WE 302 Identification & Rewiring

[TelePlay]

Did you try moving the ringer bias spring, the spring between the 2 ringer coils to it's low setting? The spring below the clapper wire, sits in notches near the gongs.

[Alex G. Bell]

Progress! I rewired it according to the wiring diagram, and now everything works properly except the ringer. The switch hook actually opens and closes the line. I can answer the phone when it's called and converse with the caller. I do still need to clean the dial to fully test that, but it does dial. I just sometimes get the wrong number, because the dial gets hung up on the return trip which confuses the pulse-to-tone converter.

The only thing now is that it doesn't ring. I'll double-check the ringer wires, but it may be that it requires more juice than my Obi 100 can provide. I have it currently maxed out at a ring voltage of 85.

I got about half way through the rewiring when it dawned on me that I should be noting which wires I moved. There were several, including that hook switch 1 (GN-R) was not connected to L2 and hook switch 2 (Y) was not connected to L1.

Thanks everybody for your help. This community is fantastic and so giving of its experience and time.

I'll post again if I make any progress on the ringer.

Congrats! 

85V is plenty.  A ringer is supposed to respond to 40V when the bias spring is in the low notch.  This is the voltage which might be received at the end of a max. resistance line with max. allowable # of ringers.

Make sure you choose the "bridged ringing" connections shown in the BSP tables or follow the schematic unbeldi posted which shows that.

The highest speed rotating parts in a dial are the most vulnerable to drag due to dried out lubrication.  Often a tiny drop of 3-in-1 or similar light oil on the ends of the governor shaft will restore proper operation.  But be very sparing and do not get any oil on the fly weights or inside of the governor drum.  On a #6 dial like yours the pulsing cam also spins rapidly and may be the problem.

[mblythe]

I wired the ringer according to the diagram unbeldi provided. Specifically":

R => L1
S/R + S => GND
BK => K

I will experiment with the bias to see if it has any affect. If not... a dead ringer capacitor?

[mblythe]

Not sure which bias setting is low, but it was previously set to the notch toward the back of the phone. I moved it to the notch toward the front, and once (but only once) when I called it, the clapper moved a single time from one bell to the other. It didn't ring, but it did make one feeble movement.

I couldn't repeat this, however. :-/

[TelePlay]

This would be in the high position



Three notches, high, med and low from left to right (bottom to top in the photo). Moving it to the right notch (top notch in the photo) would be the low setting (the spring will be parallel to the clapper wire, not bent across it as shown in the photo.

[TelePlay]

Do you have a DVM that measures capacitance?

If not, do you have a ~0.5 uF cap that you would put into the circuit instead of the phone's ringer cap?

Just two more things that could be done to test the capacitor.

[Alex G. Bell]

Not sure which bias setting is low, but it was previously set to the notch toward the back of the phone. I moved it to the notch toward the front, and once (but only once) when I called it, the clapper moved a single time from one bell to the other. It didn't ring, but it did make one feeble movement.

I couldn't repeat this, however. :-/

Why do there seem to be two line cords connected to this phone?  I see a little bit of flat light gray or satin silver jacketed modular cord in IMG4211 along with YL. GN and RD leads that have WECo spade tips as would be found on a thin round black vinyl mounting (line) cord with spade tips on both ends in more than one photo.

Are there any other phones connected to the ATA?  It's output voltage most likely decreases with load.  You should be testing with only the 304 connected.

Ringer magnet also needs to be strong.  A non-magnetized screwdriver tip placed near the poles to which the ends of the armature are alternately attracted when it pivots should be noticeably attracted.

[poplar1]

I wired the ringer according to the diagram unbeldi provided. Specifically":

R => L1
S/R + S => GND
BK => K

I will experiment with the bias to see if it has any affect. If not... a dead ringer capacitor?

Where is the yellow capacitor wire connected? Needs to be on L2.
The slate capacitor wire goes to K.

[Babybearjs]

If you want the bells to ring its loudest, Rotate the gongs so the gap between the gong and hammer is at its max Distance (or close to it) from each other. I call this "Tuning the Bells" since the ringer was preset at a certain position, you may want to experiment with the loudness of the bells if needed... I have several of the 400 series phones online in my home and I have to have a cut-off switch on all of them because just 1 phone can be heard quite well through my entire home. Good luck with you phone... These are always "Keepers" because of the design and sturdiness of the phone... The art deco feel of the phone is classic....I just love it....

[mblythe]

John, thanks for the bias spring info. It was originally in the high position, but I guessed right yesterday and moved it into the low position where it now sits. Sadly it made no difference on the ringer, though.

Alex, I did originally connect the new newer line to the phone without disconnecting the original line. Both were in place when I snapped those photos. The original line is completely removed now, though. I will post new photos below. No other phones have been plugged in while testing... just this 304. I used a small screw to test the magnet, and it is attracted and sticks toward the back of the ringer (opposite end from the bells; see photo).

poplar1: yellow is connected to L2, slate to K

TelePlay: sadly I have neither, though I've been meaning to buy a meter. I may run out and get one today. I do have some other phones I could perhaps steal a part from for testing.

[mblythe]

babybear: thanks for the tip on the gongs. I did notice the mounting screws were a bit off center, but it didn't occur to me this was to enable tuning. I just have to get the hammer to move first! 

[Alex G. Bell]

John, thanks for the bias spring info. It was originally in the high position, but I guessed right yesterday and moved it into the low position where it now sits. Sadly it made no difference on the ringer, though.

Alex, I did originally connect the new newer line to the phone without disconnecting the original line. Both were in place when I snapped those photos. The original line is completely removed now, though. I will post new photos below. No other phones have been plugged in while testing... just this 304. I used a small screw to test the magnet, and it is attracted and sticks toward the back of the ringer (opposite end from the bells; see photo).

poplar1: yellow is connected to L2, slate to K

TelePlay: sadly I have neither, though I've been meaning to buy a meter. I may run out and get one today. I do have some other phones I could perhaps steal a part from for testing.

Does the armature pivot back and forth freely, without detectable friction, when pushed with your finger?  I see what looks like green corrosion where the clapper rod is swaged into the armature.  There should also be little side play or vertical play in the ringer armature motion.

You could substitute the 2uF speech section of the capacitor for the 0.5uF ringer section to demonstrate that the capacitor is not the problem.  Substitute the RD and BK capacitor leads for the YL and SL.   You may need clip leads to do this if the lead lengths are not sufficient.  The speech circuit will seem okay without the capacitor in it but actually OG transmit level will be low.  However capacitors usually get electrically leaky or shorted, less often go open or up in internal resistance, so this is an unlikely cause but worth trying for the minimal effort.

[mblythe]

Alex, to be certain I understand your swap suggestion, I should disconnect the YL and SL leads and instead connect RD to L2 and BK to K?

[mblythe]

Forgot to mention, the armature does pivot freely and does not seem to have any play in other directions.

[Alex G. Bell]

Alex, to be certain I understand your swap suggestion, I should disconnect the YL and SL leads and instead connect RD to L2 and BK to K?

Yes, purely as a temporary way of determining whether the ringer capacitor is open.  Or RD to K and BK to L2 if lead lengths and existing routings make that easier. It does not matter which lead goes to which terminal.  The ringer will operate with a higher capacitance however the voltage rating of the speech ckt capacitor is lower so it's not good to leave it this way for that and other reasons.  "This is only a test..."