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Single-gong WE 500 Not Ringing

Started by F. J., July 27, 2018, 01:36:32 PM

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F. J.

This is my first post on your quite informative forum and I hope that you can help me. 

Because I have an interest in all things old, I have acquired a few old telephones, viz., two WE 500's and a WE 302.  Two of my phones have always worked flawlessly (aside from having to reärrange the wiring in the '53 500 that had formerly been wired for party line service), but one of them flat-out refuses to ring. 

The silent phone is a 1966 WE 500D fitted with a single-gong ringer and a buzzer bracket.  (According to this thread, this is an H1-type ringer.)

I have tried a several different wiring arrangements and bias spring settings, all to no avail.

Do any of you gentlemen (or ladies, as the case may be) know what the problem is?

poplar1

"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

F. J.

The ringer has four wires going to it, if that's what you're asking.

poplar1

Black to L1 (with green line cord)
Red to L2 (with red line cord)
Slate (gray)to K
Slate-red (gray with red spots) to A

Same as a C4A ringer in a 500D set.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

F. J.

#4
Quote from: poplar1 on July 27, 2018, 02:49:04 PM
Black to L1 (with green line cord)
Red to L2 (with red line cord)
Slate (gray)to K
Slate-red (gray with red spots) to A

Same as a C4A ringer in a 500D set.

Alright, I just tried that and it didn’t work.

What else is could be keeping it from ringing?


Also, thanks for the replies so far!

jsowers

How about posting a picture of the top of your network? Low res pics work best. Other wires could be on the wrong screws. Have you checked this single-gong set against the working 500 set you have? You could also swap ringers and see what works and what doesn't. Those single-gong ringers are not quite as robust as the C4A.
Jonathan

F. J.

Quote from: jsowers on July 27, 2018, 06:42:09 PM
How about posting a picture of the top of your network? Low res pics work best. Other wires could be on the wrong screws. Have you checked this single-gong set against the working 500 set you have? You could also swap ringers and see what works and what doesn't. Those single-gong ringers are not quite as robust as the C4A.

Switching ringers is a brilliant idea!  Why didn't I think of it? 

I wired the ringer to another 500, and would you believe it works?  However, the ringer from the other set wouldn't ring in this one.  So at least now I know the problem isn't a bad ringer.  I've attached an image of the wiring.

Key2871

Sounds like a bad capacitor in the network.
KEN

jsowers

Thanks for swapping the parts and posting the pics. It does look properly wired as far as I can tell. You may be able to get the ringer to ring if you can find a .45 or .5 microfarad capacitor and hook it to the ringer wires from K and A terminals (disconnect those wires from the terminals). They're the slate and red/slate wires on the far right side. I'm not certain of the voltage rating of the cap--maybe 300 V or so? I will also admit I've never tried that, so it may not work. Others may have a better solution. If so, please chime in.

The diagram in the post below well illustrates what's inside the network that hooks to the ringer and where it hooks to. Good luck!

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=15870.0
Jonathan

Key2871

KEN

F. J.

I would like to thank you for all your replies, especially TelePlay, with whom I have been communicating via private message.  I tried several things he suggested, but it still isn't clear what's wrong with it, so I have decided to just leave it as is for now, silent and all.  Even though I would prefer it to ring, it isn't absolutely necessary as I have two other 'phones on the line that are quite loud enough.  Perhaps I'll come back to it another time.

F. J.

Key2871, jsowers, and Teleplay were right—it was the capacitor.  I connected a .47μF capacitor across A and K and the 'phone rings now.

I want to thank all of you for your advice!  I must say again that this is a quite informative forum.

Key2871

Congrats, glad you got it working.
KEN