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Troubleshooting a Automatic Electric Monophone A1 handset etc...

Started by duncanf, October 07, 2009, 07:11:10 PM

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duncanf

Hi guys, I am new to the American phone scene, I have been fixing British phones for the past few years and got an occasional WE302 - And I find i like the American setup better - they generally have a lot less faults.

I have got a few WE202 that I have fixed, i now have a Automatic Electric that I am repairing, as I have never had one before and parts are scant in New Zealand..... I find myself in a position.

The phone rings, I can dial out. I can hear the other party - get dial tone etc.... but I get no volume in the mouth piece - and the other party can't hear me. I have wired the phone up as per the schematics, isolation done is to replace the handset cord - I don't have a spare handset - I did have problems when I first tried to remove the spitcup mouthpiece (I had to use a strap wrench) Also someone recommended immersing the handset in boiling water and retrying. That done I fear boiling water was a bad mistake...

Any idea's on how to test/troubleshoot further to find out if I can get this working? Help Appreciated. Duncan

McHeath

Welcome Duncan, I think you are the first from New Zealand to find our Phonelania.  (There was a fellow from Australia for a time that was active)

I'm afraid I don't know much about your troubles, but I'm sure someone here will.  Immersion in boiling water to unstick a handset cap is a new one to me, I've heard of hair dryers and such being used.


HobieSport

Welcome Duncan, from north of the equator in California.

I would think that putting anything it boiling water would be a rather drastic last resort.

I don't have any wise advice to give from experience, but in theory, if your mouthpiece on your WE 202 wasn't working, I would first just try simply tapping it on the table to loosen the impacted carbon granules.

I'm going to sound obviously stupid if 202 mouth pieces are not run on carbon granules, but that is a risk that I am willing to take.

Is it true that New Zealand is covered with sheep and vineyards?

I'm just kidding. Welcome! You are our first member from New Zealand.
-Matt

bwanna

welcome duncan,

what did you boil? the whole handset?, individual pieces? if you immersed the handset whole, you need to take it apart & dry it out

we have some very knowledgeable folks here. someone will be along soon with more advice than i can offer.
donna

mienaichizu


duncanf

I immersed the mouth piece of the handset - in order to loosen the 90 years of dirt holding the cone on the handset.... then used a strap wrench to loosen the cone off.

I suspect the granules may be wet inside the membrane... I see two holes on either side of brass lid on the actual microphone - so I suspect if I get the correct tool - turn the thing counterclockwise, I may be able to dry out/replace the granules -

Any thoughts? Is this the correct procedure?

duncanf

ok... Update - I tried a WE302 handset.... same result.. no speech, so it looks to be not a handset issue but maybe a termination? If I hold either handset up to my mouth and talk loud the person at the other end can hear me.. but only just... anyone had an issue like this before with an old monophone??

LarryInMichigan

I had a similar issue with my AE40.  I found that disconnecting the capacitor (condenser) which is connected to the transmitter resulted in much higher volume from the transmitter, too much, in fact.  I ended up swapping the 4 MF transmitter capacitor for the .2 MF ringer capacitor and obtained much better transmitter volume.  My phone's ringer didn't work anyway.  I also had a problem with the connectors on a couple of the screw terminals coming too close to each other, resulting in a partial short.  I don't know how similar your phone's innards are to the AE40, so my experiences may or may not be relevant in your case.

You might also want to check to make sure that the contacts in your hook switch and dial are in the correct positions.  Contacts which are open when they should be closed or closed when they should be open might also result in the problem you are experiencing.  Spraying some electrical contact cleaner onto the contacts might be helpful.

Regarding stuck handset caps.  I have always found that gently tapping around the outer perimeter of a stuck cap, using a rubber mallet or something similar, breaks up and dislodges the hardened dirt in the threads and allows the cap the be unscrewed.  I would be very apprehensive about immersing any handset containing electrical parts, and I would be afraid that using any sort or wrench might result in breakage.

I hope that this helps.


duncanf

Yeah, made no difference, I'll try a 302 subset and see if that works - if it does I'll try a new condenser, or induction coil......

Phonesrfun

A 302 subset? or are you talking about the whole 302, which is a complete phone, or a subset that was made from a 302?

Maybe some pictures would be in order....

-Bill
-Bill G

duncanf

I actually have a working WE202 - I'll use the bell box from that to prove the induction coil, and condenser from the AE A1, in my mind it will be faster to try that, than re-soldering parts to prove where the fault is....

duncanf

Ok..... fault fixed - the transmitter was faulty, I did not have a spare AE A1 handset transmitter lying around - but i did have a spare AE40 handset (good for parts) I tested with this handset - the phone worked fine. I had to modify the the transmitter holder a little (bending) to get it into the A1 handset mould, and sit nicely, but now I have a working Automatic Electric - complete and working.

I don't like the fact that I had to butcher parts from another phone..... to me it does not feel like the phone is completely true and original.... I will change this back once I get a spare A1 handset........