News:

"The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them." - Dan/Panther

Main Menu

Western Electric 554 1968

Started by FirePro911, May 21, 2011, 04:09:58 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

FirePro911

Just picked up a Western Electric 554, year 1968 off of eBay. I have already thoroughly cleaned it up and waxed all pieces. Now I am about to put it back together so I can hang in on our kitchen wall.

I have searched and read the board, plus Googled it to learn all about it the best I can. I am down to having to wire it for use though and that is where I get a little confused.

Here is a pic of where the wires go. You can see on the bottom left where the red and green wire used to be. Are these the only wires I need to use?


Here is the phone I have with before and after pics.








I may end up wrapping the phone cord like in the other thread to tighten it. Not sure yet though.


































As I said, I could use some help in wiring it for use. I also need a wall mount to hang it.

HarrySmith

Very nice cleanup job! Congrats! Yes, red & green, tip & ring go to L1 & L2 where they were previously attached. Also it looks like there may be a messed up connector on the blue wire from the dial that is on terminal F, you may want to straighten that out.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

bingster

The pieces of red and green wire are exactly where you connect the new wiring, just as you guessed, and they're the only two wires that you need to make the phone work.  These don't actually require any sort of mounting plate, and were designed to be screwed directly to the wall (through the little keyhole shaped slots).  Just mount the phone with the cover off, then when it's tightened down, attach the cover.

Very nice job on the cleanup, too.  It turned out beautifully.

--------

Harry beat me to it. ;)
= DARRIN =



FirePro911

Thanks for the replies. I'm on it and will post up pics of the final install and a video of it ringing.

HarrySmith, I fixed the connector as it was bent. Thanks for the tip.

Dan

Very very nice. I had that very phone on my kitchen wall as a youngster. we had the 25 ft receiver cord too.
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

Dennis Markham

The one thing that I "think" I see is that your ringer may perform better if you move the bias tension spring.  That is the thin wire between the gongs.  The end of it is in a little maze-like groove.  Yours looks to be to the left side.  If you just take the tip of your finger and move the wire around to the right side your ringer will probably perform better.  If not, put it back where it was and forget you read this. :)

Willytx

Quote from: Dan on May 21, 2011, 04:58:55 PM
Very very nice. I had that very phone on my kitchen wall as a youngster. we had the 25 ft receiver cord too.

Wait a minute, we had that phone in my kitchen!
--
Very nice job cleaning this one up.

Dan

Those 25 foot cords were almost "cordless like" weren't they!
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

FirePro911

Here is a pic of it hanging.


I think I will scout around to see if I can find a long yellow "kitchen cord" for it.

I also bought a 20 dollar Radio Shack caller id and wired it in place. That way we do not have to go into the other room to see who is calling.

I reset the tension spring Dennis had posted about and it sounds better. Thanks for the tip!

Here is a short video of it ringing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIz-5SWaklM

bingster

Nicely done!  It looks as though it's always been there.
= DARRIN =