Help with AE 90 Wiring!

[Phonesrfun]

The biggest thing to avoid is the inside surface or any moving part inside the governor cup.  All other things can be lightly oiled, but not to the point where they are dripping.  That's why it was suggested by G-man to use the end of a toothpick dipped in the oil to then wipe onto the parts that need just a littel oil.  Don't just squirt oil onto parts of the dial directly out of the spout of the 3-in-one can or you will have an oily mess. Just so there is enough on each contact point to be lubricative.  The main shaft and its bushing are a good point to lubricate too.

[unbeldi]

The governor housing cup is at the top of the governor.  Items K and G on the diagram seem to indicate lubrication points that I personally would avoid because the whole idea of the governor is that the little tips on the ends of the two centrifugal springs use friction against the inside of the cup or drum to achieve speed regulation.  Location D would be just the brass bushing where the very pointed tip of the end of the governor shaft spins.  That can be lubricated.  Use a very light oil like three-in-one or a light grade oil that you can buy in a little oiler pen at Harbor Freight or other hardware stores.

I think there is some misunderstanding how this governor works.

The governor does not regulate speed by friction of the springs again the inside of the governor cup.

The fly-ball governor works on the principle of conservation of angular momentum, to achieve a constant rotational speed of the worm gear.  The springs expand as the speed deviates higher and thus the spring action pulls them closer again, and the oppose happens when the gear is too slow.  The weights at the end of the springs never touch the governor cup.

The speed of the dial is adjusted by slightly bending the springs to just perfect spread.

It doesn't really matter from this point of view whether oils gets there, but it shouldn't because oil attracts dusts.  Oil should only be on surfaces that experience friction, such as the length of the worm gear and the ratchet gear, and of course the bearing points.  This is what the GTE practice prescribes.

[Phonesrfun]

What about the WE governor?

[eBass]

Oiled up and inside of governor cup avoided! (I used the toothpick method.)

The rotary dial turning now works without a hitch and turns smoothly.

So, I put the phone back together and connected it to my xLink.

I can dial a number with my cell phone and pick up the rotary phone handset and the call goes through the AE 90.

I can receive a call on my cell and pick up the receiver on the AE 90 and receive the call.

When I pick up the receiver, there is a dial tone. When I dial a number on the AE 90, the dial tone stays. The problem is, it does not dial on the iPhone nor when I have put in a 10 digit number (or 11, I've tried with "1" first) does anything happen. There is still the dial tone.

The dial turns smoothly, just not number recognition.

Here are xLink links I have found, but since my phone stays connected, I do not think it is necessarily a problem on the xLink side. The link no longer disconnects as it did before, so we are a step in the forward direction.

http://www.myxlink.com/faq.aspx
http://www.myxlink.com/trouble.aspx

Still no ringer, but that is for later.

[unbeldi]

What about the WE governor?

The WECo governor works on the same physics principle, just uses a different mechanical design.

The gearing is clearly different by not using the worm, but a clock-like gear box.

The speed regulation happens by elongated curved weights being anchored at one end on a flywheel so that they would fly outward at the other end if they were not being held inward by the governor spring. But this regulates the speed in just the same manner as in the worm gear governor.

On the No. 2-5 WECo dials the tension of the spring could be adjusted with a screw mechanism, with the aid of the No. 260 adjustment tool, while the No. 6 dial could not be adjusted anymore. I suppose manufacturing accuracy was good enough by then that they didn't need it.

I think the reason for not getting oil into the WECo governor is that it is almost impossibly to remove excess which might bind the delicate parts.   Getting liquid into the governor doesn't seem to matter per se, however, because I have put the whole dial into soap water in the ultrasonic cleaner and there is no ill effect.  I have accurate digital dial speed measurement equipment and the speed is not effected at all, other than improving it because the dial is clean.

[Phonesrfun]

Unbeldi:

Well, I'll be darned.  All this time I thought it was friction.  See, we all learn things here.

eBass:

The Xlink I used to have worked with rotary, so I am wondering if there is a software setting on yours that has pulse dial recognition somehow turned off.  I would not know how to get to the settings of the Xlink, but something to consider.

Yet another consideration is to look at the dial itself.  Check the dial pulse contacts to make sure they are opening and closing while the dial is winding down.  Also check the speed.  The XLink might be super sensitive to the pulsing speed.  Specs for a dial is 10 pulses per second.  That means that once you release the dial when dialing "0", it should take 1.1 second to come to rest. (1.1 seconds because of the extra space between the 1 and 0 holes).  If your dial is running too fast or too slow, the XLink might not be recognizing the pulses, although usually there should be a fair amount of tolerance built into the software of the XLink.

Do you have another known good rotary phone that you can connect to your XLink to see if it dials out?  You could also use a known good rotary phone to check the dial speed on the phone you are working on.  Wind them both up with a "0" and release both at the same time and compare the speed.  Excessively fast or slow dial might be the problem, but as I mentioned, since there is usually a fair amount of tolerance, if the dials are close in their speed, the issue is probably not the speed.

