How do I take off the dial properly on my Galion?

[Will520]

I feel like I'm asking a lot of questions, but I have at least one more.  How do I take of the dial on my Galion to clean it? Is there a picture somewhere or diagram that would show which screws need to be loosened? I have no idea and I want to be as careful as I possibly can with it because I noticed a crack on the inside of the case that I don't want any bigger.

Thanks,
Will

[bingster]

Hi Will,

If you look at the inside of the case, you should find three small screws holding the dial to the case.  They are at the dial's perimeter at the 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions.  Removing those screws will allow the dial to be pulled loose.

[KeithB]

How do I take of the dial on my Galion to clean it?

I found the instructions a few hours after I chipped the paint on my dial card ring last night.
http://www.telephonecollectors.org/library/aeco/metaldials.pdf

[Dan/Panther]

Keith;
Never hesitate to ask any question. It is better to ask the same question 1000 times, then to not ask and damage a rare part.
If the same question is asked 1000 times, we will answer it 1000 times.
D/P

[Phonesrfun]

Keith:

Your original question was how to take off the dial.  From your follow-up post, it looks like you were just looking for how to take the finger wheel off the dial, and not how to take the dial off the phone body.  Looks like you found what you need.

[KeithB]

Thanks, guys.  I figured it out before I found that document, and fortunately the chipped paint spot is below the surface of the fingerwheel after the dial center is re-installed.  Once the dial center is out, removing the fingerwheel is a piece of cake.

FWIW, I had to remove this fingerwheel to complete cleaning and troubleshooting the AE dial in the 1946 Galion I received yesterday.  You could dial a number, but the dial would hang up and stick on the return.  There was lint stuck to the governor's worm gear on the rear of the dial, and more lint stuck in the gears beneath the fingerwheel.  After cleaning and carefully point-oiling the gears beneath the dial, I disassembled and cleaned the governor.  It had oxidized terribly and it appears someone attempted to oil it in the past.  After a complete cleaning and point oiling only the endpoints of the governor, the dial performed much better but was still slow and dragging.

It turned out there was a lot of oxidation and dust beneath the mainspring.  After blowing it out, cleaning beneath the spring using a small piece of wire, and oiling the spring itself, this old AE dial performs very smoothly again.

[Will520]

Ok, I've got the dial out of the phone but now I'm not sure how to take the dialplate with numbers out in order to clean it.

[Dennis Markham]

This dial plate is aluminum as opposed to a porcelain plate.  Not knowing which dial you have this may be similar.  There are two clips that old the porcelain in place.  Be careful not to chip the porcelain as you pop off the clips.

[Will520]

This is the stage I'm at right now.

[Dennis Markham]

Just take a large slotted screw driver and remove the nut.  The finger wheel will lift right off.  Below you will see similar to what I've shown in the prior posting.  There is a piece missing from your finger wheel assembly.  There is an escutcheon that goes below the screw that holds on the dial card retainer ring.  I'll see if I can round up a photo of one of those for you.

Here is a photo of 5 of them currently being offered for sale on eBay so you know what I'm talking about.  I may have one floating around that I can spare.  You're going to need a dial card assembly as well, unless you already have one.  The same seller, adele0283 usually has the dial card assemblies available too.  You may have to e-mail her and ask.  She's very friendly and reputable.  She usually charges $10 for an original AE card and retainer assembly.  I don't know if Oldphoneworks can beat that price or not.

http://tinyurl.com/25ubxac

[KeithB]

Unscrew that screw in the center of the fingerwheel, lift it off carefullly, and you'll see the dial porcelain with two clips 180 degrees apart.

Whoops, Dennis beat me to it, by just a few seconds...

[Dennis Markham]

Will, I modified my previous post.  More information is now posted there.

[Phonesrfun]

oops,I see I got Will and Keith mixed up in my last post.  Looks like everyone is on track anyway..  

[Will520]

Cool beans, I got it off and got the parts cleaned.

Dennis, I don't have an escutcheon or a card retainer on this phone or extras laying around. I've bought from adele0283 before, she's a great seller.  So would I need to buy a lot of that and and the card retainer package, for example: http://cgi.ebay.com/Automatic-Electric-Telephone-Card-Retainer-1-Black-/280543045721?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

In order to properly mount the card retainer?

[Kenny C]

here off of OPW you can get a dial card ring retaning bracket

second to the bottom
http://tinyurl.com/2bqc4gv