Ericofon No Dial Tone

[rp2813]

I recently acquired my first Ericofon.   It had a male modular plug on it that didn't always snap into a jack.  I was able to get dialtone when I wiggled the plug, though.

With that test out of the way, I proceeded to remove the bottom assembly to perform a preliminary inspection and cleaning.

After reassembly, I can't get dialtone.  Even after removing the modular plug and making a hard wired connection onto known good/live terminals.  Switch hook contacts are good.  What else is there to check on these things?  They are so different from the WECO phones I'm used to that it all looks foreign to me.  I did a search here but didn't find anything relevant to this issue.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Ralph

[gands-antiques]

Helllo Ralph,

This site and the owner Richard Rose has helped me a lot with Ericofons.

http://www.ericofon.com/

Some Ericofons do not have ringers...they are used as extension phones. There is a chart on his site as to which models ring and which ones don't.


Regards,
Gary

[Matilo Telephones]

What did cleaning entail? How much did you take apart?

Please be carfull with the screws of the baseplate. It you tighten them too much, you will crack it!

Did you check the wires to the receiver?

Did you try dialing out anyway? And what happened? Have you tried receiving a call on it?

And yes, Richard Rose is the best.

[rdelius]

You might  try loostening the 4 baseplate screws and rocking the baseplate while listening and tighten when you get dialtone.Also make sure the contacts to the rec and tx are clean.

[Matilo Telephones]

Oh and pics please. 

[rp2813]

Thanks for the suggestions.  Cleaning wasn't a major operation.  I gave the dial a tiny bit of lube, cleaned tx and rx contacts, and that was it.

I took the phone apart again and tried to wiggle wires while I had it connected.  I jumped the contacts for the receiver, but have a feeling that the circuitry is similar to a 302, and that the transmitter needs to be in place in order to get sound through the receiver, so I was unsuccessful.

I did turn the dial and the butt set I had on "monitor" produced clicking/pulsing noises through its receiver, so it's trying to work.

Next I'm going to try a different mounting cord.  If that doesn't work, I'll have to contact Richard and ask him for some advice.

I'll take some pictures, but it's just a plain Ivory one.  It appears to have a "ringer" though.

[rp2813]

I contacted Richard Rose and he replied quickly.  He advised that the tabs that make contact with the transmitter element can often end up bent after chassis R&R and when I opened up the phone, that did seem to be the case.

Still, after several tries with adjusting the tabs, the problem persisted.  On my final attempt to reassemble the phone, the center tab that makes contact with the transmitter filler cap apparently caught it just right and popped the cap off, spilling carbon granules.

At that point, I was done.  No sense in purchasing a new transmitter due to the outstanding issue.  I'm 100% confident that a new transmitter would not fix the larger problem.  I was also surprised that the transmitter filler cap could be so easily and inadvertently removed.

This was a good learning experience and definitely makes me appreciate even more the standards of indesctructibility that were in place at Western Electric.  I was under the mistaken impression that an Ericofon was a solidly built instrument, and while they're a novelty, I'm not inclined to pursue another one.

[LarryInMichigan]

The back cap of the transmitter should never come off unless someone had previously pried it off.  Assembling an Ericofon so that everything aligns and fits into the proper places can be a frustrating experience.  I am sure that Ericsson could have designed them to be easier to assemble.  What color is yours?

Larry

[rp2813]

Larry, my phone is ivory.  Nothing flashy.  It has some discoloring (yellow) from gripping just above the base over the years but is otherwise in decent shape. 

I thought it was odd that the transmitter cap could be removed accidentally.  You're probably right that it had been messed with in the past.

I added it to a box of miscellaneous phones and parts.  The only Ericofon I'd ever go after again would have to be a known working one that I wouldn't have to open up like your proverbial can of worms.