If it is a speed issue, then the adjustment is, as Unbeldi said, to bend the governor springs slightly.  (evenly).  Bending them out would slow the dial, and bending them in would speed it up.

I would check to see if another phone works or not on the XLink before anything else.  Then check the pulsing contacts to make sure they are opening and closing. 

[G-Man]

Interesting viewpoint about it being acceptable to oil the inside of the governor cup. When I attended my first telco training schools, we were strongly admonished to oil very sparingly, and were pointedly told not to allow oil to accumulate inside of the governor cup. This was often repeated throughout my long career in telephony.

Below are instructions for lubrication of dials from a Stromberg-Carlson publication. The Stromberg dial discussed, aside from a few minor differences, employs the same type of worm-gear and governor cup as does the Automatic Electric dial of the same vintage. This closely echoes instructions by other manufacturers regarding the lubrication of their dials....

LUBRICATION

The points of the dial which will need lubrication, should the dial become sluggish, are given below. The oil used for this purpose is a very special product; no ordinary lubricants should ever be used on the dial mechanism.

Stromberg-Carlson Dial Lubricant, part No. 202,239, is used for this purpose. The following listed bearing surfaces are to be lubricated. One drop of oil is to be applied at each point; a drop of oil being the amountthat adheres to a piece of 22 gauge wire after being immersed in the oil to a depth of ½".

A. WORM SHAFT (22) Oil both the tail and governor cup bearings, (24) being careful not to let any oil get on the inside surface of the cup where the governor fly-balls make contact. Oil should also be applied to the worm where it contacts the worm wheel.

B. PINION SHAFT (17) Oil both bearings, one in the bridge (25) and the other at the lower end of the pinion shaft. Distribute a drop evenly on the outside of the spring clutch.

C. MAIN SHAFT (14) To oil the main power shaft properly, remove the anchor (27), and the fingerplate. Remove any dust around the bearings   under the fingerplate before applying the oil.
Distribute one drop evenly on the inside of the motor spring (16). Put one drop where the main shaft fits into the bridge. Wipe off all excess oil.

-There is nothing finer than a Stromberg Carlson -

[G-Man]

Here is an excerpt from an old article written by Bruce Crawford, regarding  how Northern Electric shops lubricated dials.

Dials, Repair, Maintenance

Generally, relatively sophisticated equipment is required for dial repair. GTE practices suggest dismantling the entire dial; this is hardly feasible today. However, ultrasonic cleaning of dials badly gummed or over lubricated is sometimes essential. Unfortunately, the average hobbyist does not have an ultrasonic cleaner or test equipment for dials.

Dial fingerwheels may require special tools to remove them from the shaft; Dr. Meyer's recent book illustrates the removal of the plastic fingerwheel from a standard WECo. NECo. S-C or ITT 500 set: this applies to most plastic fingerwheels manufactured by these firms. AECo's plastic wheels are somewhat different, and, unfortunately a great variety of assemblies were used by that company over the years. Later AECO 3" fingerwheels were simply screwed on; the mounting screw is hidden by the stick-on dial card, (Replacement labels for the AECo dial just described are available from most stationers. Unfortunately, the clear celluloid that was used to protect the Label is not available.)

Dr. Meyer's book also illustrates the removal of the metal card holder from the AECO metal fingerwheel; a special tool should be used, but this is rarely available. After the AECo card holder is finally removed from this dial, carefully study the mechanics of same, and reassembly should be relatively easy.

WD-40 can be used to free a seized dial, but its use is NOT recommended. WD-40 is not a permanent lubricant (it eventually evaporates).

The manufacturers provide a number of practices on dial lubrication. but it was interesting to note that in Northern Electric's Repair and overhaul shops their own practices were ignored.

The dial repair person simply used a toothpick, dipped about 1 /4" into a small container of sewing machine oil (3 in 1 for example). Each bearing point is lubricated, with care being taken to see that absolutely NO oil gets into the governor. DO NOT APPLY EXCESS OIL.

At this point, if the dial didn't turn at an approximately close speed, Northern simply junked it! In all fairness, however, it should be pointed out that in 1961, when I was first given a brief tour of Northern's shops, the cost of labor had reached a point that many units of equipment were classed as "Beyond Economical Repair" (BER) with emphasis on the economical part.

[unbeldi]

I see where this opinion of friction comes from....

Here is a quote from a 1949 Stromberg-Carlson marketing brochure, Form No. T-106 GLP 10M, entitled ''Dials''.

