WE 554 wiring problems

[OldHarley]

I am new to this forum, but have spent some time scanning topics for an answer to my problem, and have not found this addressed, or a wiring diagram that works for me, so here goes.

I picked up a WE 554 wall phone at an estate sale, and I am having trouble hooking it up correctly.

I played with the connections and was able to get a dial tone and call out successfully by connecting to the line as follows:
Red to L2, Green to A and Yellow to K. 

OK... so far it worked, but once I hung up, and called my home number to check the ring, I got a busy signal as if the line was still in use - which it may have been since my wiring did not match any diagrams I found here.

Here is what the network side looks like (I removed my incorrect line connections before I took this photo).  Also, the 4 wire handset connections are noted at the top:



So, anybody got any thoughts.  BTW, I tried just connecting Red to L2/Green to L1, but no dial tone.  The G and Y are connected together down at the plug I was using, but still had no luck once I separated them.

I would appreciate any help you can give, or direct me to another wiring diagram?

[twocvbloke]

If it's a standard 554 then this wiring diagram here should help:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=2767.0

[Dennis Markham]

Welcome Old Harley.  I see some problems with your wiring.  That white (slate) wire on G looks like it's a dial wire.

Try these connections:

Dial:
Blue wire to terminal F
Green Wire to RR
White to GN
White to R

Handset Cord Yours looks correct but make sure the terminal lug from one is not touching another one.
Red and White wires to R
Black Wire to B
White Wire to GN

Ringer
Red/Slate to Terminal A
Slate (white) Wire to terminal K
Black Wire to terminal L1 (Along with Green to phone line)
Red Wire to terminal L2 (Along with Red to phone line)

Your switch wires may be OK, so just check the three components that I mentioned here for starters.

[OldHarley]

All right, I may have everything back in shape.  Thanks, guys!

As per twocvbloke's diagram and Dennis' comments, I removed the green (black?) wire from F and moved it to L1.  That at least gave me the 4 wires to the ringer as in the diagram and Dennis' commentary.

Then, I hooked L1 to line Green and L2 to line Red as indicated by the above diagram and comments (and also every diagram I was able to find).  Still nothing.

I remembered reading about needing the yellow but after unsuccessfully hooking it to L1, finally played around and hooked the Yellow line to F and got the dial tone I thought I should have had after connecting the red and green line connections.  I was surprised it took all three Y,G and R to get a dial tone.

So, now the phone has a dial tone, it rings on incoming calls, and has been able to call out and receive calls.  It may not be right, but it works!

I hope that takes care of it.

[twocvbloke]

It could be that your house wiring is a bit iffy, as it should only take the two Red & Green wires to get a connection, the yellow is no longer used these days as it was related to shared-service use...

[HarrySmith]

Try taking the green wire off L1 and see if it still works. The wiring in your plug, outlet or wall may be wrong. The phone only needs two wires so they may simply have the wiring color. I beleve F & L1 are connected inside the network so hooking the yellow to F may just be bypassing the L1 connection.

[Dennis Markham]

That Slate (white) wire in the photo shown on terminal G doesn't belong there.  It may be one of the dial wires.  Did you move that wire Harley??

[OldHarley]

Thanks for continuing this.

Dennis, the wire you refer to on G goes to the switch hook.  Dial has 4 wires, and altho to my eyes I can not detect that they have colors, the wires do go to the 4 terminals as you have indicated earlier.

Harry, I still get a dial tone by disconnecting line green wire at L1, but I lost my ring.  BTW, the green and yellow are connected to the same pin at the plug end.

So....ya think I need to remove the wire at G and where should it go?

[HarrySmith]

If you still have dial tone then I am probably correct. Imagine That
Try moving the ringer wire to L1, I think it is on G now.

[OldHarley]

Harry, update: With Red line connected to L2, either the Yellow line OR the Green line wire gives a dial tone when connected to F, but no ring.  Not surprising, I guess, since they are both tied to the same pin at the plug end.

