take the housing off the phone install the plate on the front of the set housing turn the housing upside down and drop the base in. Dropping the base into a upside down housing is the best way to get it to line up with the buttons. A olds installer trick. Jim

WEBellSystemChristian

One thing that I do is open the housing up so the inside of the housing is exposed. Then, I push the metal  tab arm inward so the tab is no longer sticking out. Then, while holding the arm in, I put the faceplate on. Then simply release the arm, and it should slide into place!
Christian Petterson

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

NorthernElectric

#3
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on July 03, 2015, 12:52:10 PM
One thing that I do is open the housing up so the inside of the housing is exposed. Then, I push the metal  tab arm inward so the tab is no longer sticking out. Then, while holding the arm in, I put the faceplate on. Then simply release the arm, and it should slide into place!

To expand on Christian's method and because we all like to look at photos, here's a pictorial:

1.  Holding the phone upside down, loosen the 2 captive screws until they are free from the threads and slide up and down freely.  Don't try to take them right out; they are 'captive'.  Put your hand on the base and flip the phone over and lift the housing off.

2.  Observe from the inside the dial faceplate retaining clip.  You don't need to take this off...

3.  ...just squeeze it towards the back of the phone.

4.  Hook the tab at the bottom of the faceplate into the opening...

5.  ...and tilt it backwards into the opening (while squeezing the clip back) until it's in.

Then let the clip spring back and you're done.
Cliff

G-Man

Quote from: Janeiac on August 19, 2015, 07:45:58 AM
I pried it off to put my phone number in, and now I can't put it back. I tried holding Bach the tab with a hairpin, but that did not do it. How does it go?

Sometimes it's easier press the metal retaining tab from inside of the housing.

Normally you should not have to take the faceplate off to replace the number tab so in the future, consider instead, using a paperclip placed in the hole provided, to gently pry the clear, protective window from the faceplate in order to replace the paper number tab.

Janeiac

Thank you! You're the best... The phone in your pictures is even the same color as mine! Thanks again!
I had tried to remove just the plastic number cover, but it would not come out.  The front had jostled loose in transit, anyway, so I popped it all the way out.
Now I have a different problem: it doesn't dial out. When I push a button, I hear nothing, and nothing happens. I do have a dial tone, and it rings ok. Did I knock something awry in replacing the case?
One thing that I found interesting, in a nerdy kind of way, is how the embossed letters on the handset are melted/fuzzy; clearly it had been chemically treated as part of refurbishing. It's a little piece of phone company historical trivia.

Janeiac

I'm going to start a new thread on the dialing problem.

G-Man

Just a guess since details are lacking, but check to make sure all of the buttons are restored and not hanging up. Also, you may need to reverse the red and green wires of the modular jack/linecord to restore polarity if you somehow switched them.

G-Man

Quote from: G-Man on August 20, 2015, 11:55:28 PM
Just a guess since details are lacking, but check to make sure all of the buttons are restored and not hanging up. Also, you may need to reverse the red and green wires of the modular jack/linecord to restore polarity if you somehow switched them.

A closer look at one of your photos show the red and green wire have already been reversed. Was that done recently or during your recent work on your set?

Janeiac

I did not touch them. Should I swap them?

Janeiac

I swapped them, and the phone works fine. Thanks! :)

G-Man

Quote from: Janeiac on August 21, 2015, 12:30:01 AM
I did not touch them. Should I swap them?

Did it work prior to your working on it? If so, did you plug it into another jack and it stopped working? If that's the case try swapping the red and green to their proper positions.

Janeiac

Quote from: G-Man on August 21, 2015, 01:47:54 AM
Quote from: Janeiac on August 21, 2015, 12:30:01 AM
I did not touch them. Should I swap them?

Did it work prior to your working on it? If so, did you plug it into another jack and it stopped working? If that's the case try swapping the red and green to their proper positions.
I don't know, but trying different jacks made no difference. I didn't really "work" on it, only dusted and put in my phone number in the holder. I did not move wires; your sharp eyes pointed out they had previously been swapped, so I swapped them back and now it works fine. Thanks! :)

poplar1

Both of these phones are conversions from 500s. Notice the "500" stamp on the NE set, and the plastic washers added as spacers in janeiac's WE phone. Unfortunately, the washers don't keep the Touch-Tone pad from rotating if its mounting screws loosen.

(WE's original solution with early 500s was to have three brackets for holding the dial; this was reduced to two once they added holes in the two remaining brackets that aligned with bumps on the dial). All subsequent rotary dials, and all Touch-Tone dials, had the two bumps. WE repair shop used plastic spacers -- one violet and one white -- when converting 500s to 1500s or to 2500s, but these also had the bumps to keep them from rotating. Later on, the WE service centers  just put an offset in the dial brackets, so that they would line up with the mounting screws on the Touch-Tone dial.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.