Completely New To Hobby... Feeling Completely Helpless with my Leich 901B

[Joel B]

I looked throughout the community for where to post this and this seemed the most logical.  I apologize if I was wrong or this has been covered before, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

I recently joined the group because I "inherited" a Leich 901B from my sister during a household move.  I thought it was cool... much too cool to send to a Thrift shop like one of her friends suggested... so I asked her if I could have it.  It looked pretty dirty, dingy, and roughed up when I got it so my first mission was to find out how to clean it up.

That's how I found this group.  My the powers of Google, I found a thread of a discussion on cleaning up bakelite phones (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=4758.0) and started reading. I was amazed at the depth of info and suggestions you all had, as well as the passion for making your phones look beautiful again.  So armed with my newfound knowledge, I used the tips given (ultrafine steel wool, plenty of elbow grease, and a dab of mineral oil) to make my phone shine again!  You can see the picture attached. 

I had planned to use the phone as a conversation piece at my office (I'm a self-employed consultant in a shared office space), as we reside in an old brick building from the 1850's, so although it's 100 years younger, it fits very nicely.  I still do, but after reading many of your posts I wonder if it ever makes sense to collect a few more and outfit the building with a party line (intercom). The bug may have bitten...

But therein lies the problem... I have no experience or skill with wiring, electrical diagrams, etc.  I'm not an idiot (I do plenty of work with power tools, construction, and other "handy" activities), but electrical has never been one of them.  So... how can I get a layperson's education on the topic so I can get started?  I'd love your thoughts.

My goals for this from easiest to hardest would be:
1) Be able to crank the magneto on the phone and get it to ring on my end (to show the young kids when they visit) like in this post (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=11513.msg122803#msg122803).
2) Replace the missing cord from receiver to phone.
3) Replace the missing cord from phone to outlet.
4) Connect an additional phone to mine for 2 way communication in our building.

Any help, assistance, coaching, or encouragement you can provide is greatly appreciated.  As I said, I'm pretty excited about getting started.  Thanks in advance for your replies.

[.....]

Welcome to CRPF, you have come to the right place. I can't help you with that phone, but there are some really good people here that know their stuff. I'm sure they will ring in soon. Forgive the pun I couldn't resist.

[Victor Laszlo]

A phone with a crank is called a "Local Battery" or LB telephone. The crank operates an A-C generator (also called a magneto) inside the set. The phone is not directly compatible with the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN...a term you will see here a lot) or with circuits designed to use the "other" type of telephone, the ones that came later, called Common Battery sets, but is compatible with other LB sets.  There are some very rare cases of a hybrid telephone that uses both common battery and a local battery but for this initiation into telephony, you needn't worry about that situation.

The Local in Local battery means that every subscriber's telephone had wet cells (later dry cells) to provide talk battery. The signalling was done by turning the crank and sending ringing current down the line.

Modern phones derive their talk battery from the central office (CO) and the circuitry in the CO sends "generator" to ring the bells.

To make your phone work as a demo, you would need at the minimum another LB telephone. Old fashioned wooden phones are LB phones. They are actually more prevalent in the marketplace than are bakelite LB desk sets such as yours.

[Payphone installer]

This link will help you.

http://www.valhallatreefarm.com/magneto%20phone/phonemagneto.htm

[dsk]

Welcome, this is a fine way to start. You do not need more skills than what you will need to make an extension cord  for putting in the line cord, and the handset cord. Slightly more when you want to connect it to another phone. 
Between the phones you will need one single pair of wires, it will be possible to "lend e.g. brown / brown/white in your data-network, or an usused pair in your phone cables.
Each telephone will need batteries. e.g 2 AA batteries, they will last for years.

dsk

[Joel B]

Wow!  Thanks for all the responses so far.  It's great to be part of such an active group.

Is there a resource you would suggest for learning to read the electrical schematics?  I feel like that will be a big need for me as I start.  Anyone out there write a "Telephone Electrical Schematics for Dummies"? 

Thanks in advance for your help!

Joel

[Victor Laszlo]

The Bell System "created" (they were very clear that they did not "publish") a set of books called the Bell System Practices, commonly referred to as BSP's. These were used in the field and covered every (and I mean every) aspect of operations of the Bell System. To read all of them will require more time that you have on this planet, but you need to try.

Behind those books was the library of BSTJ. Bell System Technical Journals. These were not for general consumption, being the next higher intellectual step above the BSP's.  There is also a library of books called the Bell Labs Record.

I suggest that you do a Google search, and a search within the TCI library, starting with the BSP's for standard single-line telephones made by Western Electric. If you visit www.Paul-F.com you will see photos of all the phones along with a BSP reference.

LB phones send and receive voice signals the same way that CB phones do. The difference is in the way the talk and ringing supplies are created and distributed.  Restoring the phones cosmetically and replacing cords is the easy part.  Understanding the theory of operation of general telephony is a more difficult task.

If you can install a light switch in a house, or speakers in a car, you have the basic understanding of electricity to play with simple phones. If you can't grasp Ohm's Law, relays, or the differences in AC and DC, then your quest will be a bit more difficult.

[andy1702]

Welcome to the forum Joel,

One thing that nobody seems to have mentioned yet is the fact that Local battery phones like yours can only be connected to one circuit. Obviously there's no dial, so you can't select another phone to ring. You can ring one other phone by winding the magneto handle, but there is no way to 'dial', so you can call one phone (or maybe a small group of phones all connected together).

