WECO #5 & #6 Dial

[Fabius]

As I look at pictures of WECO 302 desk sets on eBay and such many do not specify what type of dial is in the set. Is there any thing that can be spotted on the dial that tells the 5 & 6 apart looking down on it while it is mounted on the set? Many times I get no response when I ask a seller for an inside photo. Thanks.

[Babybearjs]

if the inside of the phone is shown, the # 5 does not have a dust cover.... the #6 does....

[WEBellSystemChristian]

The #6 sticks out of the phone a little more than the #5 does, and the #5 sits flush with the housing.

[Ktownphoneco]

A type 6 dial should have the number "6" stamped on the finger stop, and the height of a type 6 dial's case is almost 1/8" of an inch higher than a type 5 dial.     Therefore the exposed portion of a type 6 dial's case when mounted in either a D1 / 202 or a 302 desk set is more noticeable than a type 5 dial mounted in the same set.    That also increases the height of the finger wheel position.

Jeff Lamb

[unbeldi]

A type 6 dial should have the number "6" stamped on the finger stop,

Jeff Lamb

This is only true for #6 dials made after the No. 164 number plate had been introduced. Before that the finger stop was plain, but the number plate had a black dot on the white enamel in a position above the finger stop, where your finger points after winding up the dial, equal to the angle offset between two finger holes.

That switch-over date would be somewhere late 1953 and early 1954.  I think the earliest 164 plate we've seen are third quarter 53, about the same time I have seen the last dotted plates.
In fact, IIRC, the earliest spotted 164A plate is shown in the Graybar catalog of 1957, which shows a plate having the date code  III II 53, presumably  Q3 53.

[Ktownphoneco]

Thanks Karl.     I wasn't aware of that fact.    I knew I had an early Western type 6 dial somewhere, and I just dug it out.      It's a "6A", and dated "11-52", and your absolutely correct.      There isn't any "6" stamped on the finger stop, and there is a black dot where you indicated there would be.      This dial may have come out of a 1011 Butt Set as it has a short, 5" or 6" inch, nicely lashed wiring harness attached to it.
Learning something new, always makes for a better day.

Jeff

 

[unbeldi]

Thanks Karl.     I wasn't aware of that fact.    I knew I had an early Western type 6 dial somewhere, and I just dug it out.      It's a "6A", and dated "11-52", and your absolutely correct.      There isn't any "6" stamped on the finger stop, and there is a black dot where you indicated there would be.      This dial may have come out of a 1011 Butt Set as it has a short, 5" or 6" inch, nicely lashed wiring harness attached to it.
Learning something new, always makes for a better day.

Jeff

I believe the earliest #6A dials to be found are from the Q1 of 1952, including the earliest dotted number plates. These plates do not fit onto No.5 dials. The early plates were not dated on the front, but stamped on the back, if marked at all.  By fall 1952 the dial was officially discussed in the WECo magazines, such as Bell Telephone Magazine.
For about 18 months or so, these plates still included the "Z" above the OPERATOR label, as on the 150 plates, but that was removed sometime late 1953; and OPERATOR was wrapped around the zero.
So, when observing a dial with a plate without Z, the chances that it is a No. 6 dial is somewhat higher, but not reliable, as replacement 150 plates also omitted the Z.

On colored plastic 302s the No. 6D dial (with the clear finger wheel and a white-painted case) was always used starting in May 1953, perhaps late April, but all sets until then still have 5J dials, usually dated 12-52, which appears to be the last month they made 5Js.

[unbeldi]

It's hard to find black WECo 302s from 1953 though, apparently.  Who has one?

It seems they were pretty much replaced that year with 500 sets.  The colored sets still can be found until about May or June 1954, or so.   Then there appears to be a gap until the color experiments in 1955 when they came up with the rare 500-set-CAB plastic sets.  Those always have 6D dials with 164A plates.