AE183 wiring

[cloyd]

Hello Everyone!
I received an AE183 space-maker (1963) and I wanted to see if it works.  I always learn so much when I begin to attempt something that should be simple.
I could have sworn that there was a lengthy discussion about an AE183 entitled "I'll never open another" or something like that but I can't find it or interior photos of a 183.  Anybody know what I am referring to?
I found the schematics that Dennis Markham posted a while back.  I am going to guess that my phone is self-modulating because I don't see anything like a rheostat inside.  Without a line cord attached, I had to study the schematics to figure out where to connect it.  I don't have a ringer for it.  I imagine that with a ringer, the line cord goes to the ringer first and then the phone.  Does the ringer line connect to the tip and ring the same way as without a ringer?
I have posted pictures of the phone as received.  It looks like the green conductor should go from the hookswitch to #5 instead of where it is on #4.  Is that correct?  I tried moving it but still no luck.
The dashed red and brown conductors in the schematic are not in my phone.  For future reference, might someone explain when they should be used?
I haven't started to clean the phone or the dial yet and it needs it!  The dial grabs as it turns.  I'll start with contact cleaner and spot oiling.
First, I would like to get it to give me a dial tone!  When I connect it, there is no sound at all.
If someone would please study my photos and answer my questions about the line cord connection and the hookswitch green conductor, I would be grateful!
Thank you,
Tina Loyd

[cloyd]

Hi all,
I finally had success locating the wiring information for my AE 183 spacemaker!  I used the search feature and couldn't find anything.  >:    I happened across this discussion and thought I would include it here as a cross-reference.
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1537.15  Briny Bay, Stub and Phonesrfun, thanks for the information!
Tina

[HarrySmith]

Great job, congrats on getting it working.
If Terry (AEcollector) was not on a cruise, again, he probably could have advised you right away.

[jsowers]

Tina, the one AE SpaceMaker I saw installed, original to the 1950s in the house I lived in for a year while in college, was installed with station wire to the ringer and the phone, which sat side by side. The wire was stapled to the wall in the kitchen right above the backsplash and went behind the cabinets. They didn't use a mounting cord on wall phones, most of the time, since the phones and in this case the ringer, were screwed to the wall. I don't know if they connected the ringer first and then the phone to the ringer, but they both seem to hook to the line with L1 and L2.

I do have one WE 554 with a matching mounting cord, and another one in the original box that came with an unused cord in a paper bag, but normally wall phones were hard-wired in those days.

Southern Bell replaced that ivory SpaceMaker with a wall model ivory Trimline while I was living there. My landlady didn't like the wimpy ring of the Trimline compared to the big old AE. It was loud enough to only need one ringer in the house. Hope you can find a ringer. They're not easy to find in colors.

[cloyd]

Thanks Harry but I didn't get it to work yet I only had success locating the discussions on CRPF!  I took another stab at it last night and it still didn't get a dial tone.  I am planning on testing the wires for continuity next.  Any other suggestions?

Jsowers, when you say that it was "hardwired" do you mean that the wires for both the phone and the ringer were in the wall and not visible anywhere?

Thank you both!  I hope Terry has a great cruise.

Tina

[cloyd]

I am looking for a ringer for my green phone but it sounds like it was more common for people to get a beige ringer regardless of the color of their phone.  This is a yellow ringer but is there any way to tell if it is a straight line ringer?  http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUTOMATIC-ELECTRIC-CO-AEC-TELEPHONE-AUXILIARY-RINGER-FOR-PHONE-YELLOW/282635994205?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

Would this one work?  I found the model numbers for the different ringers but this number doesn't appear.  It is 20 hertz though. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-AUTOMATIC-ELECTRIC-Ringer-Bell-Box-D56348-A20-D58695-A-Untested/152687444265?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

Please let me know.

Thank you,

Tina

[poplar1]

They are both harmonic ringers, not straight line. However, if they are both 20~, then either would probably work on most lines. (What kind of line do you have?)

[Ktownphoneco]

According to an A.E. Telephone catalog from 1957, the ringer in the 2nd eBay listing ( D-56548-A20 ), is a high impedance 20Hz. ringer.     

Jeff Lamb

[cloyd]

They are both harmonic ringers, not straight line. However, if they are both 20~, then either would probably work on most lines. (What kind of line do you have?)

I have a Panasonic 616 switching box for my old phones.
Tina

[jsowers]

Jsowers, when you say that it was "hardwired" do you mean that the wires for both the phone and the ringer were in the wall and not visible anywhere?

The wire in this installation was run on the surface of the wall and on top of the small backsplash, which was right above the kitchen counter. The counter curved upward and stopped, making a small ledge and the wire ran across that. This phone sat on the wall between the upper and lower kitchen cabinets and it's funny to think it was called a SpaceMaker, but it used up more wall space with that added ringer than an AE90 wall phone would have.

It could also easily be used with a pre-wired house if the box in the wall were in the right place. The SpaceMaker could probably be mounted over the box if it's wide enough. The back of the phone seems to be about the same width as a standard outlet box, but I don't have one to measure. The wire to the ringer could be run with station wire from the phone. Phone men routinely stapled station wire to walls to make short runs when there was no way to fish the wire behind a wall.

With the phone and ringer being independent of each other, in that a SpaceMaker doesn't use a subset since it has a network inside, the ringer could also be located somewhere out of the way like a baseboard. But this was a small galley kitchen and there was almost no wall space because of all the cabinets. The house was textbook mid-century modern with cathedral windows on either side of the living room and a fireplace that opened onto both the living and dining rooms. That SpaceMaker phone fit the design of the house perfectly. And it was centrally located so that ringer served the entire house.

About the ringer not matching, you could easily paint one of a different color by taking the handset of the phone you have to get it color matched at a hardware store. Or you could do as I said above and mount the yellow ringer in a different place in the room and then the color difference wouldn't matter as much.

[cloyd]

Even though I haven't gotten a dial tone from my phone, I decided to clean it just to make some progress.

The network housing was gooey and I am wondering if the phone got overheated while in storage and forced the insulation goo out of the network.  Is there a way that I can test the network to determine if it is still functional?

Thank you,
Tina

[AE_Collector]

Those networks usually have a bit of goo that has leaked out. Not likely a problem.

Terry

[cloyd]

Those networks usually have a bit of goo that has leaked out. Not likely a problem.

Terry

Is it unlikely that the network is at fault?  Any way to test it?

Tina

[stub]

Tina,
        Here you go - wire up handset and line in cord like the diagram and place one (red ) jumper on the network 15 to 1, then place another jumper (yellow ) from network 16 to 2 . If network is good you should have dial tone assuming the transmitter , receiver and handset cord are good. Mine in picture works fine. We are bypassing the dial and hookswitch. Hope this helps, stub
                                                              ( left click on pic to enlarge )

[cloyd]

Tina,
        Here you go - wire up handset and line in cord like the diagram and place one (red ) jumper on the network 15 to 1, then place another jumper (yellow ) from network 16 to 2 . If network is good you should have dial tone assuming the transmitter , receiver and handset cord are good. Mine in picture works fine. We are bypassing the dial and hookswitch. Hope this helps, stub
                                                              ( left click on pic to enlarge )

Thank you Stub, This is exactly what I needed!  I will try it as soon as I get home!  Keep your fingers crossed.
Tina