If you want to connect up all the offices in your building and be able to select who you make a call to, then you'll need the otehr sort of phone, which is more like what modern telephones have developed from. Then you'll have either a dial (or keypad) and you'll be able to connect all the phones in your building to a small box called a PBX, which is in effect a small telephone exchange which routes your calls to the correct place and doesn't ring all the other phones at the same time. So depending on what you want to do, it might be best to get some other vintage phones without handles and invest in a second hand PBX. You can get an old Panassonic 616 PBX quite cheaply on E-Bay which will sense the pulses coming from old 'pulse dialling' phones as well as tone singanls coming from more modern phones. Your local battery phone wouldn't work with this system though.

In short, local battery phones work great as a point-to-point intercom, but they're not so good if you want to wire up a whole building with a phone in every office because you can't select which of the other phones ring. Unless someone with more knowledge than me knows a way around that.

Andy.

[Joel B]

Andy- Thanks for clarifying.  My goal would be to connect to one other phone in "the front of the house" as an intercom.  We would not need phones in all offices, just a way to communicate to different ends of the building... more for fun than functionality.

[Joel B]

Victor- A lot to chew one here, but thanks for the resource links.  I guess I'm still confused on how to determine which BSP to consult. I know my phone is considered a "desk phone", but that seems to provide no help in the BSP number system.  The closest WE phone seems to be the WE B-type Manual.  Would I just reference the BSP for that phone, even though it (obviously) isn't a Leich 901B?

Did I mention that I'm feeling helpless with this? 

[andy1702]

Does the phone have any remnants of cords sticking out? If it does, particularly on the handset, then that will make reconnecting the handset to the phone a lot easier.

If you ca take the top off the phone you might get some help on the inside. Some phones have their own wiring diagram pasted on the inside of the case.

There will be 3 or 4 terminals in the phone that connect to the handset and another two terminals which connect to the two wires in the phone line you're going to install. There will also be some way of connecting the phone to the battery, so that's likely to be two more terminals.

Andy.

[dsk]

Wow!  Thanks for all the responses so far.  It's great to be part of such an active group.

Is there a resource you would suggest for learning to read the electrical schematics?  I feel like that will be a big need for me as I start.  Anyone out there write a "Telephone Electrical Schematics for Dummies"? 

Thanks in advance for your help!

Joel

Not to many books, but this one is good: http://tinyurl.com/j3wtpsv
You may follow the book  lesson by lesson here:  http://tinyurl.com/gu2jcow

And of-course we will try to help you wiring up your intercom. We could start with some pictures of your phone opened. I do not have any Leich telephones, but we will figure out how to do this.

You will sooner or later need another phone to use in the other end. This telephone may be called: LB (local battery) Magneto, or crank telephone. All more or less precise names on what you need. 

dsk

[dsk]

Here you have a wiring diagram, and it might be the right for your phone.

You could use any 3 wire cord you find suitable, I will suggest a soft one.  (more than 3 wires will do, just use 3)

As long as you just play with this, it should be a minimal risk of doing anything wrong. 

dsk

[Victor Laszlo]

I suggest reading the BSP's for general information. You will, of course, not find other manufacturer's phones in BSP's. But it's a good place to start for understanding the basics and terminology, which is 99% uniform across the various manufacturers.

You are putting yourself at a slight disadvantage by trying to start your appreciation with LB phones. They are not difficult to install, and get working, assuming you first have a background of knowledge with CB phones.  Think of trying to join the automobile hobby by buying a first car that was built in 1910.  It would not be common or indicative of the general automotive industry. It would be better for you to get a couple of "500" type phones and a small key system such as a Panasonic 616, to get your feet wet.

There are also books that have been written (I'm told) by "civilians" that describe the way phones work, but I am not familiar with the exact titles.  Looking up "how a phone works" or some such search term on Google might help.  In the old days. I often suggested to folks whom I was mentoring out here in western PA to look up "telephone" in as many encyclopedias as possible.  We didn't have the advantage of a big-city library where one could find copies of the BSTJ.  I guess the new way is Google and YouTube. But beware of experts who don't have the background and experience that some of us old Bell Heads have. You can easily be led astray by well-meaning but clueless "experts."  And beware of posters on forums who don't answer your question, but give you answers to questions that you didn't ask. Talk about muddying the waters!

At the very least, to do what you wish to do is going to require that you acquire another LB phone, learn how they interact, and do a lot of learning that will be fun, but ultimately will not satisfy your need to learn all about the industry and how it works "in the real world."   

[Joel B]

Andy- No cords sticking out... I checked that first as I was hoping it would give me some hints.  You were correct though... folded up and stuffed between the condenser and the magneto was an old schematic!  It matches the one DSK provided.

DSK- Is there someplace to get a cord that would look more "period" for this phone?  If not, where is a good place to get the cord (online is ok)?

Also, here are some picture of the inside of the phone.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate the personalized help.  Nothing I'd be more proud of than being able to restore this to its old glory and be able to show you the work you enabled me to do!

I'll check out the books you referenced and see if I can get myself from "clueless" to "Novice" quickly! Thanks for being so patient and kind to the noob!

Thanks Gang!