So, now, if I understand you correctly, you are suggesting that the wire currently connected to G (it goes from there to the switch hook), should be moved to L1? (there is already wire to the ringer there).

I will try that.  Then, would the Green/Yellow stay at F or move back to L1?

Bear with me, since I know I could just try and see instead of asking, but it is nice to have an opinion from someone that knows more about this than me.

[HarrySmith]

No, if the wire on G goes to the switch hook leave it there. One of the ringer wires needs to go to L1 and the other to L2.

[poplar1]

If you will follow Dennis's instructions, then it will be correct. The reason you are having to put the yellow line cord lead on F is that that wire on G needs to be connected to L2 instead. Otherwise, dial tone is not getting to F. If you wire it the way Dennis said, you won't need the yellow wire either at the wall or inside the phone. But you can safely put the yellow wire on G  once you move the hookswitch wire.

The reason that the black ringer wire was on F when you got it is that someone "robbed" two of the hookswitch leads, most likely so this phone could be used with a key system (multi-line phones). These two "robbed" wires were connected to G and L1 and from there to yellow and BLACK line cord leads. The yellow would in that case NOT be connected together with the green. The phone would have worked (dial tone and ring) if you had just connected Green to F and Red to L2.

So they would have had the green wire going to F and the red to L2. When you first rewired it and got a busy signal when calling it, it was because your green and yellow line cord wires (which as you said were connected together at the wall) were shorting A and K together, thus bypassing the capacitor (which is connected to terminals A and K inside the network.) If you don't have the capacitor connected in series with the ringer, then the ringer will keep your line busy or "busied out."

The reason it did not ring when you connected green line cord to L1 but left the black ringer wire and yellow line cord wire on F is that the ringer would be connected only when the phone was off the hook (and you have dial tone.)

[OldHarley]

If you will follow Dennis's instructions, then it will be correct. I would tend to agree, but I have worked on this most of the day and it still won't work that way  The reason you are having to put the yellow line cord lead on F is that that wire on G needs to be connected to L2 instead. Otherwise, dial tone is not getting to F. If you wire it the way Dennis said, you won't need the yellow wire either at the wall or inside the phone. But you can safely put the yellow wire on G once you move the hookswitch wire. I know, I know, but I moved the switch hook wire from G to L2, hooked the red line to L2 and the green line to L1 and disconnected the yellow line from F.... and lost the dial tone.

The reason that the black ringer wire was on F when you got it is that someone "robbed" two of the hookswitch leads, most likely so this phone could be used with a key system (multi-line phones). These two "robbed" wires were connected to G and L1 and from there to yellow and BLACK line cord leads. The yellow would in that case NOT be connected together with the green. The phone would have worked (dial tone and ring) if you had just connected Green to F and Red to L2. Hmmm...I never tried that, but I could just move things back.

So they would have had the green wire going to F and the red to L2. When you first rewired it and got a busy signal when calling it, it was because your green and yellow line cord wires (which as you said were connected together at the wall) were shorting A and K together, thus bypassing the capacitor (which is connected to terminals A and K inside the network.) If you don't have the capacitor connected in series with the ringer, then the ringer will keep your line busy or "busied out."

The reason it did not ring when you connected green line cord to L1 but left the black ringer wire and yellow line cord wire on F is that the ringer would be connected only when the phone was off the hook (and you have dial tone.)

Well, although it bothers me, it does seem to work correctly with the green line cord to L1 and red line cord to L2 and the yellow line cord to F.  It probably doesn't help that after 55 years all the internal wires have faded and look slate colored but I was able to verify that 4 wires went from the dial to the proper terminals and 4 wires went from the ringer to the proper terminals and so the same for the handset. 

As long as I won't cause any damage, I guess I can just leave it that way and call it good.  This was supposed to have been a fun project anyway - don't want to get too frustrated - which is happening now.