==

GOVERNOR The normal operating speed and factory adjustment of the dial is 10
impulses per second plus or minus one-half impulse, but due to the impossibility of maintaining
this speed over a long period of time a minimum of 8 impulses per second and a
maximum of 12 impulses per second are allowable.
To regulate the speed of the dial, adjust the springs of the governor (22) to decrease
or to increase the friction of the weights on the inside surface of the cup (24). A slight
spreading of the springs will reduce speed; bringing both arms closer to the worm will
increase the speed. Form the governor springs as nearly alike as possible. There should
be perceptible end-play in the governor worm shaft but this end-play should not exceed
.010". The governor must be completely free-running without the slightest drag. The endplay
can be regulated by loosening the lock nut (21) over the screw thread at the tail
bearing (23) and, by turning with a screw driver, increase or decrease the play. The lock
nut at both the tail bearing end and at the governor cup end of the worm shaft must be
firmly tightened.

==

I would think that the governor cup and those weights would be carved away by now if there were friction. We would undoubtedly find debris accumulating in the governors.

The principle of the fly-ball governor is famous for being discovered by James Watt and first installed on his steam engine.
There are patents for friction governors but they operated similarly to an automotive break.

I would advise against adjusting the springs without measuring equipment, just the success or failure of an Xlink are not good enough.

The advice of not getting oil into the governor cup is still a good one, I think, because of the sensitivity of the mechanism to weight variations and any impairment to free rotation.

[unbeldi]

After opening a No. 6 dial I have lying around I concede that the fly-weights indeed have friction pads close to their pivot point that would exert pressure against the governor cup.  They appear as a black material with a metal 'break pad'.  Impossible to tell what the material is.  The surface of the 'pad'  appears completely flat not a section of an arc.

PS: I just looked at the Forsberg patent of 1915 for the WECo-style dial, and he does say the action is by friction.  The pads are from rubber which would mean that oil should certainly be kept away from it.

Due to the centrifu-
gal force, friction members 45 and 46, which
rotate with said bridge-pieces, fly outwardly
against the tension of leaf springs 47 and
48, and press the rubber studs 45' and 46'
against the wall of cup 35.

So, I stand corrected.  It is a friction governor.
Surprise.

[unbeldi]

Oiled up and inside of governor cup avoided! (I used the toothpick method.)

The rotary dial turning now works without a hitch and turns smoothly.

So, I put the phone back together and connected it to my xLink.

I can dial a number with my cell phone and pick up the rotary phone handset and the call goes through the AE 90.

I can receive a call on my cell and pick up the receiver on the AE 90 and receive the call.

When I pick up the receiver, there is a dial tone. When I dial a number on the AE 90, the dial tone stays. The problem is, it does not dial on the iPhone nor when I have put in a 10 digit number (or 11, I've tried with "1" first) does anything happen. There is still the dial tone.

The dial turns smoothly, just not number recognition.

Here are xLink links I have found, but since my phone stays connected, I do not think it is necessarily a problem on the xLink side. The link no longer disconnects as it did before, so we are a step in the forward direction.

http://www.myxlink.com/faq.aspx
http://www.myxlink.com/trouble.aspx

Still no ringer, but that is for later.

I have only really played around with my Xlink, never really tested it out thoroughly for serious use. I've paired it with various devices, including Android phones, tablets, iPad, MacMini. For several it only worked as an audio device, and the dialing wasn't recognized, but was needed to connect it to the telephony application.

Just hooked it up with an Android phone, the number is recognized and I get a pop-up screen asking me which of the voice services I want to use.  When I select, the call does go through.  However, when paired with my iPad the telephony application (Linphone) doesn't get the number.  So, I can't speak about iPhone operation.

[eBass]

I just plugged in and tried with a WE 500 series. The phone does dial out through that rotary phone. Later tonight I will try receiving a call and seeing if the phone rings.

I tested the dial time against each other, the AE 90 is just a fraction of a second slower than the WE 500 series.

Additionally, when dialing on the WE, the dial tone pauses during the dial, and I DO hear the very light tone that you hear in a rotary when it is dialing, that I mentioned I did not hear at all in the AE 90 when I dialed.

When I check the ringer for incoming calls later tonight or tomorrow AM, I will time both the WE and AE phone dials for exact numbers on timing. But again, it is just a fraction difference, and the less of a turn, the even smaller the difference in timing.

[Phonesrfun]

I would  check the pulsing contacts on the dial to make sure they are fully opening while the cam is spinning.  Also check the yellow and blue pusling wires to make sure the spade terminals are not touching each other or that spade terminals on the network aren't crossing over and touching others.

[eBass]

My WE 500 series phone rings when called.

Timing (rudimentarily done using my iPhone timer):

WE: ~1.25 seconds from "0"
AE: ~1.55 seconds from "0"

What's the fix?

[unbeldi]

Looks like the dial is just a little too slow for the XLink.  To verify you can often succeed by keeping the finger in the finger wheel hole and applying just very slight constant pressure during the return of the wheel to speed it up.
Not a fix.... just another test.