Impulse "Buy It Now" 302 (Does it have the potential to live again?)

[metdial]

Metdial;

Just fair warning, when you win phones like that at firesale prices as they are so called, you are directly stepping on my toes and into may territory. I thought it was clear here that I had first chioce at the best deals.
You can make it right by accepting, my offer to purchase the phone for your original investment, plus a small token for your troubles, I would then relieive you of the the burden of cleanoing up the phone.

How about it.
D/P

You're absolutely right D/P.
I'm a newbie that forgot his place in the forum hierarchy.
I was instructed to be meek, compliant, and deferential to all who outrank & outclass me (especially you).
I have disgraced & dishonored my class. 
I have committed an egregious breach of etiquette.
I fully deserve the tongue lashing admonishment that I have received at the hands of your keyboard.
I am beaten, scarred, and my spirit is broken. 
My will and inclination to defy you have been banished to oblivion.
I swear that this will never happen again.
In conclusion,
I am yours.
-the phone however, never will be 

[Dan/Panther]

Well if that's the way you feel,  O.K.....

[metdial]

Well if that's the way you feel,  O.K.....

D/P,

All kidding aside, I want to thank you & everyone else for the nice things you've had to say about this phone.  I thought I had made a major newbie mistake by purchasing it in haste.  With all of the great topics related to the 302 on the forum, and with the wealth of knowledge among the members here, I think there's a good chance that this will turn out to be a very nice, functioning telephone.  I hope my attempts at humor have not been too obnoxious.  I wouldn't want to alienate any of the good people here. 

Thanks Again,
Tom

[Dennis Markham]

If you don't mind me putting my 2 cents worth in on this phone--albeit a couple of days late.  The first thing that I saw that I like is the old type clapper on the ringer.  That is one of the early ones.  Later ones are constructed differently.  I have picked up a few of the metal cased 302's.  They ALL have paint loss near the ears, but so do the D1's and B1's we see.  The cases will clean up nicely with some polish and the loss of paint "give them character". 

People are often selling dials on eBay.  I would just be patient and one of these days you're going to see a #4 or #5 dial that is close to the date you need and you can grab it.  There was a guy on the ATCA selling a 4H the other day and had lowered his price to $55 plus shipping.  No one nibbled on his previous offer which I think was $5 more.  He also said he would entertain a best offer.  That's just to give you an idea of the price you'd expect to pay for a #4 dial.

The leather feet can be recovered if torn.  If not a good suede cleaner or even warm water and a tooth brush will soften those feet.  I think you did good with this phone.  The only thing better would be to find one like it at a flea market or something where you don't have to pay shipping.  But if you walked into an antique store and picked up that phone they'd want $75 for it.

Congrats on that phone.

[metdial]

Well, the phone arrived this morning.  Externally it looked pretty good; the usual paint chips & a few scrapes.  The handset is in decent condition, the caps are not pitted(they're stuck though, so I can't get a look at the dates inside).  The dial rotates & returns ok, but will definitely need to be cleaned & lubricated.  The numbers are in good shape except for the # 1 which is quite worn.

Now the bad news: 

I hooked it up to test it and its as dead as a rock, no dial tone.  I was afraid of this because the phone was described as "untested" (this from a seller who seems to sell a lot of phones).  I'm afraid its gonna be something expensive that needs to be replaced or overhauled (way beyond my amateur abilities).  The wiring looks like it is correct, and several forum members confirmed that (at least from the few pictures that they could see).

I should probably post this in the "Trouble Shooting" category as well so that more folks will read this and hopefully shed some light on the problem(s).

[Dennis Markham]

It'll work.  I'll bet it's just a matter of it being wired wrong.  I can't really tell from the wires (photo) of the dial.  Something doesn't look right there.  Sometimes you won't hear a dial tone because the handset cord is bad or not wired right or something there.  Despite hearing no dial tone, did you try calling it to see if it rings??

[Sargeguy]

You may be getting a dial tone but you may not be able to hear it-the receiver may be bad.  Take the phone off the hook, wait 30 seconds then listen on another extension.  If you here a dial tone then that's bad, if you hear the operator message that means the phone is working, or at least the hookswitch is, and the problem is likely in the handset or reciever.  Try dialing your cell phone from the 302 and see if it rings.

[Dan/Panther]

To remove those caps, I purchased one of those rubber jar lid removers from my local 99 cent store. They work absolutely perfect. If it a little stubborn, I applied some two way stick tape to the cap then used the jar lid remover it will, prevent cracking the caps.

[metdial]

Hi Everyone,

This is an update that I posted in the "Trouble Shooting " thread about this same phone.  Thought I should include it here in case anybody missed it.

----------------------------------------------------------------


IT'S ALIVE, IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!

It now has a pulse (I mean dial tone) and it pulses when it's dialed!

The wiring on the dial was indeed the problem.  Dennis' suspicion about the black wires being on the wrong terminal was correct.  They were connected to the Y terminal instead of BK.  I started from there and ended up changing several of the wires.  It was pretty difficult to distinguish red/blue from brown/purple etc., because several of the wires had aged to a somewhat uniform brown color over time.  Used a very bright flashlight to see the subtle differences in color, and eventually got them right.

Thank you Dennis for emailing me the very helpful wiring schematics.  And thanks to everyone who contributed their opinions & suggestions.

The only other issue I have right now has to do with the ringer.  When I received a call, the ringer rang so faintly as to almost not be audible.  I assume this has something to do with the bias spring or maybe the ringer wasn't getting enough voltage to ring properly.  I noticed that there are 3 positions or grooves into which the bias spring can be seated.  The spring is sitting in the right hand position or groove at this time.  Should I move it to the middle or to the left hand groove?

Thanks again everyone for all of the help.   

Tom

[Dan/Panther]

Don't overlook too many phones on one circuit also.
D/p

[McHeath]

I'm thinking we should have a contest to see who has the most beat and worn rotary phone that they can still get to work.  You know, something that looks like the Allies left it on Guadalcanal in 45' or it sank with the Andrea Dorea, or a truck drove over it.  It seems that these phones are simply unkillable.

[Dennis Markham]

I would submit this Kellogg as my entrant into the nastiest phone category.  However I did replace some of the parts but the plastic (including the dial bezel) and handset are the same on the finished product as when I started.  This one did some time under water.  I had to toss out the base but used another Kellogg base and dial to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.  It's from 1954.

http://picasaweb.google.com/vintagerotaryphones/KelloggModelDK500#
( dead link 06-14-21 )

[Steve]

I think we have a winner. YIKES! you brought that back from the dead.

[BDM]

Hats off Dennis. That probably would have hit the parts bin at my QTH.

[Konrad]

Dennis,

That is no help to me.  Your pictures only encourage me to go out and buy raty old phones and waste time bringing them back.  Thanks a lot.

BTW Good Job!