Northern Electric Model 1 stays "hot"

[tnorm]

I just obtained a Northern Electric of Canada model 1 phone.  I obtained an adapter to convert from the 4 prong to a standard wall jack.  After I plugged the phone in, I noticed that is stays "hot".  By that I mean it acts like the phone is off the hook even when the phone receiver is on the hook.  If I lift the receiver and push down on the plunger, I get no sound as if the phone is on the hook.  Yet when I lift my finger off the plunger, I get the beeping noise and message of "if you want to make a call.....", therefore telling me even though it sounds "hung up" it really isn't.  Only unplugging the wall cord will stop this.  I opened the unit up and all the wires are connected and I don't notice any wires shorting.  Does anyone have a suggestion?

thanks

[LarryInMichigan]

tnorm,

The problem could be any of several things.  The phone may be wired incorrectly.  You can look at: http://www.telephonecollectors.info/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=1991&Itemid=11 for a wiring diagram.  There may be two connectors too close to each other somewhere.  The hook switch contacts may be touching when they should not.  There may be a partial short in the line cord.  Also, the ringer capacitor might be shorted.  I would suggest first verifying that the wiring is correct, then disconnecting one of the ringer leads.  If that does not help, you can try disconnecting other things, one at a time.

Larry

[tnorm]

Larry

Thanks a lot for the info.  I downloaded the schematic and spent several hours working on the phone.  A lot of that time was trying to figure out the schematic since this is all new to me.  I got two out of the three problems solved.  I got the phone where it is not "hot" all the time and I have the ringer working.  To provide anyone else with some feedback on what I did I will briefly describe it.  Understand that I am not well versed in the phone lingo and I will use quotes on the words I may be making up.

First I did some re-wiring as per the schematic.  On the "Induction coil" (?)  The green line wire was attached to the "C" connection and I moved it to the "LY 2" connection.  The yellow line wire was on the "LY2" connection and that was moved down to the "ringer board" (?).  This allowed the phone to not be "hot" anymore but work normally. 

Next I had to go the the plug, or what I think the schematic calls the "connecting block" and remove the yellow line wire from the "Y" port and move it to the "R" port, thus putting the red and yellow line wires together.  This allowed the ringer to start working.  Also on the "ringer board" I had to swap the black and red wires as per the schematic.  Now the yellow line wire and the red ringer wire are together on the "GND" port.

Now my only problem is the phone will still not dial out, but maintains a dial tone when attempting to dial.  Best I can tell through this maze of wires, the wiring is ok now.  Any solutions from anyone?

[tnorm]

I finally got the phone to dial out.  After double checking all the wiring, I printed a photo of the same dial assembly (the Northern Electric British Post Office Dial) from the Old Phone Works website.  After comparing the photo of a good dial assembly, I noticed that my assembly didn't match the picture.  In the center of the assembly is a "wheel" that rotates and moves the contacts.  On this "wheel" is one longer thin metal piece.  On my phone, the longer piece was at the 10 o'clock position next to a small metal piece that stops the wheel.  In the photo, it should have been at the 1 o'clock position.  When I made this adjustment, the phone worked fine.